Robert K. Tanenbaum spent the first part of his career as an assistant district attorney in New York City's homicide bureau, and he has been artfully recapturing that period in his terrific books about D.A. Butch Karp and his wife, private detective Marlene Ciampi. "He still had his hair at thirty-seven, and he kept it shorter than was fashionable then, at the start of the eighties," Tanenbaum writes of Butch at the start of Irresistible Impulse. It is one of the few places in the book where the exact time is spelled out; otherwise, Tanenbaum relies on an ambiance of attitudes and characters to root the action in its period. A tough Vietnamese immigrant who goes to work for Marlene's new detective agency is a fascinating creation, and the two main stories--Karp's difficulties with a high-profile case that could stir up racial strife, and Marlene's attempts to protect a prominent musician from a stalker--are perfectly set and brilliantly executed. Other books in this fine series available in paperback include Badge of the Assassin, Corruption of Blood, Depraved Indifference, Falsely Accused, Immoral Certainty, and Justice Denied.


From Library Journal
Legal eagles Butch Carp and Marlene Ciampi, fresh from their courtroom adventure in the best-selling Falsely Accused, here find their jobs and lives threatened.Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Kirkus Reviews
A serial killer who preys on elderly black women is only the main course in this smorgasbord of homicides--some proposed, some already disposed --for Butch Karp and his wife Marlene Ciampi. Back in the D.A.'s office as chief of the Homicide Bureau after his stint as a defense attorney (Falsely Accused, 1996), Butch insists on trying confessed killer Jonathan Rohbling himself because of his past successes against the insanity plea that's bound to be lodged by high-powered Lionel T. Waley--even though Butch knows his continuing administrative responsibilities, not to mention his newborn twins, will mean stretching himself perilously thin. Nor is there any rest for equally workaholic Marlene, whose feminist security agency Bello & Ciampi (which specializes in protecting women menaced by stalkers) is growing faster than she can shout ``Drop the weapon!'' In fact, the men stalking Bello & Ciampi's latest clients--tennis pro Trude Speyr, cellist Edith Wooten, and Marlene's returning client Carrie Lanin (whose stalker, just released from prison for stalking, is back on the trail)--are so persistent and so violent that neither Marlene nor her latest subordinates (a rolling-stone security guard she hires through normal channels, a Vietnamese stone killer she takes on unofficially) have time to shout out much of anything before the weapons come out on both sides. If this feast of felonies sounds a little rich, it is: The Rohbling trial, though continually engaging, isn't a stout enough beanpole to hang the whole book on, and Butch and Marlene's growing suspicion that the same perp he likes for a sneaky drug homicide is her top candidate for the most elusive of her stalkers doesn't close the circle very convincingly either. Fans hooked on Tanenbaum's mastery of detail and his gripping way with every single plotline won't care that this time his three-ring circus lacks a true headliner. (Literary Guild/Mystery Guild main selections) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Book Description
National bestselling author Robert K. Tanenbaum brings Butch Karp and Marlene Ciampi back in his latest thriller of street justice and courtroom intrigue! Butch, the chief of the Manhattan District Attorney's Homicide Bureau, faces the toughest legal challenge of his career, facing off against one of the most brilliant defense lawyers in America in a murder trial laced with racial overtones. Meanwhile his private detective wife Marlene has her own hands full seeking a stalker who preys on the weak and vulnerable. Their relationship will be put to the test as the pressure of the two cases mount and collide into the hottest controversy New York City has ever seen!
Over 5 million copies of Robert K. Tanenbaum's books in print! Irresistible Impulse is the ninth novel to feature the husband and wife team of Butch Karp and Marlene Ciampi Will be published to coincide with Robert K. Tanenbaum's new Dutton hardcover, Reckless Endangerment Starred review in Publishers Weekly

FROM THE PUBLISHER

As the head of the New York District Attorney's homicide bureau, Butch Karp is an intimate of cops and criminals, of judges, politicians, and the meanest streets of America. He is also a loving family man. Juggling these two lives, Karp sometimes dares to think he's gotten everything he's ever wanted in life. It all comes undone when his loved ones are touched by the incendiary power of human obsession. It's the obsession of a man stalking a world-famous musician. It's the obsession of Karp's own office, where ambitious lawyers vie for the most high-profile cases, and where Karp goes up against one of the most brilliant defense attorneys in America in a murder trial laced with racial overtones. It's the obsession of Butch's wife, Marlene, whose detective agency specializes in domestic violence and who carries a Colt .380 to protect herself and her clients. But neither Butch nor Marlene realize that they are about to become flash points in two of the hottest controversies to rock the city in years.

