First Offense Hardcover – August 1, 1994 by Nancy Taylor Rosenberg
 
Barely surviving a shooting attack by the man she believes is her missing husband, probation officer Ann Carlisle follows the investigation of the drug dealer she supervises while struggling against a corrupt criminal justice system. 150,000 first printing. $150,000 ad/promo. Tour.
 
Amazon.com Review
Nancy Taylor Rosenberg's earlier works, Mitigating Circumstances and Interest of Justice were suspense masterpieces with strong female characters. Now she's created one of her most sympathetic heroines in Ann Carlisle, a probation officer in danger from an unknown enemy who wants to harm her and her teenage son. What Ann doesn't know is whether this has something to do with one of her earlier cases -- or something to do with her husband, who vanished mysteriously four years ago. A drug dealer who saves her from a bullet has some grisly secrets of his own to hide, and Ann's lover grows more and more distant. Soon Ann realizes that she can trust no one, and must find her attacker alone.
From Publishers Weekly
America's most popular champion of vigilantism ( Mitigating Circumstances ) returns with another button-pushing melodrama showing how a spunky heroine who takes the law into her own hands can bring down any villain. Rosenberg's new angel of vengeance is California probation officer Ann Carlisle, beautiful blonde and single mom. Ann doesn't kill for justice, as one previous Rosenberg heroine did; she merely illegally breaks-and-enters in order to get her man. But the author makes up for the relatively demure action by linking it to a mug book's worth of the law's failures, including a wrongly convicted felon, a sadistic cop and an overly ambitious DA. The busy plot buzzes with suspense and intrigue: Was it Ann's new drug-dealing probationer who shot her in the shoulder? Is it he who breaks into her house and molests her? Why is her prosecutor-paramour so eager to see an accused rapist behind bars? And has Ann's cop-husband, missing for four years, returned from the grave to make cryptic phone calls? Just when readers will have figured all the angles, savvy Rosenberg unveils the villain and flips the plot into an exciting manhunt, with Ann as bait. Offering plenty of sex and violence--and violent sex--plus a vigorous plucking of heartstrings, Rosenberg notches up another crowd-pleasing page-turner. Paperback rights to Signet; Literary Guild main selection; audio to Penguin HighBridge; author tour.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
 
5.4