Buried Evidence (Mass Market Paperback)

by Nancy Taylor Rosenberg (Author) "God, I want this maniac!..." (more)
Key Phrases: Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Bobby Hernandez (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Flawed heroes (or heroines) are nothing new in fiction. But Lily Forrester, the protagonist of Nancy Rosenberg's new novel, Buried Evidence, has a few skeletons in her closet that rattle alarmingly when her ex-husband threatens to open the door to her past. Unless Lily uses her legal connections (she's a Santa Barbara district attorney) to get him out of a drunken vehicular homicide charge in Los Angeles, he'll rat on her to the authorities. To further complicate matters, Lily's daughter Shana, a UCLA student, is the only other suspect in the hit-and-run incident. When her ex is murdered shortly after Lily bails him out, Shana, who found her father's body, is again a suspect. And Shana's being stalked by the psychopath who raped both her and her mother six years ago. Add a wrongful murder, a retired cop who lied to protect Lily, and a rich, handsome, successful lawyer who's still in love with her even though he knows her darkest secrets (or maybe because of them), and you have enough ingredients to keep this racy mystery moving a lot faster than traffic on the California freeways. Rosenberg has a deft hand with pacing and plot, although her characters seem varnished with a moral gloss that's as thin as their emotional complexity. The relationship between Lily and Shana seems particularly one-dimensional given the traumatic events they've shared. Lily's moral compromises are never resolved, even after her lover clears her of a murder she did, in fact, commit. But Rosenberg's fans won't quibble with the outcome, and the former prosecutor's latest suspense thriller will doubtless win her a few more. --Jane Adams --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly
Rosenberg cannot be accused of pandering to the reader. One is never sure who to root for in her latest kinetic crime thriller, as usual set in Southern California. The protagonist of Mitigating Circumstances, feisty, red-headed Lily Forrester, formerly of the Ventura DA's office, is now DA in Santa Barbara. Her ex-husband, John Forrester, who has been living with their 18-year-old daughter, Shana, is losing his battle with the bottle and has been arrested for vehicular manslaughter. He was driving Shana's car when he hit and killed a young manAa student, like Shana, at UCLA. John blackmails Lily into bailing him out of jail, bartering Lily's secret in an effort to escape prosecution. (Six years before, Shana was brutally raped while Lily was forced to look on, and Lily shot and killed the wrong man in retaliation.) The real rapist has recently been released on parole and is once again stalking the two women. Enter Lily's former love-interest, Richard Fowler, who resurfaces in her life as the lawyer for a man Lily is prosecuting for attempting to poison his handicapped daughter. Richard ends up representing Lily (after dumping his live-in girlfriend) when the police attempt to sort out the many subplots and solve a six-year-old crime no one really cares about. Rosenberg addresses questions of conscience: the man Lily shot was himself a serial killer. Should she be prosecuted for bumping him off? Prone to hysteria, whining and selfishness, the characters presented here are barely likable. Still, the plot presents a compelling moral dilemma, the action is fast-paced and the pages turn easily. $300,000 ad/promo; Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club selection; author appearances in Los Angeles and New York. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion; 1 Reprint edition (February 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786889837
• ISBN-13: 978-0786889839
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #61,787 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A flawed and unnecessary sequel, October 16, 2000

By	AriesPA (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Buried Evidence (Hardcover)

Even though the loose threads were not tightly knotted at the end of Nancy Taylor Rosenberg's superior "Mitigating Circumstances," the book's ending hardly merited a sequel. Maybe the author felt the need to return to her best written and plotted effort. Unfortunately, Rosenberg comes up far short of what "Mitigating Circumstances" accomplished.

"Buried Evidence" is a very flawed book, starting with the fact that none of the characters are particularly sympathetic, even though the main character, Lily and her daughter, Shana, have experienced a horrible tragedy that no person should have to go through. But Lily comes across as a shrill bully, and Shana is portrayed as a narcissistic brat. Lily's nemesis, her ex-husband John, is written as such a one-dimensional villain, that when he meets his demise, the reader is left wondering "What took so long?" Equally underwritten is Lily's lover, Richard, who is still pining for her even though six years have passed, and he has been living with another woman for three of them. It makes no sense. Rosenberg simply asks the reader to accept that Lily and Richard are madly in love, and that Richard would do anything for Lily. although there is nothing about Lily's neurotic personality that would back Richard's feelings up.

Rosenberg is a talented writer, and I know because I've read better books by her, "Interests of Justice" and "Mitigating Circumstances" being two of them. I like the fact that her heroines aren't conventional rich, flawless skinned heiresses who don't have a problem in the world except for a stalker/in love with another man/can't have a baby/etc. Her main characters struggle with overwhelming problems, like coping with a convicted rapist being on the loose, along with the mundane ones, like not being able to pay the car note or the credit card bills. These types of characters are Rosenberg's trademark, and one can only hope that she returns back to them soon, along with a better plot and more compelling storyline.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A pretty average sequel., November 8, 2000

By	P. Legerski (Corona, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Buried Evidence (Hardcover)

As a big fan of Rosenberg's I have to say that this one is unneccessary and just a rehash of the great MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES.

A virtual blow by blow of critical scenes from MC are listed here. Some of the dialogue is so brutally verbatim from Propositions and other rote siscussions on criminal law it is boring.

That said the rest of the narrative is quite good and moves a pretty good pace. Nancy's strengths are in building suspense and then letting the action take you on a ride.

Unfortunately, Rosenberg should dig up new and original plots and not just regurgitate past glories.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, September 19, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Buried Evidence (Hardcover)

I eagerly awaited the latest Nancy Taylor Rosenberg novel and was very disappointed by the characters. Lily was annoying and her daughter, Shana, bordered on the unstable. I found every character to be unpleasant and obnoxious. That said, some of the story line had interesting turns. I've enjoyed Ms. Rosenberg's books in the past and hope that I enjoy the next one more than "Buried Evidence".