Enemy Within

Rating:
Summary: Enemy Within
Review: I read constantly and I read many police/lawyer/crime novels. I was very disappointed with this one. Aside from the crucial chase/shooting scene, the book was so dull that I stopped reading it after 84 pages. It is so filled with mind numbing descriptions and conversations that I had to force myself to plow through the dialogue. Being a detective myself, I was also put off by the author's obvious feeling of superiority to cops that seems to permeate his writing. In addition, the author, being a lawyer, talks too much without making a point. I have read other novels written by attorneys and have enjoyed them, so I am not just attorney-bashing here. This is the first and last Tanenbaum novel for me.

Rating:
Summary: Always a good yarn...
Review: is what you will get with a Tanenbaum novel. Enemy Within captured my imagination and attention a little less than earlier books in the series.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still quite taken with the Karp daughter, Lucy, although the freedom she is granted to move about any and all dank corner of NYC, making friends of the homeless, is a little bit of a stretch. Some old friends from the series return, although their bits are far too small -- Hrcany, Guma, Newberry and one of Tanenbaum's best, Tran. Butch himself is
worrying his way through middle age, and is believable in his motivation and his frustration at the lack of normalcy in either his work or family life. (Oh, if only he realized that this is true of everyone in their 40's!)

The sour note is the author's decision to drive Marlene to drink. And spend. And drink. And spend. And drink. And, having tried to fit this zany, opinionated Italian lady into that mold, Tanenbaum does not do the reader any favors by asking us to believe that she can then shake herself out of it without professional help, simply because she is motivated to take down some bad guys and stop ignoring her daughter and help resolve the murders she is involved in.

Marlene takes the book from 4 stars to 3. Is it time for a change in the series? Perhaps so, the DA's office has been thoroughly dismembered in the series, perhaps Butch needs a judgeship. Perhaps Marlene needs to have at least one child learning disabled, so she can devote her considerable skills to something that matters.

Still, the series that best showcases all the slices of life that are NYC, continues to appeal, even when exploring the wildly rumored underground terrors that haunt the city and maintain the myth.

Perhaps best purchased used or borrowed from the library!

Rating:
Summary: Better than a lot of others
Review: This may not be the Butch and Marlene story that Tanenbaum has written, but mediocre Tanenbaum is better than the best of John Grisham. Marlene goes on a tangent that is one of the best parts of this book when she gets filthy rich and cannot get enough shopping or enough vintage wine. Lucy is her mother's daughter all the way. Butch is really left more confused than usual, but manages to cope. If you are not yet a Butch and Marlene fan, start with the first and read them in order. Wouldn't you love to see Cher play Marlene in a movie!