Interest of Justice - Hardcover

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.

High-gear legal-action thriller about a judge caught up in a child-porn scam gone rotten. Here, ex-cop Rosenberg backs away from the vigilantism of her debut novel, Mitigating Circumstances (1992)--but not from her willingness to manipulate readers shamelessly, if skillfully. Superior Court Judge Lara Sanderstone has much in common with A.D.A. Lily Forrester, heroine of Rosenberg's first: Both are legal powerhouses in their late 30s; both work in southern California; both have families torn by violence--Lily's daughter was raped; Lara's sister and brother-in-law were murdered. But where Lily picks up a gun to avenge the crime, Lara works within the law, teaming up with a homicide cop who lures her into a romantic subplot that climaxes as he turns her limbs ``to rubber'' on the hood of his car. Also helping track down the killer is Lara's neighbor Emmet Daniels, who's got Lou Gehrig's disease; and the dead couple's abused 14-year-old son, Josh, whose slow winning-over by Lara mirrors the cop's winning-over of her. When the bodies are found, Lara learns that her sister was a hooker, blackmailing the older male pedophile who appears, face hidden, in a clutch of Polaroids. No doubt he ordered the killings, which are traced to a career criminal released from jail on the instigation of a top judge: Is that judge the pedophile? Pursuing assorted leads (including some fascinating computer-imaging), Lara dodges a brutal attempt on her life as the noose closes around the judge. The case winds up with a major twist, though--and with a de rigueur high- suspense finale, which finds Josh menaced by the pedophile, Emmet crawling up the stairs to his rescue.... Any writer who will pit a cripple against a maniac is a commercial force to be reckoned with--expect big interest in this smartly melodramatic crowd-pleaser. (Literary Guild Dual Selection for December; film rights to Citadel/HBO) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.