“You think the don is losing his grip?”
“Well, it could go either way. Pigetti gets impatient, he could try something, but the don’s built up a lot of respect over the years. The older capos . . . you know how they are.”
“I do. Which is why I’m going to slip this little tape into your pocket.”
“What is it?”
“It’s Vivian Bollano describing the Bollano version of ‘Happy Days.’ Truly heartwarming. Listen to it, and I think you’ll want to share it with some of your pals in the Bollano organization.”
“Uh, Marlene . . .” said Guma nervously.
“Or, I could just mail it to half a dozen capi regimes. But I figure you’d want the credit. These guys like to think they’re like Al Pacino with la famiglia. They wouldn’t want this to get into general circulation. I think they’ll buy you a box of cannoli.”
Guma stared at her for a moment, took the tape from his pocket, tossed it once, and put it away. “You really are something. Butch know about this?”
“No, and you know he doesn’t want to know. Will you?”
Guma nodded slowly. A grin broke out across his face, horrible to see. She grinned back. It was a Sicilian moment. “Yeah,” said Guma. “Yeah, I think I will. As a public service to the Mob. Besides, I never cared for the old cafone. What if they want to know who gave me the tape?”
“What tape is that?” said Marlene sweetly, and skipped away back to the champagne.
Acknowledgments
Again, and yet again, all praise belongs
to Michael Gruber whose genuis and
scholarship flows throughout and who is
primarily and solely responsible for the
excellence of this manuscript and whose
contribution cannot be overstated.
Special thanks to Paul McCarthy who,
like Henry Robbins before him, shares
the same vision and offers the same caring
literary guidance and encouragement.
And special recognition belongs to
Georgia di Donato, my confidential
assistant without whose patience,
friendship and able assistance
none of this would be possible.
About the Author
ROBERT K. TANENBAUM is one of the country’s most successful trial lawyers, having never lost a felony case. He ran the Homicide Bureau and was Bureau Chief of the Criminal Courts for the New York District Attorney’s Office and Deputy Chief Counsel to the Congressional Committee investigations into the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He has taught Advanced Criminal Procedure at the University of California at Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law. He is the author of twenty-two Butch Karp novels and two true-crime books.
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Resounding Acclaim for Robert K. Tanenbaum and Act of Revenge
“Tanenbaum is one lawyer
who can write with the best of them.”
New York Times bestselling author Joseph Wambaugh
“[A] take-no-prisoners tale of mob violence . . . Former New York City homicide chief and trial attorney Tanenbaum has crafted a believably twisted gem of a gangster tale with visceral action and smooth comic relief in a technicolor, Big Apple setting. . . . Karp’s quirky extended family provides enough depth for years of sequels.”
Publishers Weekly (*Starred Review*)
“Tanenbaum is one hell of a writer. [His] real strength has always been his characters, and he doesn’t fail here.”
New York Post
“Fasten your seat belts for the bumpiest ride in Butch Karp’s long career with the New York D.A.’s office. As usual, Tanenbaum pulls off a hundred effective scenes in a dozen different tones. [Act of Revenge is] a very good thing indeed.”
Kirkus Reviews
“A suspenseful thriller.”
Bozeman Chronicle (MT)
“Tanenbaum knows as much about mayhem and the people who commit it as anyone writing today. . . . Colorfully written and cleverly plotted . . . another winner for Tanenbaum.”
Booklist
By Robert K. Tanenbaum
Fiction
BETRAYED
CAPTURE
ESCAPE
MALICE
COUNTERPLAY
FURY
HOAX
RESOLVED
ABSOLUTE RAGE
ENEMY WITHIN
TRUE JUSTICE
ACT OF REVENGE
RECKLESS ENDANGERMENT
IRRESISTIBLE IMPULSE
FALSELY ACCUSED
CORRUPTION OF BLOOD
JUSTICE DENIED
MATERIAL WITNESS
REVERSIBLE ERROR
IMMORAL CERTAINTY
DEPRAVED INDIFFERENCE
NO LESSER PLEA
Nonfiction
THE PIANO TEACHER:
THE TRUE STORY OF A PSYCHOTIC KILLER
BADGE OF THE ASSASSIN
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 1999 by Robert K. Tanenbaum
First Harper premium printing: June 2011
First HarperTorch mass market printing: June 2000
First Harper hardcover printing: June 1999
ISBN 978-0-06-206839-2
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Epub Edition JUNE 2011 ISBN: 9780062078278
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