Revenge of Innocents (Carolyn Sullivan Series #4) » (~)

Nancy Taylor Rosenberg’s fourteen-year career in law enforcement included jobs with the Dallas Police Department, the New Mexico State police, the Ventura Police, and the Ventura County Probation Department, where she was a superior court investigator. A New York Times bestselling author, she has won acclaim for her novels. They have been translated into almost every language and have been bestsellers in many countries. Her writing program for inner city youths, Voices of Tomorrow, has received national attention. She lives in the Los Angeles area.

Carolyn knew everything about Veronica Campbell. She knew about the case of murder and retribution that haunted her life and her career. About her stormy relationship with her husband, Drew. About the emotional darkness that was overwhelming Veronica’s fragile seventeen-year-old daughter, Jude. But seeing her friend laid out on a cold hard slab of steel in a morgue, and hearing the initial judgments of the investigators, Carolyn also knows this: there’s no way Veronica would have ever taken her own life. And when Carolyn receives a note threatening her away from the case, she knows a killer is at large.

Carolyn must separate lies from truths in a world of complex relationships and battered psyches. As a hidden side of Veronica’s life emerges, including the stunning possibility that Veronica had taken a lover, Carolyn becomes increasingly involved with Veronica’s daughter, who claims her father has been abusing her for years. Trusting a person she doesn’t truly know, putting her own upcoming marriage with wealthy, charming Marcus Wright in jeopardy, Carolyn investigates the brutal murder of another young woman. With danger and deceit swirling all around her, Carolyn is determined to lure her prime suspect out of the shadows. But all the while a killer is coming straight after her…

Publishers Weekly

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)