Sullivan's Law

Carolyn Sullivan #1

by Nancy Taylor Rosenberg

In Sullivan's Law, Nancy Taylor Rosenberg introduces a take-no-prisoners heroine in a taut, razor-sharp thriller filled with the sort of gritty, realistic details only a person who's been there could know. Monday mornings are hell. That's what Carolyn Sullivan is thinking as she arrives at her office at the Ventura County Probation Department. She's got a paper due for law school. Two high-energy kids who need to be in different places at the same time. A mountain of debt. Her boss is on the warpath before she even has a chance to grab her first cup of coffee. But Carolyn's day is about to get a lot worse... One of her probationers has just been arrested for rape. It's a front-page-headline story that leads squarely back to Carolyn's paper-strewn desk and overwhelming caseload. Could she have prevented the crime? She fears the top brass, pressured by the media, may destroy her career. Just when Carolyn should be lying low, instead she's assigned a sensitive case that's sure to have everyone breathing down her neck--supervising convicted killer and paranoid schizophrenic Daniel Metroix. Carolyn dives into a case that everyone else seems to want to keep closed...one that leads behind the glossy exteriors of Ventura's most prominent sons into the darkest corners of the American dream. Someone doesn't want Carolyn to discover the truth. Someone who knows where she lives, where she goes, who she sees. Someone who will strike at the very heart of every mother's worst fear in order to silence her for good.

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Thriller, Fiction, Suspense, Legal Thriller, Legal

400 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2004

About the author

With a BA in English and 5 years as a photographic model behind her, Nancy Taylor Rosenberg studied criminology. She served in the Dallas Police Department, New Mexico State Police, Ventura Police Department and as an Investigative Probation Officer in Court Services for the Country of Ventura where she handled major crimes. She lived in California.

Reviews

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a Great Author, Nancy's books flows so smoothly, you never want to put the book down till the end... Just a little insight a crime has been committed and then it goes into a tailspin and you won't believe how it ends!!!!!!

[L8blmr · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know if the problem is me or the books I've been choosing to read lately, but this one was another example of a story featuring a character I really did not like. I had every intention of reading this series featuring Carolyn Sullivan (a California probation officer), even locating and purchasing the first three books so I could go right from one to the next. However, I am not going to trouble myself with continuing past this book because it was all I could do to finish it. Between the unsympathetic heroine and her shortcomings as a parent, too much useless detail in some places vs. too little information in others, the cast of uninteresting peripheral characters and a far-fetched plot, there just wasn't much to like. The only thing that saved it from a one-star rating from me was an interesting and unconventional convicted killer whom, after the is-he-or-isn't-he-a-villain phase, provided some originality in this story.

[Martin Bode · Rating 2 out of 5]

I know two probation officers, so I thought I would enjoy this book, but the main character isn't really a probation officer. Part of the plot of the novel is set up by her negligent failure to do her job supervising a homicidal pedophile, but the rest of her time is spent doing a police detective's duty, going to night law school, trying to decide who to sleep with, and being a single mother. The pedophile in the story makes it particularly uncomfortable when Sullivan herself describes how handsome her 15 year old son is with his bronzed skin and taut muscles. At the end of the story I thought that everything was wrapped up too neatly.

[Sally Trabulsi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Atty Carolyn Harrison is employed to keep track of an overwhelming number paroled individuals. She has one who was convicted of a serious crime against a small child and another she thinks may have been the real perpetrator. With two teen-agers to keep on track and an interesting professor on sabbatical in a nearby house, the cast of characters, including her co-workers, make for good story.
I hadn't read Rosenberg for a long time and this reminded me how much I like her. But I'm a sucker for a good law-related story.

[Amber · Rating 1 out of 5]

For a book that begins by discussing a pedophilic murderer, it really has too much uncomfortable language about how the mother, our protagonist, views her 15 ye at old son. Comments about his looks and his general behavior, way he communicates, and again, continued comments on his physique, have made this book a quick DNF and soured the mood.

[Marcia · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only reason I didn't stop reading this book is because it has been on my to read list for over ten years and I thought it deserved to be finished. I used to love this author, boy have my tastes in books changed.

[Sara Prischak · Rating 4 out of 5]

easy read & I always love a crime thriller type book:) plot was great and kept me guessing, only reason I took off a star was bc some of the writing could’ve been better but considering this was like early 2000’s we’ll cut her some slack. 7.5/10

[Gerda Leek · Rating 2 out of 5]

too graphic

[NK · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall it was a good story, although I did lose interest midway through the book.

[Karen Suhorsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good book and the first in a series I would like to read more of this author.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reads a bit slow. Basically just an average lawyer/cop thriller.

[Mustafa Asik · Rating 5 out of 5]

too graphic

[Barb VanderWel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this & I can't wait for more.
I will be also leaving a review on Goodreads @ Amazon.
And letting everyone know about it.
So i gave it a 5 Stars.

[Lisa Currier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fairly entertaining. Lot’s going on. What really bothered me was the “love at first sight” storyline. Unrealistic, didn’t really fit.

[Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was interesting have the main person being a probation officer and Law student. Single Mom with 2 kids. not enough time in the day but she keeps her Kids safe and solves the crime.

