Without Fear or Favor

June 19, 2017
In the prologue of bestseller Tanenbaum’s energetic 29th novel featuring New York County DA Butch Karp (after 2016’s Infamy), Karp holds a press conference outside Manhattan’s Criminal Courts Building. The large crowd is expecting him to announce whether Bryce Kim, an Asian policeman accused of fatally shooting black teenager Ricky Watts, is going to be indicted. When Karp announces that no decision will be made until the investigation is concluded, a gunman shoots him. Flash back to a month earlier: the murder of Tony Cippio, a white police officer, by a black shooter in Harlem is followed by the shooting death of Watts, the son of a popular Baptist minister. These actions elevate racial tensions throughout the city. Back in the present, only the investigative skills of Karp, who’s recovered from his gunshot wounds, and his wife, Marlene Ciampi, can bring the truth to light when Kim is brought to trial. Tanenbaum, himself a lawyer, writes with brio and brings the final, decisive courtroom scenes to satisfying life. Agent: Bob Diforio, D4EO Literary Agency.

Narrator Peter Berkrot handles this timely, well-written police procedural and courtroom thriller about racism amid police departments and the world at large. Butch Karp is the district attorney of New York City and an easy character to like. Listeners will appreciate Berkrot's deft use of pacing and accents to bring out the characters' personalities and emotions. He is especially adept at the many, mostly male, voices and at building the drama of the story. From the beginning, we know that the black Baptist preacher's son, Ricky Watts, was armed and that he fired first in an attempt to assassinate Officer Bryce Kim. Ricky, however, was set up by a sociopath who calls himself "Nat X." The intriguing, well-plotted story is compellingly delivered by Berkrot. S.C.A. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award � AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine