Rachel Simmons, an idealistic thirty-four-year-old widow with two children to raise, joins the Oak Grove, California, police force for reasons that go beyond economic necessity. Upholding the law has had a special meaning for Rachel ever since she was kidnapped as a child and her life was saved by a courageous policeman. When Rachel witnesses a vicious abuse of police authority - and reports it - she propels herself into a nightmare of conflict and terror. By cracking the sacred blue code of silence, she has made enemies of the very men and women who hold her life in their hands - armed adversaries who are accustomed to exercising their power and will stop at nothing to ensure her silence. Suddenly there is danger everywhere Rachel's children are threatened, her name is slandered, a shooting frame-up puts her on the legal defensive, and someone is bent on her death. She is alone, increasingly afraid, and forced to rely on an ambitious attorney whose motives she questions, even as he seems to offer a way out. With its riveting revelations of the harsh reality of life behind the badge and a plot that moves from shock to shock, Abuse of Power bristles with danger and excitement, both on the streets and in court. Its shattering conclusion will make readers think hard about many issues in today's headlines. This compelling novel shows Nancy Taylor Rosenberg at her finest.
Nancy Taylor Rosenberg is an American writer. She attended school at Gulf Park College in Gulf Port, Mississippi. She has three children, three step children, one adopted child,and currently resides in Dallas, Texas.
Rosenberg's first novel, MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES, was published in 1993, and the film rights were obtained by Academy Award winning director, Jonathan Demme. Rosenberg novels have been translated into almost every language. The majority of her novels have been New York Times bestsellers. MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES has been described as a contemporary CRIME AND PUNISHMENT.
Rosenberg is also known for her philanthropic efforts. She received national acclaim for her writing program for inner city youth,"Voice of Tomorrow". The Board of Supervisors of Orange County voted her "A Woman of Excellence, Learning for Life" in 1994. She was featured on Prime Time Live and in People Magazine for her adoption of a child with a rare, frequently terminal illness, Methylmalonic Acidemia, or MMA. A physician in France who saw the Prime Time Live episode claimed he was curing MMA patients by means of a liver transplant. At the time, the child Rosenberg adopted, Janelle Garcia, was the oldest living survivor with MMA. No one had previously lived past the age of eighteen. Janelle received both a kidney and liver transplant and is now in her early thirties, giving hope to future generations of children suffering from MMA.
Rosenberg's family and friends have nicknamed her "Lucy" as she is known for doing unusual and sometimes hilarious things. She says she never knows what to expect when she opens her refrigerator. She once found flea solution for a fifty pound dog in her freezer. She does have dogs but none of them weigh over fourteen pounds. On one occasion her husband asked her a question while she was writing and she told him she would answer him in when she finished her sentence. When she finally answered him, he told her an entire day had passed sine he had asked her the question.
