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ABSOLUTE RAGE is Robert K. Tanenbaum's 14th addition to his popular Karp/Ciampi series. All of the familiar characters are back, but the setting is West Virginia not New York, and the family must face the challenges brought forth when they themselves become the targets of thugs and murderers.
This book is definitely Tanenbaum's darkest and it raises ethical and moral questions about the law. He also spotlights how families function in times of upheaval and change. Tanenbaum's greatest talent lies in his ability to weave several themes into the fabric of a suspenseful and interesting story while at the same time remaining faithful to the personalities of his characters. And one of the most exciting attributes this series offers is that readers can start anywhere in the series without losing a beat.
ABSOLUTE RAGE brings the whole Karp/Ciampi family together during one hot, tragic summer. Butch Karp is still in the district attorney's office in New York City and hates his job. Marlene Ciampi, his wife, has retired from her crime-fighting career and now owns a dog training school on Long Island. Their daughter Lucy is a freshman at Boston College and a lab rat to the neuroscientists at MIT who are studying her brain to try to determine how it works; she has the ability to speak any language she hears. And the twin boys "Zik" and "Zac" are 10-year-olds emerging into pre-pubescence with clearly distinctive personalities.
Marlene and the twins are spending the summer living at the dog training school. Here she meets her beachside neighbor Rose Heeney and Rose's 10-year-old daughter Lizzie. The women have little in common but find schmoozing over cold beer under the hot sun a pleasant way to keep an eye on their kids and wile away the long afternoons.
Lucy arrives on the scene in the company of Dan Heeney, one of Rose's sons, who is a student at MIT. Dan takes a job at the school to learn how to train dogs, and Lucy becomes infatuated with Dan --- and for the first time begins to understand that she does have carnal needs. Although she remains chaste, she delights in the discovery of these heretofore hidden facets of her personality.
The other men folk arrive on the weekend. For Butch Karp this is a short vacation. But "Red" Heeney and his older son Emmet are there to take Rose and Lizzie back to West Virginia. Red is an angry man with a quick temper who is running for the presidency of his union. His activism has consumed him; he can think only of wiping out the overt corruption that has pervaded his union for years.
The morning after Heeney arrives, his family packs up their vehicles and heads back to West Virginia. A few days later Emmett calls to tell Dan that the rest of the family has been slaughtered in their beds. Shock, grief, and disbelief hang like a black cloud over the Karp/Ciampi family when Dan leaves to bury his kin.
After this event the pace of the book picks up speed. Marlene goes to West Virginia to free a retarded man who is framed for the murders, and ironically, the West Virginia governor appoints Butch to be special prosecutor. Soon, Lucy packs up the boys and her dog, and much to their parent's chagrin, they too make the trip to West Virginia.
Needless to say, from this moment on the action roars over the pages, and the plot races to it's climactic end. But not before heads roll and gunfire pierces the countryside of Robbens County.
When the dust settles, the tragic results of a drug war, small town family feuds, and dirty politics leave their mark on the Karp/Ciampi family. ABSOLUTE RAGE will be a personal read for Tanenbaum fans, and readers just discovering him will surely want to read the rest of the series.
--- Reviewed by Barbara Lipkien Gershenbaum
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