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.
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!
What do You think about Sullivan's Law (2005)?
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.
—Tory
