Revenge of Innocents

Carolyn Sullivan #4

by Nancy Taylor Rosenberg

Refusing to believe that her best friend, who had been dealing with a stormy marriage, committed suicide, probation officer Carolyn Sullivan must separate lies from truths as she sets a trap for a killer that puts her own life in jeopardy. Reprint.

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

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

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

[Donna Brown · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am writing my first ever review just so I can say how awful this book was. The characters were all flat, unbelievable, and completely brainless - they were like a pack of lemmings following every idea that came out of someone’s mouth over the cliff of stupidity, the “plot twists” added nothing to the story, and there were so many mistakes I don’t think an editor ever read it. I’m giving it 1 star because zero isn’t an option, and I want to make sure I remember to never again pick up anything by this author.

[Nancy · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the worst books I've ever read! The characters came up with possible solutions without evidence and then ran around trying to prove them. When they couldn't make that solution stick, they just came up with another crazy one. Felt like a vicious cycle.

[Slc-crk · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very convoluted plot twists which were cumbersome. This book was 100 pages too long.

[Becky Schulman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carolyn is forced to investigate the murder of her friend and coworker while dealing with the daughter of the friend. Her postponed wedding becomes an issue for her fiancée. Her own daughter resents having to share her mother with the job.
Interesting look at the criminal justice system and how lines get blurred at times.

[Shirley · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite authors. Partly because I enjoy the pace of her writing, partly because she is from my home town and the street and town names, places are familiar. I like being able to actually picture the exact spot she references. The story is chilling and engaging. It was a hard subject but still I was captured by the account.

[Laura Philips · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it better than the others in the series. A lot of twists on who the police considered a suspect. (Fortunately) I’m not too knowledgeable about police homicide procedures, but it seemed to me that instead of building a case off evidence they looked for evidence to support their theories.

[Prairie Stock · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good story line

A few typos that confused me before I realized it was just a typo. But a great story with all kinds of twist that keeps you wondering if your theory was right! Definitely a page turner, couldn't put it down.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't mind the story - it's the only one in the series that our library had - but I did think it odd that the 'Keystone Cops / investigators' kept changing focus on the perp. Every other day, they were convinced of a new suspect, and trying to bend / change the evidence to fit that person.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Guess I should check copywrite dates. It felt dated, and it WAS.

[Karen Suhorsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intersting the first time I have read this writer but I enjoyed it.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the most part a good story, however I think they could of shortened it...

[Dorothy Clark · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is lousy. I don't know why I forced myself to finish it.

[Lynne Block · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible, incoherent, ridiculous storyline.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Apparently the protagonist in this book (Carolyn Sullivan) has figured in a series of NT's books? Not clear, but the jacket implies that.

In any case, Carolyn's best buddy and fellow probation person is murdered, and then Carolyn's buddy's husband is murdered, and then Carolyn nearly murders the one she thinks is the murderer - oh, and the dead husband was accused of molesting his and Carolyn's wretched teenage daughter, who is a totally disgusting person and Carolyn has a boatload of Catholic guilt so when this disgusting junkie ho is tossed out by her Dad (before he gets it) Carolyn takes her in, but of course the little skank steals money and a car and an iPod (onto which a year's worth of downloads were lovingly installed by Carolyn's child, who is pretty much ignored as Carolyn goes around solving the crime(s)).

What made me nuts is that about every half a chapter or so, one of the people in the PD and/or the probation dept. would summarize the chronology of who killed whom and why, and it was just too much of a device to keep us guessing. I wanted to just say "yeah whatever" and get on with my reading and not have to wade thru ANOTHER detailed theory.

but what do I know? About halfway thru, I was thinking it was Carolyn's fiancee...and what about the red herring of her daughter's new boyfriend, who used to play football? Am I the only one who kept waiting for it to come out that she had hooked up with the refugee from N'Awlins?

Anyway, it was a quick read, kept my interest, glad I didn't buy it, and now on to the next diversion...