FROM THE CRITICS

LA Times Book Review

Tanenbaum knows the workings of the New York D.A.'s office like the back of his hand.

Publishers Weekly

The workaholic marriage between New York DA Butch Karp and streetwise security agent Marlene Ciampi once again takes center stage in Tannenbaum's snappy, electric ninth novel to feature the latter-day Hepburn and Tracy. A suspicious death certificate raises a red flag in the DA's office, but the ensuing investigation of the doctor involved takes a back seat to the high-profile Rohbling case, which Butch wants to prosecute personally. This cuts into his family time with his daughter Lucy, who's having problems at her Chinatown school, and with Marlene, whose agency is trying to protect cellist Edith Wooten from an obsessed fan. Clever readers will spot this music-lover almost from his first appearance, so the suspense here is all Hitchcockian: since we know there's a bomb in the briefcase, we wonder when it will go off. Tanenbaum concentrates on how these contrasting cases affect Butch and Marlenetheir careers, their marriage and their relationship with Lucy. He links the two main plots together cleverly and adds an ingenious subplot when Marlene hires a Vietnamese immigrant who isn't afraid to get rough or break the law in the line of duty. Tannenbaum's authentic background detail and his likable characters provide irresistible entertainment. Mystery Guild main selection; Doubleday Book Club and Literary Guild selections; audio rights to Books on Tape. (Nov.)

Library Journal

Legal eagles Butch Carp and Marlene Ciampi, fresh from their courtroom adventure in the best-selling Falsely Accused, here find their jobs and lives threatened.

Kirkus Reviews

A serial killer who preys on elderly black women is only the main course in this smorgasbord of homicides—some proposed, some already disposed—for Butch Karp and his wife Marlene Ciampi.

Back in the D.A.'s office as chief of the Homicide Bureau after his stint as a defense attorney (Falsely Accused, 1996), Butch insists on trying confessed killer Jonathan Rohbling himself because of his past successes against the insanity plea that's bound to be lodged by high-powered Lionel T. Waley—even though Butch knows his continuing administrative responsibilities, not to mention his newborn twins, will mean stretching himself perilously thin. Nor is there any rest for equally workaholic Marlene, whose feminist security agency Bello & Ciampi (which specializes in protecting women menaced by stalkers) is growing faster than she can shout "Drop the weapon!" In fact, the men stalking Bello & Ciampi's latest clients—tennis pro Trude Speyr, cellist Edith Wooten, and Marlene's returning client Carrie Lanin (whose stalker, just released from prison for stalking, is back on the trail)—are so persistent and so violent that neither Marlene nor her latest subordinates (a rolling-stone security guard she hires through normal channels, a Vietnamese stone killer she takes on unofficially) have time to shout out much of anything before the weapons come out on both sides. If this feast of felonies sounds a little rich, it is: The Rohbling trial, though continually engaging, isn't a stout enough beanpole to hang the whole book on, and Butch and Marlene's growing suspicion that the same perp he likes for a sneaky drug homicide is her top candidate for the most elusive of her stalkers doesn't close the circle very convincingly either.

Fans hooked on Tanenbaum's mastery of detail and his gripping way with every single plotline won't care that this time his three-ring circus lacks a true headliner.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

Tanenbaum knows how to plot and pace, he writes dialogue that snaps, creates stories that need to be told. What more can you ask from a thriller? — Jonathan Kellerman

A winner...tremendous authenticity. — F. Lee Bailey