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Robert K. Tanenbaum's latest novel RESOLVED is the fifteenth book in his popular Karp/Ciampi series. It comes on the heels of the very successful ABSOLUTE RAGE (2002), when Butch was called to West Virginia to work a case and the family was torn apart by the violence they suffered during that summer. The aftershocks of that assignment have left Giancarlo blind, Marlene Ciampi a victim of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, and Butch Karp torn between his job, his children, his wife, his damaged marriage and his constant state of ennui. Lucy is still a virgin who speaks to saints and who makes a valiant attempt to keep the household together; she is currently on leave from college. And the twins, Giancarlo and Zak, are now 11 years old and roam their neighborhood, finding ways to get into their own kinds of mischief.
These familiar characters play new and powerful roles in RESOLVED --- Butch is now a candidate for the office of District Attorney of New York City; his wife Marlene, a former vigilante, runs an attack dog school on Long Island; Lucy helps out at a soup kitchen, travels the tunnels under the city to help the "mole-people" who live there, and has no idea that she is soon to become the obsession of a madman; and the boys balance the craziness with their humor and energy.
Felix Tighe is a psychopathic killer who Karp prosecuted and sent to Auburn Prison in New York State. While he serves his time, he nurtures his hatred for everyone who put him away, especially Karp. His psychopathology makes him a perfect "cut-out" for the nefarious plans of a prisoner named Feisal Abdul Ridwan, an Islamic fundamentalist. He recruits Tighe to join the murderous brigade he controls on the outside. Ridwan works in the prison infirmary and devises a plan to help Felix escape from Auburn as a "dead man" … spirited out of jail in a coffin.
The plan works perfectly and Tighe is delivered to a three-story house in Astoria, Queens where he meets the main man Rashid and the muscle, Carlos and Felipe --- all accomplished killers and terrorists. Felix says he will do anything for money; after all, he is a dead man, which makes him "invisible." The terrorists will use him to place bombs at sites all around the city, to cause death, destruction and fear. Felix's personal targets are the entire Karp/Ciampi family, but he moonlights and sets bombs to kill other people in the justice system out of sheer hatred.
Robert K. Tanenbaum is a very gifted writer. His prose is clean and sharp. He plots his stories with so much care that they come off in perfect form. While his legions of fans have come to know the Karp/Ciampi duo well, they also know that each new book will bring new adventures. One of the most fulfilling aspects of his body of work is how he shapes and reshapes his main characters. He allows them to change and mature in a logical progression and offers readers a fresh vision of them as "individuals." Tanenbaum can also be relied upon to create a supporting cast of always-believable bad guys/gals and good guys/gals. All of his characters do and say exactly what the reader would expect them to do and say, with a few explosive surprises to enliven the story.
In RESOLVED the author captures the angst that haunts New Yorkers and the rest of the world, as we all try to come to terms with our national/international vulnerabilities since 9/11. A bomb in this novel is a metaphor for the explosive rage in the world at large but is centered in the minds of the few who carry their inhumanity to the most heinous ends. This "in-your-face" approach tends to reinforce the individual's inescapable knowledge that "the center does not hold." But RESOLVED is not a preachy, whiny or angry book. Rather, it tries to confront the brutality that readers have come to know in real life.
9/11 is fodder for novels, coffee table books, feature films, TV movies, talk radio and news discussions --- and will remain a central theme in our lives forever. The aftermath of that day is constant in our thoughts whether we are conscious of it or not, and we cannot deny that this horrendous event has changed the way we live and perceive the world. Nevertheless, a sense of optimism and hopefulness is threaded through the fabric of this novel. In the talented hands of Robert K. Tanenbaum, readers can take heart because he approaches this painful topic with dignity and respect that is steeped in grace.
RESOLVED is worthy of a serious read. In this case, art reflects life and in fiction the writer can give us clues to a safe resolution of the issues. Don't miss this one --- it's a keeper!
--- Reviewed by Barbara Lipkien Gershenbaum
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