Customer Reviews

Trial by Fire

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

According to BOOKLIST, Nancy Taylor Rosenberg is "among the most successful authors of legal thrillers". Having just forced myself to finish her 5th novel, TRIAL BY FIRE, I cannot imagine any reason for her success. The plotting is poor, the characterization is erratic, and the writing is frankly awful. Above all, her protagonist (supposedly a bright, ambitious, and super-effective district attorney) consistently acts in ways that can only be described as immature, neurotic, ignorant, stupid, and/or unprofessional. For example, in every chapter Stella Cataloni throws a hysterical fit at least once (is this some stereotype of Italian-Americans?). At least three times a chapter, I found myself muttering "Oh, don't be so stupid, Stella!" Throughout the novel, she does things that would get her (a) fired, (b) disbarred, (c) sued, and/or (d) arrested. This is a NEW YORK TIMES best-selling author? This is worth seven bucks for the paperback? Oh, puh-leeze! Nancy, take a basic fiction class; learn to write before you embarrass yourself by publishing any more of this drivel!

Even an undiscriminating booklover could not forgive the nearly incoherent plot, the sophomoric writing, and the non-existent character development of this book. Even the main characters were downright unlikable. The only reason to read this book through is to discover the laughable plot twist that brings the story to an end. This book is the equivalent of a terminally ill patient, and its time to call Dr. Kevorkian.

I know it's an old book by now, but if I found it, some other poor unsuspecting consumer might stumble onto one and waste her money. Trial By Fire is without doubt the worst book I have ever had the misfortune of purchasing. I got the audio version and from the first sentence I was cringing at the pitiful plot and the psycho characters - no, not the villian, the heroine! Crazy looney-toon, cussing and screaming and yelling and scratching and flying off into tantrums over everything.

To top it off, the narrator is also the worst, so the combination was mind numbing. Educated prosecutors and judges, even in Texas, don't say "fahr" for fire. And, unfortunately, that was a word often spoken in this miserable excuse for a book. All her character voices were angry and spiteful, even in neutral situations, and it got very, very annoying.

Breath-takingly bad book in any format.

I can't take it anymore. This book is going in the garbage right now. The reviews from the readers in Michigan and Washington say it all with the exception of "it stinks". If you already bought the book, trust me, don't waste your time reading it. If you haven't bought it yet, save your money and consider yourself lucky. If you buy and read it anyway.....I warned you!

I am an avid reader and rarely start a book without finishing it, but I had to really struggle to finish this one.

The author uses stale dialog, old cliche's and obvious plot turns. Her characters are so sterotyped and one-dimensional it's pathetic.

On top of that, the supposed crime at the heart of this legal "thriller" is ho-hum boring at best with an obvious resolution (after going through the equally obvious twists and turns along the way).

Save your money.

I must agree with all of the reviews. I lasted until page 20 and couldn't take it any more. I have read Rosenberg's past books and don't remember hating them. If her next book is as bad as this one, I will add her to my list of "No more", which unfortunately contains alot of (modern day) authors! Where are the great authors?

In fact, I didn't even finish it. After an hour I gladly popped it out and listened to anything else!

So, what's wrong?

The characters are very, very, very flimsy - to say that they are wooden is to give them more credit than they deserve. They are flat and prone to bizarre mood swings and cursing fits that are totally inappropriate to the scenes.

The book is about a prosecutor whose parents were killed by arson, apparently by one of her jilted boyfriends while she was in high school. He's picked up in a different city after all of these years but he somehow convinces jealous prosecutors that he's the real victim and that she killed them herself.

Drama was supposed to occur at that point but instead we got more random anger and cursing. So, it got irritated and quit listening.

Wow - this one is truly very bad.

I read one other book by Nancy Taylor Rosenberg several years ago and swore I wouldn't read another. Well, I checked this out (a book on tape..unabridged) from the library and listened to it while driving...that's probably the only reason I finished it.
The characters are laughable, the writing is amateurish....I won't make this mistake again.

The author should retitle this book. I gave it a one-star rating because there is no 0-star rating.

The problem? The author can't write.

What a sorry state the publishing industry is in when this sophomoric gibberish ends up on the New York Times best-seller list, and when its covers and intro pages are filled with praise by people who should and do know better.

Writing a bad book is one thing, and most folks are capable of it.

Reviewing a laughably bad book and showering praise on it for whatever reason is another, and to all those who did so in print -- shame on you!