[Allyson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I ordered this book from PaperbackSwap because it kept resurfacing in "books you may like"...which is also how I find friends on Facebook, actually. Apparently, Nancy Taylor Rosenberg is a police detective with the LAPD AND an author. Her work with the police force makes the dialogue and the plot seem pretty authentic, although towards the end I think she threw in 2 too many plot twists. I was ready for this book to be over around page 300. The overall theme is incest with a side of murder. I'm sure that as a police detective, you see all of the family drama represented in this book. But with the 24-hour news cycle replaying the sad and the mad all the time, I didn't need the extra dose of reality that this book brings. Parts of it are very difficult to read - especially considering that I'm sure these things are happening in homes all across America. And there's really nothing any of us can do about it except trust that the police will put a stop to it. I probably wouldn't read it again and I'm not even sure I would pass it on to a friend to read. It has a happy ending, but getting there is grueling.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the 4th installment of the Carolyn Sullivan series, Nancy Taylor Rosenberg delivers us a shocker and takes us a dark side. While planning her wedding to Marcus, Carolyn learns about her best friend's death. From there, she becomes entangled into a web of lies and deceit and other family secrets. When she becomes the legal guardian of her oldest daughter Jude, she didn't know what to believe between fact and fiction. We watch how emotionally involved she is to the case that pushes her to the limit. She takes her career seriously, while others help her pick up the pieces to this startling dark legal thriller. We see how she unraveled, while trying to keeping it together. This one delivers us a sucker-punch. I wish Nancy Taylor Rosenberg's wrote new books.

[Maureen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hard to believe this is part of a successful series. The dialogue is as inauthentic as it gets. The main character is supposed to be an experienced parole officer but seems as gullible as a third grader. There were so many inconsistencies and errors it read like a first draft, prior to any editing of any kind. For instance, Carolyn is living in Santa Rosa but her job and her daughter's school is in Ventura County and they commute back and forth daily. Seriously, how does an elementary mistake like this get made? Santa Rosa is located north of San Francisco; Ventura County is south of Santa Barbara. It would take a jet to make that commute.

[Steve · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my favorite Rosenberg book. Although her books are kind of romantic/mystery potboilers anyway, I'm OK with that. What drove me crazy was that every time some few clues pointed to a particular culprit, all the police investigators were 100% convinced they had the killer. Then, three chapters later they were 100% convinced they had a different one. I never felt that's how real police would have handled it.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have read many of Nancy Taylor Rosenberg's best sellers but found this one to be the worse of the lot. Usually, she puts alot more effort into character development and that wasn't done for this book. The lead character, Carolyn, was never likeable and, I thought, was downright whiney. I didn't like this book at all but finished it just to see if the author tied up loose ends at the finish. Nothing about this book was believable.

[VLynch · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good book, great story idea. However, the "who done it" back and forth it, got a bit confusing for my little brain. Too many theories thrown out, debated by the police and staff. Frequently I felt confused. I missed some of the characters from the other books, like John (Carolyn's son, who should have known Jude from High school) and Neil (Carolyn's brother). Good story, but a bit cluttered at times. The second in the Carolyn Sullivan series is still my favorite.

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

Carolyn's best friend is murdered and her 18 year old daughter is missing. Carolyn is trying to help find Jude but when she finds her, she has a real mess on her hands. Jude doesn't know how to tell the truth, and even has her own father thrown in jail.

This was an ok book that I listened to but it was a little out there.

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far so good, about 3/4 of the way through it. I'm not sure who the "killer" is or even who the bad guys are. She does a great job of convincing you it's one person then making you question that. Can't wait to finish!

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

It kept you guessing up until the end, but there were some undeveloped storylines that were just left hanging. It kept me engaged and I read it quickly, however now that I am finished the more I think about it, the more criticism I seem to have for it.

[Sharon · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was one of the most convoluted police procedurals I have ever read. I like a complex plot as much as the next person. However, the author had so many subplots that she tried to tie together that the story struggled under its own weight. Not the best I've ever read, I'm sorry to say.

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel was well written and very interesting. It's a story of the underdogs coming back and winning. Who wouldn't like to hear that type of story? I don't want to share too much, and ruin the ending but it is definitely worth the read.

[Rachel Sumner · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book bored me from the start, there were too many characters that had no significance right off the bat. It also seemed very scattered to me and I had a hard time keeping up with all the twists, I dont recommend this book I only finished it because I had invested to much time not to.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars, but not rounding up because I didn't any of characters likable. It may be since I started with the last book in the series, but I just didn't connect with any of them. I usually like NTR but I think I'll skip the others in this series.

[Candace Chesler · Rating 2 out of 5]

Enjoyed this - but not as much as a John Sandford book. The plot line of incest/pedophilia is presented well. Where she lost me was with the murder of the best friend's husband. I started skimming paragraphs after that just to finish. As others have said - too many plot twists.

[Andrew Carter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I normally enjoy Rosenberg's books, but in this one it seemed the lead character Carolyn was trying to do too much police work when she is not a 'policewoman'. I think that there was way too much speculation and too little police work. Not her best

[Hayseed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not her best book, but a fast read and good whodunnit. Some parts are a bit hokey.