Rating: 
Summary: True Fun!
Review: "True Justice" by Robert Tanenbaum, is another fine entry in the fantasy lawyer series featuring the husband and wife team of Butch Karp and Marlene Ciampi.Butch Karp, the Assistant District Attorney of New York City, is faced with an outbreak of infanticide. His job is to prosecute the wrong doers and bring evil people to justice. Marlene Ciampi his wife takes a case in Delaware, but conversely her job is to defend the mother of a dead baby that is being persecuted by the Wilmington District Attorney. Even their daughter Lucy gets into the act when her friend's family is assassinated by persons unknown. What makes these stories fun to read are Tanenbaum's characterizations. You know that these people cannot possible exist and as a matter of fact they are almost superhuman. Karp is everyone's ideal DA, tough, fair, and honest. Ciampi is almost superwoman she's smart, aggressive and sexy. Lucy their daughter is a child protegee with languages, street wise and practically a saint. Sometimes you get the feeling that the story is merely a way for Tanenbaum to present new problems for this gifted family to overcome. But who cares, half the fun is getting there anyway, so close your eyes, suspend reality, sit back and relax. Tanenbaum is a fine writer and his world of super lawyers, Karp and Ciampi will take care of everything...with panache. I recommend "True Justice", but don't take it too seriously.
Rating: 
Summary: A letdown
Review: Don't worry if, like me, you have not read any previous books in this series. The author catches you up on the characters' lives soap-opera-style and the principal players themselves cheerfully acknowledge the unlikelihood of their history. Once you suspend your disbelief, you are in for an entertaining time with some very appealing characters: Butch Karp, the tough, conscientious Chief Assistant District Attorney; wife Marlene Ciampri, an attorney struggling to extricate herself from her violent career as a bodyguard; and teenage daughter Lucy, a spiritually gifted language prodigy. The three become involved in an interlocking set of crimes - two infanticides and the murder of Lucy's friend's parents. The action moves along briskly but the heart of the novel is the characters' grappling with what would consitute "true" justice in each of these tragic cases - and how best to achieve it within an imperfect legal system. The philosophizing is leavened with an ample dose of humor. I'm looking forward to reading other books in this series.
Rating: 
Summary: A Great Find!
Review: I consider this book to be a great find. Looking for something to read one day in a discount store, I picked up this book and from the start was hooked on Tanenbaum's style and the Karp and Ciampi storyline. I have ordered several more of the series and can't wait to get into them.
Rating:
Summary: continuing saga of the Karp family
Review: I haven't missed a Tanenbaum book yet and cannot wait for the next one. Marlene, Butch, Lucy, Zik and Zak, Harry-- all of em are my favorite characters. oops--missed Sweety and Tran.I've enjoyed following them from the beginning, and especially like the development of Lucy, as the adventures continue. Wonder when the twins will start solving crimes? It is after I finish a new book that I go back to previous Karp adventures and re-read. My husband thinks re-reading is silly , so please Mr. Tanenbaum, start on a new one soon! An insatiable reader in NWFla
Rating:
Summary: Great listen!
Review: I really liked this book though the mysteries were more or less open and shut, it was how people thought of them, moralized through them. Lucy, the daughter comes off as a bit incredible, in her talents and religious convictions but it's a nice addition. The concept that a teenager is thinking deeply on the Universe was a welcome change. I would definitely keep my eyes open for another book about this family.
Rating:
Summary: A disappointment
Review: I wish I could share everyone's enthusiasm, but to me this wasn't either a mystery or a police procedural: It was a religious panegyric. The Catholic overtones that have entered the books since Lucy's character has come to the fore completely took over this one, informing every element of the plot and leading to a preposterous conclusion. I'm not saying anything against religion: Just that this wasn't the book I was hoping to read. I really miss the give-and-take of the characters from Karp's office that made the earlier books so vivid and realistic. Then the series moved away from that milieu to focus on Marlene, who I don't much like, but who at least is interesting, and then moved to Lucy, who I abhor and whose religiosity I find unbearable. Again, I emphasise that this is not a "thing" against religion, but a warning that anyone who wants a good solid mystery is likely to be disappointed, as I was. My three-star rating is a tribute to the excellence of the writing. Otherwise, it would have been down to one, with great regrets.
Rating:
Summary: Another entertaining installment in the Karp-Ciampi series.
Review: It isn't easy to write a series that remains entertaining even after the protagonists get married and have children. Where do you go when the couple settles down and has children? Robert Tanenbaum continues to deliver laughs and excitement even though Butch Karp and Marlene Ciampi are an "old married couple" with a sixteen-year-old daughter and seven-year-old twin boys. As usual, Tanenbaum's dialogue is crisp and street-smart, with lots of amusing repartee. In this novel, Tanenbaum explores the moral dilemma of prosecuting women who are guilty of infanticide. Should the state prosecute these women to the full extent of the law? Karp and company struggle with moral and legal dilemmas, and they must find a way to win cases and live with themselves at the same time. Marlene is back in the courtroom and Lucy is learning how to deal with the agony of being spiritual in an imperfect world. Unfortunately, some of the plotting is contrived and unbelievable, especially at the end. In spite of this flaw, Tanenbaum's knowledge of the law and his talent for creating memorable characters make "True Justice" an engrossing and entertaining novel.
Rating:
Summary: Very enjoyable Book!
Review: Mr. Tanenbaum's books are the kind you stay up at night to finish. I for one love it that there is a major character that is a devout Christian (intelligent too). Lucy's faith is very deep and it is interesting to read about as well. I enjoy Mr.Tanenbaum's books and all the characters. I find Marlene somewhat disturbing however.
Rating:
Summary: Better Than Your Typical Grisham
Review: This is the first Tanenbaum novel I've read, and except for the blurb on the back I would not have realised it was one of a series. That I never had the sense I was getting 12 volumes of backstory nor did I need it speaks highly for Tanenbaum's writing skills; whether his long time followers are as blissfully unaware I'm not at all sure. As to the story itself, Tanenbaum has taken a somewhat unconventional approach. Rather than lots of gunplay, powerful courtroom drama, or devious legal manueverings, we are given decent people struggling with what the role of the law is, and what it should be. The story is largely dialogue and character driven, with little action and only a minor mystery that appears quite late in the book. Mostly Tanenbaum waxes philosophical--an approach that will drive some readers mad, but I thought it was quite fresh and more like real life than any Grisham potboiler. I'm not sure I'd like an entire series with this approach--nor do I know that the author takes it in the other books of the series--but on its own merits, True Justice is definitely worth a read.
Rating:
Summary: Better Than Your Typical Grisham
Review: This is the first Tanenbaum novel I've read, and except for the blurb on the back I would not have realised it was one of a series. That I never had the sense I was getting 12 volumes of backstory nor did I need it speaks highly for Tanenbaum's writing skills; whether his long time followers are as blissfully unaware I'm not at all sure. As to the story itself, Tanenbaum has taken a somewhat unconventional approach. Rather than lots of gunplay, powerful courtroom drama, or devious legal manueverings, we are given decent people struggling with what the role of the law is, and what it should be. The story is largely dialogue and character driven, with little action and only a minor mystery that appears quite late in the book. Mostly Tanenbaum waxes philosophical--an approach that will drive some readers mad, but I thought it was quite fresh and more like real life than any Grisham potboiler. I'm not sure I'd like an entire series with this approach--nor do I know that the author takes it in the other books of the series--but on its own merits, True Justice is definitely worth a read.
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