Corruption of Blood
when I first began reading, I thought "Oh no, another who killed jfk book" but I was wrong. This was very entertaining and well worth the read. Love the Butch/Marlene books but this one was GREAT.
Who Shot John?
This book takes a unique approach to the Kennedy conspiracy theories. Inserting Butch Karp and his wife into the investigation provides fans of this couple a new venue for their antics away from their usual crime-infested streets of New York City. Knowing the author was involved in the investigation of the assassination of JFK, I was distracted by constantly attempting to determine which parts of the book were fact and which were fiction. The description of Congressional interference had to be factual. His conclusion on the assassination plot is probably as open to debate as any other theory.
Be prepared for a long list of characters with aliases and code names. Having some knowledge of the actual people involved helps keep these characters straight as you continue to read.
I liked the book, except I felt it should be about 100 pages longer. By the time I was half way through the book, I realized something was going to bring this story to a rapid close. I was a bit disappointed with the way the author wrapped up the story. Too many things explained themselves too easily and numerous situations were left unresolved. But, then again, I guess that can also be said about the Warren Report.
Kennedy, anyone?
As someone typically fascinated with the Kennedy mystique, this book's subject matter (the Kennedy assassination) intrigued me, especially since in one hand, its author worked on the actual Kennedy investigation... and in the other, he's fluent and creative enough to have invented the mythical Butch Karp, prosecuter extraordinaire. Putting those hands together, we get this particular novel, which examines the assassination from a fictional historical perspective.I gave the story only three stars because, after a while into it, the Kennedy thing gets kind of muddy. It's really hard to keep all the characters and their interrelations straight (considering that some are good guys, some are known bad guys, some are mysterious and seldom-seen bad guys, some are good guys masquerading as bad guys, most have several aliases, and none of them use first names), and the political double-speak gets hard for me to digest. However, the "answer" in this book as to who killed JFK is sufficiently intriguing and satisfying for conspiracy theorists... and sufficiently absurd in its genesis to satisfy those with less tolerance for flights of fancy.
Much more interesting to me in this book is the sub-plot concerning Butch's wife Marlene, who delves into an investigation of her own, which (as seems to happen regularly in Butch Karp novels) winds up dovetailing neatly with her husband's. This book also introduces readers to the Karp family dog, Sweetie, the rescued Neapolitan mastiff that grows into the treasured family pet who spends half of his time drooling on Karp family belongings -- and the other half as Marlene's partner in vigilantism.
I would recommend first checking out this book in a library for a good preview... and while it does begin tantalizingly, remember what I said about its foggy middle and end. However, if you've been a hard-core Butch Karp fan, this is a necessary, although not especially noteworthy, addition to your Karp collection.
Attention conspiracy nuts! Fasten your seat belts!
Let's see. In secret, we routinely violated Russian airspace. What else? Oh yea, we also violated their territory via our spy submarines. So what else has been kept from the American public? Of course! The truth about the Kennedy assassination! Surprised? Don't be. Interested? Read Corruption of Blood. Tanenbaum tells it like it is. A five star journey into history. My favorite quote: "After the smoke cleared, it's a wonder anyone was left standing in Dealy Plaza!"
Boring
I believe the author is a good writer, particularly judging from the comments of other reviewers here. Nevertheless, the plot and characters in this book are annoying. I hate the women, kids, & dog angle as the conversations are mundane and just plain boring. I don't care about who killed JFK in this book because all of the options (cubans, mafia, castro, etc) have been examined endlessly elsewhere and all the time. Please you potential JFK writer's out there if you don't have anything new and exciting - don't bore us.
(10 reviews)
