Conflict of Interest

Nancy Taylor Rosenberg

This is a book that was sent to me by FSB at my request. It's a pretty standard legal thriller, which isn't to say that it wasn't enjoyable or fun, but it does have a few problems.

The core story is about ADA Joanne Kuhlman, a hard nosed prosecutor, who shows no mercy and always gets her man. She is assigned a case which involves the Rudinsky brothers, two drug abusing hoodlums caught for committing a convienience store robbery. Also involved is Ian Decker, a developmentally disabled young man, the alleged getaway driver. Opposite her, is a charismatic defense attorney, Arnold Dreiser, who tries to convince her that Ian isn't guilty, and swears it's not just because Mr. Dreiser is his cousin. Thru a series of occurrances, ADA Kuhlman starts to believe, but suddenly, mysteriously Ian Decker disappears. Surely the Rudinsky boys are responsible, and the manhunt begins. Insert the obligatory ending twist which I won't ruin.

So far, so good. Sounds interesting, right? Well, the problems come in when the author tries to flesh out the characters. You are given a fairly unbelieveable series of events, including a soon-to-be-ex husband who has stolen her children for two years, this same husband is going to prison for embezzling and online gambling, a teen pregnancy, a love interest that just sort of sits there, a psychic mother, a mysterious ex-CIA detective on the run from someone, and so much more. I found myself annoyed at the distractions from the story instead of interested in the peripheral characters. I did like Ian Decker, and was interested in his story, and found myself worried about what was going to happen to him.

At 312 pages it's not a long read, and it probably could have been shorter without losing anything. All in all, a good afternoon's distraction. It's not going to make my ten best list, but it's not going on the worst one either.