Dog Tags

September 27, 2010
Series fans and newcomers alike will welcome Rosenfelt's eighth comic legal thriller to feature Paterson, N.J., defense lawyer Andy Carpenter (after New Tricks). Billy Zimmerman, an ex-cop and Iraq war vet who lost a leg to a suicide bomber, has used Milo, a German shepherd and a former police dog, as his partner in snatch and run crimes. When a snatch that goes badly awry results in a murder charge for Billy and impoundment for Milo, Andy takes on Milo as a client. Andy, whose courtroom antics always delight, makes his bid for Milo's freedom before formidable Judge Horace Catchings. Billy's case presents greater challenges, with tendrils reaching back to Iraq and involving payoffs, hit men, and even a possible national security threat. Oddball regular characters, like Willie Miller, who tries his hand at detecting, and Marcus Clark, "the most-menacing-looking human being" Carpenter has ever seen, add to the fun.

July 1, 2010

"Is the client at least a human this time?" asks North Jersey attorney Andy Carpenter's partner. No such luck.

Billy Zimmerman and Milo, a German shepherd, were in the police force together. Then Billy went to Iraq without Milo and lost a leg in a suicide bombing that killed 18 people, including the new reformist oil minister. Now Billy and Milo are together again, this time as thieves. On the night when they're preparing to nab a crucial batch of papers from Major Jack Erskine, who returned from the Iraq disaster with both legs but no friends, something goes wrong. When the smoke clears, Erskine is dead, Billy is bending over him, the police are bending over Billy, Milo has hidden the papers someplace only he knows, and some well-armed bad guys are determined to get Milo to share his secret even as they cover their murderous tracks with more murders. The setup is a natural for Andy Carpenter, a sucker for hopeless cases and canine clients. And it's a pleasure watching Andy's ebullient maneuvering in Milo's defense. Once he gets custody of the dog, however, the case bogs down in low-impact courtroom wrangling, rumors of far-reaching terrorist plots and government cover-ups, and intercut scenes showing sinister assassins winnowing the cast of faceless co-conspirators. Worst of all, Milo gets upstaged by threats that "the world could blow up any minute."

Despite the clever title, dog lovers are well-advised to tune out after the first half of wisecracking Andy's lumpy, overscaled foray into international intrigue.

(COPYRIGHT (2010) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

June 15, 2010

Rosenfelt's eighth entry in the Andy Carpenter series (after New Tricks) is as entertaining as his previous titles. The familiar characters are back: Andy, a lawyer who would prefer doing anything to working; Willie, still managing the Tara Foundation (dog rescue); girlfriend and PI Laurie; and Marcus, the extra-large security guard. This time, Andy is tempted into representing Milo, a retired German shepherd police dog that had been turned into the perfect thief by Billy Zimmerman, an injured Iraqi war veteran and ex-cop. When found at the scene of a murder, Billy was charged with the crime, and Milo was put under lock and key. Always a sucker for a dog, Andy comes to his rescue and also ends up representing Billy. VERDICT Rosenfelt's dry wit can be laugh-out-loud funny, and his hero's latest adventures will appeal to readers of Harlan Coben's Myron Bolitar series. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 3/1/10.]--Susan Hayes, Chattahoochee Valley Libs., Columbus, GA

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