[Bex Dalziell · Rating 4 out of 5]

good read

[Tammi Looney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggled through this book. One minute it had my attention and then the next, I found myself floundering. The suspense factor was lacking in intensity. At several points in the book, I found myself questioning different things that were written that really had no pertinence to what was happening at the time let alone the story itself. I felt like the who-done-it part of the story just ended, dropped off like ideas for a climatic ending disappeared. This is the first book in the Sullivan series by Rosenberg and as tempted as I am not to read the next one, there is a part of me that wants to see if there is improvement in the series.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the first installment of the Carolyn Sullivan series by Nancy Taylor Rosenberg, Sullivan's Law, we were introduced to Carolyn Sullivan, a take-no-charge probation officer for the Ventura Police Department. She was also a single mother of two kids with a pile of work on her desk and a mountain of debt to go through. But her day had just gotten much more worse. One of her probationers was arrested for rape and made front-page news headlines, which landed back on her desk. Not only that, instead of laying low from the brass, she was assigned the sensitive case of Daniel Metroix, a serial killer with paranoid schizoprenia. He went to prison, when he was a teen boy and claimed he was innocent. But she was dug into the case, people wanted her to remain silent and let it go. The more she dug for truth, someone came after her and her family.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very suspenseful, gripping story. I was on the edge of my seat most of the way through. This is not an easy read. Carolyn Sullivan is for lack of a better term a probation officer. She is a single mother with two children, one 15, one 12 who is also going to school on the side to be a lawyer. Her clients, then, are not the kind of people most of us would want to have contact with. I am thankful that the author did not go into to too much detail regarding some of he crimes and atrocities committed. I couldn't bear it and would have to put this book down (or delete from my Kindle in this case) without finishing it.

I enjoyed it enough, though, to entertain the thought of going on to the next book in the series. This was such a tense read, however, I decided to give myself a break, first.

[Tory · Rating 1 out of 5]

Everything about this book was unbelievable. Except maybe for the criminals, and how very creepy some people can be. But that a good book does NOT make.

The main character was a single mother of two, the conversations were stilted and unnatural. She claimed over and over again about how her children were the most important thing to her, but she worked 12 hour days and expected the 15 year old to do everything in way of taking care of the 12 year old. Then when he said anything about it, like DUDE- I AM THE KID. She went all, sacrifices have to be made, I’M GOING TO LAW SCHOOL. I couldn't get over my supreme dislike for the main character. Even if it was just a silly paperback thriller.

It was lame. Really lame.

[Jill Manske · Rating 1 out of 5]

This has got to be one of the most poorly written books I've read in a long, long time. It's amateurish, both in the plot and the actual writing. The dialog is trite and, at times, doesn't seem to fit what we know about the characters. "Sullivan's Law" seems more like a class assignment from a Creative Writing 101 class. There just isn't much of anything to like about it - unrealistic characters, flimsy and poorly constructed plot, you name it. It's hard to believe based on this one that any of Rosenberg's books made it to the New York Times bestsellers list. I cannot recommend this book to anyone for any reason. Stay away!

[Marti · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story about a parole officer is nothing like I thought that job would be. Caroline Sullivan, a divorced mother of two, ends up having her life, and that of her son and daughter at risk of being killed more than once. She goes to a decreipt motel to meet with one of her clients who has just been released after years in prison, and they both almost get killed in an explosion. There is more than one culprit, and a very involved story behind why Daniel Metroix is a danger to the people remaining. It is rather off the wall in some places. It holds a reader's interest.

[Jkwilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sullivan's Law by Nancy T Rosenberg grabs the readers interest immediately, and holds it to the end. Carolyn Sullivan is a parole officer with a heavy workload, and a knowledge of law that enables her to recognize when justice has not been served. She undertakes an unpopular and dangerous task of proving the innocence of one of her parolees, and risks death in doing so. The book on CD excellently narrated by Sandra Burr. I would recommend this book.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great crime novel that started out with a young boy falsely accused and sent to prison for a long time.The police and prison warden and multiple other people were involved in the crimes and there were many .From murders to kidnappings to theft of some ones work on some very expensive and needed develpments for use in the medical field .A good read.First time I have read this author.Will do so again.

[Ashley Ludwig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quickie Review:

I like Nancy Taylor Rosenberg. She's gritty, though, be warned. I like the way her characters think. I like the fanciful notions of her crime-solving character, Sullivan. Read it. I'd go with 3.5, but she's worth the extra half-star. More books in this series. Worth spending time with.

[Eve · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a somewhat disappointing novel. The pace is brisk and engaging, but several things were annoying: a few characters are not quite credible, a few events don't make sense (I did some eye rolling) and almost every character can be guilty, which I don't like. I have read and enjoyed other Rosenberg novels, but not this one.

[Gail Stewart rumsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first book I read by this author. I enjoyed it although a few times I was very annoyed because smart, trained characters were missing some very obvious clues, etc. Actually, I listened to the audio version which was ok. Many of the voices sounded the same and an electronic device made several characters sound like robots. I will read an other book in this series.

[Georgiacyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, an enjoyable read. Thick crime plot bringing together characters that are seemingly unconnected. The love interest, however, is poorly developed in that there is no development to really explain why the two characters would be drawn together, except for convenience...he ties together all the loose ends is a overly simplistic manner.

[BZMoney · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started good, but is difficult to finish. The author makes a lot of assumptions of how the characters/plots are connected. Did not hold my interest & I was happy to be able to move on to something (hopefully) better.

[Karen Suglia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the suspense; there are some areas that don't ring true including her attraction to the professor. I thought she got inside the mind of the "creep element" very well and understand how off the deep end a person can go.

I would recommend.