Abuse of Power [Hardcover]

Nancy Taylor Rosenberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1997

After joining the police force of her small California city, idealistic Rachel Simmons becomes an eyewitness to appalling abuses of police authority and risks her life and the safety of her loved ones to reveal the corrupt system.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In this abridgment of Rosenberg's (Trial by Fire, Audio Reviews, LJ 12/96) latest novel, widow Rachel Simmons joins the Oak Grove police department to serve the community and provide financial security for her two children. However, when she is nearly raped and a high school football player is killed by her fellow officers, Simmons is forced to fight her department. With the help of her sister, a lawyer, Simmons hopes to bring the department to justice while fending off accusations that she shot and paralyzed the officer who assaulted her. Academy AwardR nominee Lindsay Crouse's reading of the story is quite good, and the adaptation holds the listener's attention. This is a good selection for the author's fans as well as for contemporary police fiction collections.?Stephen L. Hupp, Univ. of Pittsburgh at Johnstown Lib.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Never one to shy away from controversy, the best-selling Rosenberg's sixth novel takes on a knotty one: rogue cops and the code of silence that permits a few bad actors to intimidate other officers and abuse citizens. After two years with the force in the L.A. suburb of Oak Grove, Rachel Simmons, a widow with a teenage daughter and a toddler son, has much to learn. Moonlighting as a security guard to pay off medical bills from her husband's long illness, she hasn't really bonded with her graveyard-shift colleagues. When Rachel declines to go along with the official lie about a Mob-related incident in which a high-school athlete died, she's fair game: threats to her family, violence, wiretapping, and a cold shoulder that leaves her alone with a corpse, a speed freak, and $50,000 in drug money. Although at times tempted to back off or even join in the corruption, Rachel has a core of integrity that keeps her on the high (but not the safe) road. A handsome assistant DA provides legal insights and romantic interest here, but Abuse of Power is closer to a police procedural (or anti-procedural) than a legal thriller. Despite shortcuts and stereotypes, it convincingly demonstrates why a bad cop is even more dangerous than a bad perp. A Literary Guild selection. Mary Carroll

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Adult; 1ST edition (March 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525937684
• ISBN-13: 978-0525937685
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,350,016 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

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.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars how is this a bestseller?, April 18, 2002

By 

"cathst" (Toronto, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Abuse of Power (Paperback)

I hate writing negative reviews, but really, I just can't think of anything very good to say about this book. The premise held a lot of promise - this is about a female cop dealing with rampant corruption within her police department. But I don't feel the novel lived up to the potential.

The plot was very over-the-top, I agree that it ...[should be]a "made-for-tv" kind of book... it seems to be made for an audience with a very short attention span.

The characterization was lacking... they included a woman who had an horrible childhood and was trying to deal with the world as a single mother, another single mom dealing with cancer, a man who left a difficult life in a third-world country to start a new life in America, and many others. Talk about potential! You'd expect that a "bestselling" author would be able to do something with these characters... but I personally found them stereotypical and one-dimensional.

Worst of all, the dialogue was forced and somewhat childlike. ...

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Readable but disappointing, August 31, 2004

By 

R. Krumwiede (Florida,USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Abuse of Power (Paperback)

As I started this book, I got a quick idea where the heroine stood with her background and current state of mind. That should have been the warning. I liked a lot of the plot lines and the character descriptions were adequate. But most of the characters were either not as sympathetic as they should have been or as evil as the author would have us accept. Grant was mean and cruel, but I never felt the outrage I should have. Rachel seemed at the end to have a life as uncharmed as life can be. Nothing ever went well and as she learned something new or accepted some part of her past, closure was just a word. Cliches not withstanding, the story followed a predictable path. I never believed for a moment that Tracy was in trouble or that Carrie would move away from a good position to take up residence in her sister's home. And what was all that with Mike? First one sister then the other. Please. It kept me reading, only if to find out something I didn't expect.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rosenberg writes her best work to date, March 5, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Abuse of Power (Hardcover)

Many police officers, especially those that work the street,
respect the code of silence concerning fellow officers. It is the
first commandment that thou shalt not fink on a fellow officer
regardless of what terrible crime he has committed or how far over the legal line he may have crossed. Breaking the covenant brings terrible repercussions to the reporting officer. This "punishment" ranges from ostracism to making
the whistle blower seem like a liar to outright refusal to back up the officer in a dangerous situation.
....Thirty-four years old Rachel Simmons is a widow with two children
and numerous financial problems. She is well aware of the sacred
conduct code after being a member of the Hudson Valley, California
police department for three years. Rachel remains a rarity on the force, being an honest and honorable cop. When she sees a fellow officer use a juvenile as a
human shield during a minor riot, she feels compelled to report it.
That decision of conscience carries a heavy price, one that Rachel, her family,
and the entire police force will have to pay.
....Once again Nancy Taylor Rosenberg creates a powerful police and
legal thriller that is a gritty indictment of the juridical system as
only an insider can tell it. Readers will feel the betrayal that
results from the realization that the very people who are sworn to uphold the law are its biggest offenders. ABUSE OF POWER is a gripping, taut, and moving work that showcases a protagonist who is willing to venture into hell to do
the morally correct thing in a system that encourages immorality. Rachel is
Ms. Rosenberg's finest heroine to date, a shining example of what the
human race should strive to be. A sure fire hit that deserves both
bestseller status and award consideration.

....Harriet Klausner