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Title: Mitigating Circumstances
ISBN: 0451176723
Author:
Nancy Taylor Rosenberg
Publicate Date: 1993-10-01
Publish: 1993-10-01
List Price: $7.99
Average Customer Rating: 3.0
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $0.01
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1: Mitigating Circumstances
ISBN 0451176723 - Almost a sister to Nancy Wagner's All Our Lives (ISBN 0380778084), Mitigating Circumstances is not quite as good. Both books deal with a family dealing with the rape of a daughter and a marriage that's fallen apart, but Wagner's is just a little bit better.
Lily Forrester is an ADA who has just been made head of the Sex Crimes Division and sees her goal of becoming a judge within sight when her marriage finally unravels. Her daughter chooses to live with her father, but spends a fateful night at her mother's. The timing couldn't be worse, as a man who has been watching Lily is released from prison and stalks her to her new home and assaults mother and daughter.
Her own childhood abuse coupled with the horror of watching her own daughter raped drives Lily right over that vigilante line and she seeks justice outside the courtroom for the first time in her life. Now her career, her daughter, her marriage, her freedom, her sanity and her budding relationship with a fellow ADA are all on the line as one very good detective looks for answers.
The sex in this book tends toward graphic and violent and some of it is remarkably unnecessary, which was't too surprising since the main character works in Sex Crimes, but I did find a bit much now and then. Also a little off-putting was the sense that "all Latinos look alike", although that does get explained as "she wasn't wearing her glasses" - not a good excuse, but an excuse. On the funny side, Lily is a lawyer with a young teenaged daughter who borrows her clothes, which would be fine if they weren't her WORK clothes! No teenage girl wants to dress like their lawyer mother, unless their lawyer mother dresses really unprofessionally.
All in all, kind of an average book that would have benefitted greatly if Detective Cunningham had had a larger role and if John, Lily's husband had been an even remotely sympathetic character.
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2: Had to skip over many pages, boring
The first book that I ready by this author was Interest of Justice, which I loved, fast paced, not too descriptive, great writing style. So I thought that I would read all of her books. You would never know this book- Mitigating Cir. was by the same author. It starts off a little slow, gets going, then loses it's steam throughout most of the book. I got tired of reading page after page of what they were having for dinner, the item of clothing that the daughter borrowed, her boring conversations with her husband, blah blah blah. It didn't get good again until the last few pages where you will find out what happens to Lily. The plot was a good one, but the writing couldn't hold my interest. I hope her other books are better.
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3: Shallow... breezy... mystery or romance...?
MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES was a disappointing read, considering the excerpt on book jacket had promise. Dramatic words with no drama, moving very slowly from the beginning, into the middle and to the end. Author Nancy Taylor Rosenberg offers a repetitious tale of reminiscences, sadness & anger -- a romance more than a mystery. Chief character is an ambitious, yet troubled LA District Attorney Lillian (Lily) Forrester. She has an open door to reach her goal as an appointed judge. As a couple, John and Lily Forrestor are in a non-loving marriage, with a disturbed 13-year old daughter Shana. Not in control as she once thought, Lily's destructive past involving her grandfather, evolves a vengeful, angry woman to the brink of mental explosion. Her rage is released by committing a haunting crime to avenge a current unspeakable tragedy imposed upon herself & daughter Shana. Although a little rough around the edges, the best character - Detective Cunningham offers the read some zing with some humor, concerns, actions and the desire to leave LA and return to Omaha, a much saner environment. A murder committed, a sketch of a person observed at the scene of the crime raises Detective Cunningham's suspicions as the sketch resembles District Attorney Forrestor. The author does not complete the story of husband John - his path taken just disappears; a chapter devoted to daughter Shana in which her rage from tragic events is described does not continue to conclusion. The ending of the book is "different" from what a reader would expect, especially from the justice system. I did enjoy one expression: "The train had finally derailed and the cars were all overturned. All that remained was the baggage." This read is like a train that never picks up speed, consistently changes tracks, and the baggage is lost. Review based on hardcover 1993 Recommend Sara Paretsky's GUARDIAN ANGEL & GHOST COUNTRY.
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4: Didn't Bother to Finish
I didn't bother to finish this book. The writing is amateurish, and the author's attempts at descriptive narrative are cliche and often repetative. The characters are one-dimensional and predicatable. Overall, this book reads like a bad romance novel disguised as a legal thriller.
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5: Novel of pure vengeance
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.
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