Rating: 
Summary: Classic Plot - New Twist
Review: "Temporary Sanity" is a robust, power-packed, legal thriller. Rose Connors introduces readers to: Martha (Marty) Nickerson, trying her first case as a defense attorney, J. Stanley Edgerton, an in-your-face, by-the-book assistant DA and Buck Hammond, who had the misfortune to murder the killer of his seven-year-old son in front of the sheriff and a slew of TV cameramen. To keep the action alive the author adds a feisty Judge and a series of murders. Marty's task is to convince the jury to find Buck Hammond 'not guilty.' Connors' court room drama is lively, her characters vibrant and her dialogue authentic. "Temporary Sanity" is the classic legal thriller with interesting new twists and the perfect page-turner book to read when you are alone and won't be interrupted.
Beverly J Scott, author of Righteous Revenge and Ruth Fever
http://www.beverlyjscott.com
Rating: 
Summary: Vigilante Justice
Review: Former prosecutor, Mary Nickerson, is confronted with the issue of vigilante justice in TEMPORARY SANITY. Can murder be justified if the crime committed against you is so heinous that it cannot even be contemplated? Client, Buck Hammond, is charged with murder one for killing the pedophile murderer of his seven year old son. Buck took justice into his own hands as television cameras were rolling. The crux of the problem is can Marty win an acquittal with the crime on tape for the jurors to see. There are two other related crimes that mesh nicely into the story. The story weaves a web around you and does not let go until the very last page. The basic story is Good vs. Evil. Buck against the pedophile killer, Marty against a wayward judge. During the climax of the story which takes place in the courtroom, the action veers off into the preposterous. It makes for an entertaining, but highly improbable courtroom scene. Despite some plot flaws, the words kept my eyes glued to the page and I had trouble putting the book done. Rose Connors is a fresh, new voice in the legal thriller genre.
Well done sophomore effort.
Rating:
Summary: Exciting who-done it
Review: Hector Montero, a convicted pediophile, kidnapped seven-year-old Billy Hammond, tied his arms and legs together with wire, stuffed a rag into his mouth then proceeded to rape and kill the child. The lad's father Buck identified the body at the morgue. Buck proceeded to the area where Hector was being transported to the Barnstable County jail on Cape Cod and killed him with his deer rifle. The authorities charged Buck with murder in the first degree. The shooting and the subsequent arrest was caught on tape and shown on television, a situation that worries defense attorneys Harry Madigan and Marty Nickerson. Marty is particularly concerned since this is her first case as a defense attorney after working as an assistant trial attorney for over ten years. When the presiding judge is knifed in chambers and Harry's archenemy takes up residence on the bench, matters look even more dismal for the defense team. TEMPORARY SANITY takes the reader from the opening arguments to the jury verdict in courtroom scenes so vivid and intense that readers will feel they are part of the case. Rose Connors can hold her own with such heavy weights as John Grisham, Scott Turow and Nancy Taylor Rosenberg using her expert knowledge of the law to make the case very realistic. It is interesting to see how a temporary insanity plea is used within the legal world and not on a Hollywood movie screen. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: I Certainly Didn't See THAT coming.........
Review: I don't read much fiction so when I find a book I that really holds my attention like "Temporary Sanity" did, I take special note.
The whole book was woven together very well - I enjoyed each character - even the ones who were created especially so we would be frustrated with them.
Marty is very likeable as the able and highly intuitive defense attorney with a heart. I can imagine the small firm she works in is actually a positive place to hang your hat. (This must be fiction *smiling*.)
Not only is the writing thoroughly engaging and entertaining, the subject matter is one we can all relate to - in all its horrifying glory.
What worked especially well was the ending. I had no clue what was coming. I love when I am taken by surprise like this - kudos to Rose Connors for pulling off such a delightful conclusion.
Rating:
Summary: Connors Keeps Up the Pace
Review: I have read both of Connor's books, and enjoyed them thoroughly. As a summer Cape dweller, I heard her speak at a literary event, and found her interesting, down-to-earth, and believable. This book, the second, continues with the main characters that were introduced in the first novel. The plots in both, work well for any mystery, and are not predictable. This is a pleasant suprise, as there are few Cape Cod set novels that avoid being simplistic. Entertaining and well-written summer or winter reading for any legal thriller fan!
