Trial by Fire - Softcover

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 lives in California.

Rosenberg, among the most successful authors of legal thrillers, offers her latest addition to the genre. Stella Cataloni, a D.A. in Dallas, is riding high from her latest courtroom triumph when she is arrested for two crimes: murdering a witness and setting a long-ago fire that killed her parents and left her badly scarred. Haunted by her memories, Cataloni believes she had nothing to do with the fire, but her tragedy-induced memory loss makes nothing about that time clear in her mind. The plot begins to twist from the first and tightens and turns on almost every page. Rosenberg sprinkles her story with plenty of mayhem, the requisite professional jealousy, a little cocaine, and even a romance for her heroine. The author's fans will probably find the fast pace exhilarating and admire the ability to pile clues upon clues. That's Rosenberg's strong suit, but her characters are as insubstantial as snowflakes, and her dialogue is almost laughable. Lines like "Beauty isn't superficial. . . . Beauty comes from inside" or "You played my body like a violin" don't help. Those looking for a quick read will find it here, where the plot's the thing--the only thing. Ilene Cooper