K Team

The K Team: David Rosenfelt

Judges preside over cases and the verdict is cast by a jury. Sentence is given if the defendant is found guilty and the judge moves on to the case next. Judge Henry Henderson is known for his honesty, being hard nosed and takes no guff from anyone present in his courtroom. His rulings are never questioned until something happens that changes it all and his world is about to crumble. But, the judge is smart and has decided to hire The K team headed by Andy Carpenter’s wife, former detective Corey Douglas and his K9 partner Simon plus Marcus whose an investigator, enforcer and protector. Added in San Willis who can hack into anything and find out what most law enforcement agencies can but not as fast.

Things escalate at a faster pace when the blackmailers send a text and a threat to the judge. A simple photo could

bring his world crashing down and the message imparted stating it was time to return a favor was chilling. Looking into all of his pending and past cases the team hopes to find answers but comes up short .

Judge Henderson was in a quandary and needed advice from someone he trusted. Turning to Judge Pletka and Judge Peter Tuckman hoping they would help him to decide how to move forward and whether he should recuse himself or business as usual . Money laundering is at the heart of this novel as well as a well orchestrated plan for 8 men heading 8 companies to become beyond rich and powerful.

Walter Cummings and Carlos Gutierrez are lawyers that’s their only commonality. Cummings represents the extremely rich and Gutierrez the drug dealers like Kenny Collins his claim to fame.

Things progress in many directions as the K team goes over all of the judge’s cases and tries to narrow it down. Marcus realizes that the judge is being followed they learn the name of the man is Kevin Vickers. At first they do nit approach him but nothing remains immune to the wrath of these blackmailers. As we learn the fate of Vickers and then more about Collins and a double homicide related to Luis Valdez and his brother Renny.

A photo of a woman going into the judge’s hotel room and a bank account in his name in the Cayman Islands are just the beginning of what this group of blackmailers have on the judge except it’s fabricated and false but how ?

What is behind the blackmail leads to some powerful men who are able to buy stocks that have increased in price or gone up but they know that before buying them. The percentage might be 2 percent but the yield is great. Added in we learn about how this works as the author enlightens readers about the world of finance and how one man’s greed might bring down even more.

Drew Lockman and Miles Sloan plus Arthur McKnight are at the heart of this scam but there are others that learn what happens when you know too much. Then the unthinkable happens and the judge is found dead in his home and two others are sacrificed.

Several prisoners will be released if their verdicts are overturned and one is the key to a program that these men use to buy and sell on one site.

Ellis McCray was extremely dangerous and managed to put bugs inside two of the 8 men’s homes involved in this money fraud but even the best of plans and the best of threats and promises for wealth and success can be taken down when someone you trust moves to the other side.

With the death of the judge and the police Captain in charge of the investigation working with them even though Andy is now part of the team, things move in different directions and with Sam’s help and skills and Marcus they might solve the case.

If the judge did something worthy of blackmail and they started the conspiracy with the bank account and sending the girl to his hotel room. Lockman is accused of misspending millions of investors’ money. Told in the first person in Coreys voice we hear his trend of thought, his fears and his logic for pursuing the case.

Equi-net has four locations and is at the heart of this financial situation. John Lowry is the one behind creating the program and Corey chose the location in Fort Lee for that reason. Cynthia Warren is the managing director and the company stands for Electronic Communication Network where if you trade stocks they make it happen. Pages 190-191 explains how it works. John Lowry was essential to their company until he tried to defend someone in a bar and killed someone. Yet another piece of the puzzle is that 8 men sent one million five to be invested but the K Team has yet to uncover why but they are slowly learning the how.

But someone is now targeting Simon hoping to put a scare in Corey but lucky for him his girlfriend Dani is observant and smart. This turns up the anger scale and the person will pay dearly.

Things start to come together but there are more murders and we learn that Judge Henderson was did not commit suicide and the betrayal is huge. Lies,power, greed, wealth and control are just some of the issues author David Rosenfelt brings to light as well as loyalty, honesty and respect. With Andy now part of the team and the bait placed in front of a dangerous killer, which side will win and what is the future of the K Team? Definitely a strong series that will continue.

Fran Lewis just reviews