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant pacing, great characters
Review: I won't reiterate the story as it is well documented on this page. I read a lot of mysteries, and a few of them are so good that I buy a hardcover and give them a precious space in my bookcases. This is one of those keeper books. The author brings all the characters to life, tells a great, if gut-wrenching, story; winds it up with a terrific ending that keeps you wondering until the last words; AND she knows about guns. It is so aggravating that guns are used so often in mysteries by authors who are too dang lazy to do any research on them. Then their gun clankers in the book yank me right out of the story. The big issue in the book is jury nullification, another one of my hot buttons (but that's just icing on the cake, it is a great book.) I really could not tell how the ending would come out until it did. Most authors I have seen treat issues like jury nullification as either for or against, all the way through, so you know what the ending will be depending on which soapbox the author climbs up on. It is a hard read in places because of the horrific crimes that take place, but not stomach-turning. Read it!
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant pacing, great characters
Review: I won't reiterate the story as it is well documented on this page. I read a lot of mysteries, and a few of them are so good that I buy a hardcover and give them a precious space in my bookcases. This is one of those keeper books. The author brings all the characters to life, tells a great, if gut-wrenching, story; winds it up with a terrific ending that keeps you wondering until the last words; AND she knows about guns. It is so aggravating that guns are used so often in mysteries by authors who are too dang lazy to do any research on them. Then their gun clankers in the book yank me right out of the story. The big issue in the book is jury nullification, another one of my hot buttons (but that's just icing on the cake, it is a great book.) I really could not tell how the ending would come out until it did. Most authors I have seen treat issues like jury nullification as either for or against, all the way through, so you know what the ending will be depending on which soapbox the author climbs up on. It is a hard read in places because of the horrific crimes that take place, but not stomach-turning. Read it!
Rating:
Summary: Keeps you turning pages
Review: I've always loved legal thrillers, ever since the early Grisham and Martini books, and it is refreshing to have a new writer on the scene who actually knows how to plot a book well and how to keep you turning pages.
Rose Connors does that quite nicely in this book. Two major plotlines and one minor one tie up nicely at the end. I read the book in two sittings, which is very unusual for me. I usually read about fifty pages at a time. This book just couldn't be put down that quickly.
I recommend it strongly. In fact, after finishing this book, I went onto Amazon and ordered the first book in the series and the new one also.
Rating: 
Summary: Starts well, but plot development needs work
Review: Marty Nickerson left the Massachusetts prosecutor's office to join a new defense attorney practice headed by her professional and personal partner, Harry Madigan. Marty immediately has two virtually impossible cases to defend. The first is a man who shot the suspect in his son's kidnapping and murder-an act TV cameras filmed as it occurred. The second case is a battered woman charged with murdering her abusive boyfriend, who happens to have been a parole officer. Complicating the cases is Marty's ex-boss, Geraldine Schilling, a tough and running for reelection prosecutor. Assisting Geraldine is Stanley Edgarton, a new addition to the prosecutor's office, replacing Marty. Stanley is disdainful of the residents and processes of Cape Cod, and is confident of maintaining his perfect conviction rate. Marty's personal life is equally complex-- she is the single mother of teenaged son, and has invited Maggie, the daughter of the battered woman, to live with Marty and Luke. Temporary Sanity steps the reader through the jury selection and beginning of the trial of the man accused of murder. The judge initially assigned to the case is found stabbed in his chambers shortly after the trial begins. The new judge on the case, Beatrice Nolan, is an old enemy of Harry and therefore of Marty. Judge Nolan does everything she can to ensure Mary and Harry lose their case, and their client goes to jail. Most of the Temporary Sanity is set against the backdrop of the trial, and the thoughts going through Marty's mind as she tries to figure out the connections between her two cases and the stabbing attack on the judge. The book is well written and fast paced enough to keep the reader's attention. However, the plot development becomes ludicrous and awkward-very disappointing in a book that begins with a great deal of potential.
Rating:
Summary: Courtroom thrills
Review: Marty Nickerson, a former prosecuting attorney, is now working for the first time as a defence attorney in Cape Cod and is called upon to defend Buck Hammond, a man with a spotless record who shot Hector Monteros, the man who kidnapped and brutally raped Buck's young son. The trouble is that a TV news crew filmed the event as it happened and that Buck refuses to use a plea of temporary insanity, insisting that he knew what he was doing and would do it again. Marty teams with Harry Madigan, her law partner and lover to produce a credible defence in the face of overwhelming evidence and at the same time, defend a battered woman whose live-in attacker was murdered. M/s Connors own courtroom experience comes into play here with her expert knowledge of procedures and some almost unbelievable courtroom characters who, one only prays, we will never have to face in person. I look forward to her next book.
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