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highly recommended |
Reviews by Nan Kilar and Bobby Miller 
If you're familiar with previous books by this author, I don't have to tell you that Butch Karp (chief Assistant District Attorney), his wife Marlene Ciampi (attorney and security dog trainer), and their three kids, Lucy (20 and a linguistics whiz), Zak and Giancarlo (11 year old twins), are not the typical all-American family. This story has several subplots, all involving a family member, but you're never lost.
Felix Tighe has escaped from prison, thanks to the help of some terrorists, and law enforcement officials are lead to believe he is dead. Years ago, Butch had prosecuted him and sent him to prison. Now working for terrorists on the outside, Felix has to get some information from Lucy for the bad guys. And he wants to kill Butch for putting him in prison, but only after he makes Butch see his family suffer.
Meanwhile, Butch is trying a sensitive racial case. Marlene has returned to the family loft in New York City and gets involved in two cases of her own. One is to help a detective figure out who the Manbomber is since the sketchy description of the guy fits Felix's profile and because the current string of bombings has targeted others involved in Felix's arrest and trial. Assorted people put two and two together and realize Felix is alive, well, and raising hell as usual.
The terrorists are after Felix because he didn't deliver the info they wanted and he knows too much; Lucy gets in a bind; Giancarlo and Zak run into danger; Marlene is her usual depressed, `loose cannon' self; and Butch tries to keep the family together and the office running smoothly. The story has some twists and turns to keep you interested all the way to the end...and looking forward to the next Karp adventure.
Resolved: A Novel 
I enjoyed the book, but I do like the Butch Karp/Marlene Ciampi novels and this was one of them.
Weak ending spoils decent thriller 
There are two significant problems with this novel. The first is our villain's bizarrely elaborate plot. Throughout the novel, the leaders of the organization behind a series of bombings advise their underlings (and the reader) that what doesn't appear to make sense now, will become clear when the plan is fully executed. The elaborate plot could work if all the pieces were to come together at the end, at least a little, but this is where the author really lets the reader down. In the end, the story just doesn't make any sense.
The second significant problem with this novel is pacing. The novel features a mini climax with about 50 or 60 pages until the end of the novel. Then the novel shifts ahead in time a few months and all the suspense that had been generated completely evaporates for the next 40 pages when almost nothing happens (bored snowbound prosecutors and media types get drunk waiting for a delayed press conference to occur) and we wait for the final part of the plan to be executed. The big plan is a let-down and generates no tension whatsoever. The big moment, the final realization of this wildly convoluted plan, is resolved as quickly as it starts, in about 10 pages.
That said; I enjoyed much of this novel. The characters didn't necessarily feel `real' to me, but I appreciated the fact that the Karp family are a far cry from the sweet perfection of the Cross family. The plot, while far-fetched, is suspenseful, fast paced and fun - that is, until the final fifty pages or so. The weak ending spoiled what was a decent thriller. 2 ½ stars
Two for Two
This is the second Karp book I have read and if it's not up to the first (the first of the series) it is still good, entertaining reading. As with his first installment in the series the author keeps your interest up through a lot of plot twists and turns. I like books that push the edge (intricate serial killers, semi-super private eyes etc) without quite going over. This book does that. A pedantic terrorist, a crazed/possessed serial killer, a courtroom giant, they all all here. I liked the plot and the characters, except for Karp's wife. She can go sell crazy somewhere else, I got tired of her. I'll keep enjoying the series.
thrilling, but not top-notch
This is the first Tanenbaum novel I have read. It is thrilling, but Karp's family is even less believable than Alex Cross's - fortunately also less saccharine. Much of the book reads like a superhero comic book. Any moment I expected the kid to toss down his accordion, put on his cape, and fly off through the sky faster than a speeding bullet. The family did not engage my belief, and thus they did not engage my sympathy, or, frankly, my interest. Unless the intent is to write fantasy, a good author should be able to portray the desired effects without reaching for ridiculously unbelievable characters. Also, there is a long drawn-out scene of getting drunk, which seems to add nothing to the plot or the development of any character. For a lawyer, this is excellent writing, and the book is exciting.
reviews: page 1, 2, 3
Tanenbaum's done it again: Resolved is a complex, suspenseful tale of justice in the Big Apple, as a vengeful and sadistic killer sets his sights on the man who put him away -- New York Chief Assistant District Attorney Butch Karp. The fifteenth installment in Robert K. Tanenbaum's blistering New York Times bestselling series sees Karp up against one of his most frightening tests, and the stakes have never been higher. A convicted killer named Felix Tighe has escaped from prison and has vowed to hunt down and execute the NYPD detectives who arrested him years ago. But there's more -- Tighe's also planning a fight to the death with Chief Assistant District Attorney Butch Karp, the man who put him away. Felix Tighe's laser-focused, obsessive hatred of Karp has simmered during his prison confinement, where he has spent time with Feisal Abdel Ridwan, a radical Islamic fundamentalist -- and their sordid connection only fuels his loathing of Karp. Now out of prison, with an assumed identity, and dangerously seeking payback, Felix stalks Karp to the very heart of his family as he plans a demonic assault on Karp's daughter, Lucy. Rippling with action, and full of Tanenbaum's trademark twists and turns, Resolved is a must-read novel which roils with post 9-11 malevolence and searing New York scenes. As Karp faces his toughest assignment yet -- and with his fearless and complex private detective wife Marlene Ciampi at his side -- Resolved builds to an almost unbearable climax at Karp's "office," Manhattan's central courthouse.
resolved
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