Publishers Weekly
Single mom, part-time law student and overworked Ventura County probation officer Carolyn Sullivan is Rosenberg's (Mitigating Circumstances; Interest of Justice; etc.) latest heroine to find herself staring danger in the face. Sullivan's troubles begin when one of her probationers, Fast Eddie-whom she hasn't seen in months-rapes an eight-year-old girl. New parolee Daniel Metroix presents a different challenge: the brilliant schizophrenic might be innocent of the crime that put him in prison, the murder of the then police chief's son. Despite warnings from her ex-boyfriend boss, Sullivan investigates that 23-year-old crime as well as the former police chief, his family and his henchmen. After Metroix's hotel room explodes during Sullivan's visit, destroying his notes for what may be a brilliant invention, Metroix's enemies threaten Sullivan, too. Her career's in jeopardy, her life and children are in danger, and Sullivan has no one to turn to except the sympathetic judge who teaches her law class and the handsome professor who just moved to her neighborhood. Rosenberg uses her firsthand knowledge of law enforcement to create convincing sketches of criminal predators, mental patients and hardworking civil servants in this fast-paced romantic thriller. Often sacrificing authenticity for drama and subtlety for sentiment, Rosenberg crams her stories with coincidences (e.g., the professor teaches physics, which is also the hobby of Sullivan's 15-year-old son and Metroix). But readers will overlook these flaws, especially since Sullivan is so human and determined that it's almost impossible not to race to the end to see what happens to her next. Agent, Arthur Klebanoff. Literary Guild, Doubleday Book Club and Mystery Guild selections. (May) Forecast: Nelson DeMille's not making a tough call when he notes on the back cover that Rosenberg's latest "will be another bestseller"-all of her novels have hit the lists. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
Caroline Sullivan, probation officer, part-time law student, and single mom, finds danger overtaking her life when she is assigned to new parolee Daniel Metroix. Daniel, a brilliant schizophrenic, has just been paroled after 23 years in prison for allegedly killing the then police chief's son. After interviewing Daniel, Caroline begins to doubt his guilt and starts investigating the case, endangering her career as well as her life and the lives of her children. Rosenberg (Mitigating Circumstances) gives authenticity to her justice-system characters and builds suspense that culminates in a thrilling conclusion, though the coincidences strain believability. Sandra Burr reads clearly, even if at times she conveys more melodrama than is credible. Recommended for those who enjoy a fast-moving if somewhat contrived thriller.-Nancy R. Ives, SUNY at Geneseo Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
New series debut in which a probation officer's life turns out to be just as full of menace, romance, and violence as that of any Rosenberg cop or lawyer. Twenty-three years after he was convicted of killing high-school football star Tim Harrison, schizophrenic Daniel Metroix is back on the streets again because somebody at Chico State Prison missed a call. Tim's father, the former Ventura police chief who's now deputy chief at the LAPD, is so furious that he hires a couple of bent ex-cops to do Daniel dirt. Into this mangle walks Carolyn Sullivan, Daniel's new probation officer, whose last client, pedophile Eddie Downly, has just disappeared after raping little Luisa Cortez and leaving her for dead. Despite juggling law school, single parenthood-her writer husband showed an unlovely side under the influence of drugs and drink-and a full caseload, Carolyn can see that Daniel tells a pretty convincing story of innocence for a guy who hears voices. And she's not too busy to notice that her new neighbor Paul Leighton, a physics professor her son John idolizes, is interested in John's mother as well. Can she keep Paul at bay long enough to prove Daniel's innocence to the skeptical police and judiciary, protect John and his kid sister from bad guys who've already trashed her car and tried to blow her up, and uncover a conspiracy that seems to involve every crook in Ventura County? Only readers new to Rosenberg's brand of imperiled law-enforcement dames who specialize in frontier justice (Conflict of Interest, 2002, etc.) will wonder. Apart from a finale that finds Carolyn distributing armaments to her troubled client, her son, and her neighbor's housekeeper, this supercharged, undernourishedcase is most notable for Carolyn's response to Paul's profession of love: "Isn't a statement like that a little premature? We haven't even had sex."Literary Guild/Doubleday Book Club/Mystery Guild selection. Agent: Arthur Klebanoff/Scott Meredith Literary Agency
