First Offense

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. (Aug.)