Publisher's Weekly Review
Carolyn Sullivan has much to be grateful for at the start of bestseller Rosenberg's riveting fourth romantic thriller to feature the Ventura County, Calif., probation officer (after 2006's Sullivan's Evidence). She's getting married in two weeks, she has two healthy and happy almost-grown children, and she's been promoted to division manager. These developments help her deal with the many brutal cases that daily pass through her office, but when her best childhood friend, Veronica Campbell, is murdered, it's almost too much to bear. Determined to find the killer, Carolyn embarks on a path of twisted truths that becomes more and more tortuous with each step as she discovers how little she really knew about Veronica. Rosenberg, who worked 14 years in law enforcement, puts her knowledge of the criminal justice system to expert use in her frightening portrayal of a dysfunctional family. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
Though Carolyn Sullivan has been promoted to division manager of the Ventura County Probation Department and is about to marry Mr. Right, her woes continue when a top investigator is killed. Veronica Campbell is on the skids. Painfully aware that her husband Drew no longer loves her and strung out by the impossible demands of her depressing caseload and her four children, she's been fabricating interviews she should be taping and basing her recommendations on hunches instead of evidence. But all that ends the day she's shot to death at the Motor Inn. Veronica was certainly depressed enough to have taken her own life. But Carolyn (Sullivan's Justice, 2005, etc.) is convinced her old friend was killed by person or persons unknown--a belief that's bolstered by a series of shocking revelations by Veronica's hell-raising daughter Jude. A drug-using high-school dropout who was twice pregnant before she turned 18, Jude sends the investigation into a startling new direction by a fusillade of accusations directed variously against her father and her sometime boyfriend, Reggie Stockton. The trouble with Jude's stories is that she changes them constantly. No sooner has Carolyn, who's taken the potty-mouthed waif into her home, hauled her into a deposition than Jude recants her accusations and disappears with the court reporter's credit card. And Reggie, it turns out, is just as slippery, changing his autobiography to suit the weather. Two more murders will turn up the temperature but do nothing to clarify the mystery, which just keeps getting muddier and muddier. The only thing that's clear is that Carolyn's imminent marriage to millionaire computer consultant Marcus Wright is unlikely to go off as planned. A thousand thrills, a dozen hairpin turns, more overripe suspects than you can shake a warrant at and a near-total lack of coherence once the dust has cleared. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
When her friend apparently commits suicide, California probation officer Carolyn Sullivan refuses to believe the woman would have taken her own life. But in trying to prove the victim was murdered, Sullivan has very little in the way of evidence until somebody sends her a note demanding that she drop the Campbell case. Of course, fans of the first three Sullivan novels ( Sullivan's Law, 2004; Sullivan's Justice, 2005; and Sullivan's Evidence, 2006) know that Carolyn doesn't respond well to threats. Digging deep into her late friend's life, she discovers myriad secrets and pinpoints a murder suspect. The trick will be bringing the killer to justice while remaining in one piece. The Sullivan novels combine elements of psychological mysteries and romantic thrillers, but the combination isn't always a smooth one, with the two elements never quite blending and occasionally battling one other. Still, this series has a following; recommend the latest to those already on the bus. --David Pitt Copyright 2007 Booklist