Capture    by Robert K. Tanenbaum Order:  USA  Can Pocket, 2009 (2009) Hardcover, e-Book Read an Excerpt      Reviewed by Hilary Williamson In this 21st in an increasingly high stakes, highly entertaining series (whose characters grow ever larger than life) it's once again up to Manhattan DA Butch Karp, his volatile wife Marlene Ciampi and spiritual genius daughter Lucy to save the Western world - as they did last time in Escape and before that in Malice. As always, Robert K. Tanenbaum gives Butch an intriguing court case to solve, matching his terrorist plot with a legal one. After the death of a key senior prosecutor, Butch himself takes on the case of a super-sleazy Broadway producer who admitted to the hotel concierge that he shot and killed an actress in his penthouse suite. Slam dunk? Though it probably should be, this celebrity murder case is defended by a legal dream team, who have proved very good at obfuscating the matter with 'boatloads of spurious motions and superfluous experts', and at selling the Big Lie (a major theme in this thriller). While busy in court, Butch Karp also begins to receive riddles to solve. Ned Blanchet and Lucy Karp - as well as Taos Indian shaman John Jojola and Vietnamese gangster Tran Do Vinh - previously signed on to a secret anti-terrorism agency that regularly takes them overseas. Lucy believes the Karps 'have been drafted into the army of God' and receives 'wise advice and comfort' through visions of St. Teresa of Avila. Now Lucy has a plan that entails enormous personal risk. Mad mystic David Grale is getting ever madder below the city. Sociopath Andrew Kane is back from the dead with a melted face, a burning obsession with revenge, and ties to the Sons of Man, a secret society that's murdered and manipulated to assure its own power and profit for centuries. Operation Flashfire is underway, and Nadya Malovo (with whom the Karps have crossed swords before) is, as usual at the center of all the mayhem. Of course, Butch wins in court and solves the riddles just in time. Suspense builds to an action-packed finale that pits ace reporter Ariadne Stupenagel against Nadya Malovo on the high seas, and Andrew Kane against his riddling alter ego, young Andy. Robert K. Tanenbaum's Capture is a mix of legal thriller, spy story and end time novel. And though the author's latest plots are beginning to feel a little like déja vu, they always take the reader along for an extraordinary ride. Fans new and old will not want to miss Capture. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Mystery books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews