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4.0 out of 5 stars
Under Every Stone, Lurks a Politician, Aug 1 2002
Robert Tannenbaum captures the hard grit and the reality of civil service (whether it be city, state or federal) like no other. The offices are drab, your superior may be a smart politico but absolutely inept in the office h/she holds, the paperwork takes precedence over the doing the job, and you always and forever Cover Your Backside. Theoretically, the police department "serves" the District Attorney's Office. In reality, the Chief of Detectives superintending five divisions of detectives is a far, far, bigger honcho than an Assistant Attorney General Bureau Chief who has a total staff of ten.The life expectancy of New York's drug lords has been unexpectedly shortened in the past few months. Five kingpins have been murdered. At one level, this is not a cause for consternation; after all these creeps are not pillars of the community, right? What is disturbing is the slickness of the crimes, and there is a suspicion that a rogue cop might be at work cleaning up the city on his own time and in his own way. As the highly secret investigation proceeds, corruption is uncovered at higher and higher levels. But where to go with the information? Butch Karp, Assistant DA Bureau Chief and Marlene Ciampi, a lawyer on his staff and his fiancée are a marvelously realized pair. He is moody, filled with angst, cynical but still loaded with integrity. She is a firecracker, witty, fast tempered with an off-the-wall sense of humor. Some of their exchanges are priceless. Marlene (rightly) regularly gets fed up with the Great Man's moody silences and frequently galvanizes him with explosions of mirth, temperament, fury---whatever it takes. This is one of the most strongly written duos of the mystery genre. While the situations ring true, the action is somewhat predictable. You know who will still be standing at the end, unlike Jeffery Deavers who does away with your favorite character when you least expect it. "Reversible Error" (somewhat oddly titled in honor of a subplot) always keeps your interest but doesn't give you that irresistible urge to peek at the last page.
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by Robert Tanenbaum
