Mitigating Circumstances [Paperback]

Nancy Taylor Rosenberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 7, 2005

This dead-on convincing thriller about a woman law enforcer's fevered pursuit of a criminal abounds with the authenticity Nancy Taylor Rosenberg brings to it. As a former investigator, she offers intimate knowledge of how crime and punishment really work-on both sides of the law.

Set in the crowded courts and glamorous suburbs of Southern California, this compulsively readable novel tells the story of Lily Forrester, a feisty, dedicated District Attorney on the rise in her professional career and on the brink in her private life. Newly appointed as Chief of the Sex Crimes Division, Lily is eager to plunge into a job she has long coveted. At the same time, she is coping with a floundering marriage and the lure of a man to whom she is strongly attracted.

All that keeps Lily's marriage together and keeps her from losing herself entirely in work is her quirky thirteen-year-old daughter, Shana. But when an intruder invades Lily's home and commits an unspeakable act, Lily Forrester heads out on a trial of vengeance beyond any law but that of her own rage. With one shattering act, her life spins out of control into a realm of unimaginable uncertainty. Suddenly, she is agonizingly alone, with a circle of danger closing in around her, leaving her no place to run, no place to hide, and no one to trust. For Lily Forrester has already gone too far to turn back.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A highly entertaining legal thriller about a female judge. Literary Guild main in cloth.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Former policewoman Rosenberg has certainly hit the target with her women's action thriller. Protagonist Lily Forrester, a district attorney in Southern California, is an ambitious woman with a deteriorating marriage. Her life becomes a nightmare when both she and her daughter are brutally attacked. Recognizing their attacker, but unwilling to submit her child to the abuse of the legal system, Forrester moves to deal out justice herself. First novelist Rosenberg offers a compelling insider's view of the criminal justice system and a moving portrait of a woman bent on revenge. Book club and movie rights for this page-turner have already been sold, so expect the high demand it deserves. Literary Guild main selection.
- Sister M. Anna Falbo CSSF, Villa Maria Coll. Lib., Buffalo, N.Y.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 372 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse; Revised edition (June 7, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1440151075
• ISBN-13: 978-1440151071
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,500,160 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

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Novel of pure vengeance, July 23, 2002

By 

Angel L. Soto (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mitigating Circumstances (Paperback)

District Attorney Lily Forrester has recently been promoted to Chief of the Sex Crimes Unit. She is glad to get the appointment but it came at a high price. She is unhappy with her marriage and her relationship with her daughter is deteriorating day by day.

Lily decides to get a fresh start when she asks her husband for a divorce and move out to a new apartment. Her life is irrevocably changed when an intruder storms into her home and rapes both her and her daughter, Shana. Lily believes she recognizes her assailant as one of the case files she brought home from work. Without thinking it over she decides to go kill him. She tracks the suspect and shoots him dead without even flinching. She then erases all traces of evidence she can think of that might identify her. She will now try to continue her life and help her daughter.

Unfortunately, things do not go as planned. Both Lily and Shana are still traumatized by the events and they both disagree as to who raped them. Lily wonders if she has made a mistake now that there is a relentless cop investigating the case.

Nancy Taylor Rosenberg does a good job in applying what she knows in this novel. She has worked in law enforcement for many years and has dealt with sexual offenders. The victims and situations felt real as well as the emotional trauma Lily feels for her action. The novel reads like a Lifetime movie but it kept my interest.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I am hooked on this Author, June 5, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Mitigating Circumstances (Paperback)

Mitigating circumstances grabed me from the minute I opened the book. I cannot read books unless they grab me and pull me into it. This book did that. The way the writer starts out makes you want to know more. I stayed on the edge of my seat through most of the book. The way the plot is brought out is wonderful. I cannot stand a book that you know who did it from the start. With this book you are shocked at the end. I keep waiting for them to make a movie out of it. I feel like the whole storie worked together. You didn't have things in it that didn't belong. Her character worked. She was the type of character anyone could relate to. I LOVED IT!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Revenge is Deadly, May 23, 2011

By 

Nash Black "Troubadour" (Jamestown, KY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Mitigating Circumstances (Paperback)

Nancy Taylor Rosenberg's MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES may be a book that happened before its time. Well written and fast flowing Lily Forrester has worked her way up the ladder in the DA's office to Chief of the Sex Crimes Division. Then her world falls apart when her daughter turns against her and her husband begins to resent her sucess at her chosen career.
Written 20 years ago, the revenge Lily takes when her daughter is raped was unacceptable as the idea of a woman making her way in the DA's office. Things have changed rapidly in the world of fiction.
MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES is worthy of a second look, 20 years later.
Nash Black, author of SINS OF THE FATHERS.