Publisher Description
New York Times bestselling author Robert K. Tanenbaum takes legal suspense to dramatic new heights when his hero, District Attorney Butch Karp, goes up against a ruthless union leader with too much power, too many secrets, and too many enemies to silence…or kill.
Prizefighter tough. Street-hustler smart. Pit-bull vicious. Longshoremen’s union boss Charlie Vitteli clawed his way to the top—and no one’s going to take him down now. Not if they value their lives. Like Vince Carlotta. He accused Vitteli of embezzlement and election rigging. Now Carlotta is just another corpse on the waterfront—allegedly gunned down by an armed robber. Connecting Vitteli to the murder could be the death of anyone who tries—unless District Attorney Butch Karp can uncover the one tragic flaw that could bring down the curtain on the cold-blooded villain once and for all.
Packed with ingenious twists, diabolical turns, and shocking revelations, Tragic is Robert K. Tanenbaum at his page-turning best.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Roger "Butch" Karp takes on organized crime masquerading as union politics in bestseller Tanenbaum's overly ambitious 25th thriller featuring the New York County DA (after 2012's Bad Faith). Recently deceased union leader Leo Corcione left two prospective heirs: ruthless Charlie Vitteli and upstanding Vince Carlotta. Vitteli's thugs, led by brutal Joey Barros, set out to prove that the nice guy finishes last by putting a bullet through Carlotta's head. Karp works to pin Vitteli to the crime, but when Karp's wife, ADA Marlene Campi, provides crucial testimony, the personal connection threatens to discredit both them and the case. Tanenbaum, himself a criminal lawyer, supplies fluid, authentic dialogue, but overlong courtroom cross-examinations drag down narrative momentum. On the plus side, the expansive cast of characters includes intriguing portrayals of the petty lowlifes who are both agents and victims of Vitteli's machinations. Constant allusions to Macbeth freight the book with grandiose expectations that are never met.
