April 11, 2005
First introduced in Sullivan's Law
, Ventura County probation officer Carolyn Sullivan is put to the test again as the body count—and list of suspects—quickly rises in Rosenberg's latest confidently plotted thriller. This 3o-something single mom with a narrow waist and wide-ranging intelligence has a special gift for getting perps to talk, and two days before Christmas, she faces an especially frightening inmate, Raphael Moreno, who decapitated his own mother, killed his sister and decimated a family of five. Though he's not talking, she thinks he had an accomplice. Before she has a chance to fully crack Moreno, however, the plot thickens: late that night, her younger brother, Neil, a meth addict but also a successful artist, calls for help, having just discovered his girlfriend Laurel's body floating in his swimming pool. Though Neil will be considered a suspect, his alibi, a rich, conniving, sexually avid ex-girlfriend who lured him into bed that night, refuses to clear his name. Soon, another woman is murdered just a few blocks from Neil's house, raising the prospect of serial killing, and a full-scale investigation begins to link the homicides to Moreno's case. Thriller enthusiasts will relish the intricate plot, accelerating action and novel climax of this gripping ride. Agent, Arthur Klebanoff.