Part of Butch Karp, book 23
First published 2011
District Attorney Butch Karp faces a nightmare scenario when an overzealous prosecutor in his office indicts Felix Acevedo, a shy Bronx teenager who confessed to a brutal double murder in uptown Manhattan. Karp knows the case violates his core principle: never charge someone unless evidence proves guilt beyond reasonable doubt. While Acevedo sits in jail and media outlets demand his blood, the real killer continues hunting victims across the city. Karp's wife Marlene Ciampi takes to the streets to find evidence that will save the innocent boy. Her investigation leads her to a drug-addicted psychopath and a corrupt police detective willing to kill for career glory. As Ciampi closes in on the truth, she enters a deadly race where only one player will survive. Karp and Ciampi must navigate a broken system, manipulated evidence, and a frenzied press to deliver justice before more people die.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, legal-thriller
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Bronx, Manhattan, New York
Period: 21st-century
322 pages · Hardcover · Gallery Books
Content warnings: murder, violence