Rating:  Summary: Boring Review: A boring novel that reads like a poorly-written textbook. I tossed it aside half way through with no intention to pick it up again. Unfortunatley, the author has not been able to live up to his first two books.
Rating:  Summary: I had to work too hard for every page. Turow WAS. Review: Well, if you like to plod, plod plod and get nowhere, this is a good book. I spent almost a week on it and really wanted to just give up many times. Unfortunately for me--I can't do that. So, I read to the end. Every now and then there would be mention of one of the other Kindle County personages (Sandy Stern, for example) and I would delude myself into thinking it was going to get better!! YUK
Rating:  Summary: Turow returns to winning form Review: I had the luxury of reading this book this summer during my vacation (I had an early reader's copy from my mother-in-law's book store). I was relieved to see Turow come back fairly close to the quality of some of his earlier works such as Presumed Innocent and Burden of Proof. His previous book, The Laws of Our Fathers, was so boring I could barely finish it. Personal Injuries had much better character depictions (a strength of Turow's with the folks from Kindle County) and did a bit better this time on the twists and turns he's famous for; only a few transitions were predictable. No, it's not the best that Turow has ever written, but I enjoyed it.
Rating:  Summary: a major let-down versus his earlier works Review: i have generally stayed up all night to finish a just-released scott turow novel. this time, he put me to sleep four nights in a row! the story never seemed to get out of low gear -- dull and unexciting are the words that come to mind. i finally gave up at the half-way mark. don't bother with this one.
Rating:  Summary: A great character study - NOT a legal thriller Review: It takes a while to get into but when you do you get a fascinating portrait of the main character. If you're expecting a nail biter, then look elsewhere. But hats off to Turow for writing a different kind of book.
Rating:  Summary: GREAT BOOK - A Mystery Masterpiece of Skilled Writing Review: I can't imagine why any readers have panned this book, other than the fact that they are so used to page-turning, easy reads that they don't know a masterpiece when they read one. This is a masterpiece. I am not a fan of 4th. grade level literature of any type, so I don't usually read thrillers and especially lawyer fiction, but this book is superb. Each chapter carries you to the next. Each scene is well-laid out and you are there, in the action and in the suspense. The plot is exciting and keeps you riveted until the surprise end. This book will be a classic and I plan to read Mr. Turow's other books, hoping they are even close to as good as this one. Hooray for you, Mr. Turow! You have created a real masterpiece.
Rating:  Summary: Brilliant! Review: Scott Turow is such a good writer it is unfortunate that he is typecast as a "legal mystery" writer. John Grisham he is not. The story is involved and beautifully written. He has a wonderful ear for dialogue. He uses the word "hinky" twice in the book. Now that's a real Chicago word.His portrait of Robbie Feaver is complex and he really gets it right with his analogy of The Play. Sometimes I wonder if his books are too reliant on the ethnic battleground that is Kindle County. Is that America or just Chicago? He also hits home with the corruption that is the personal injury racket. So much money is to be made because of the contingency fee system and the fact that there is no loser pays rule that there is more than enough money to corrupt many people. Maybe not the explicit corrupt as described in the book but in many other ways, i.e., the expert witness who will say anything. One of the best books I've read in years and maybe his best as it tracks Turow's own role as a U.S. Attorney in a big legal corruption scandal. Turow admires Charles Dickens. To my mind, Turow and Tom Wolfe are the Dickens of today.
Rating:  Summary: Much too dull and plodding to be worth a reader's time. Review: Turow is not a bad writer--but that's not exactly a selling point. Here, his story bogs down terribly in situations where there is nothing at stake we can care about, and no real jeopardy. The main female character--supposedly tough and no-nonsense, is flummoxed immediately by the protagonist, and we cannot imagine why. There is also a nauseating transparent attempt to make the protagonist more likeable, in the form of a wife with ALS, The society of ALS sufferers should really protest being used as an author's desperate attempt at manipulating his reader's emotions.
Rating:  Summary: UNREADABLE Review: I have read Scott Turrows books before and bought this new one with great anticipation. I was so bored to death with it, I cant describe how bad it was. Truly awful. I gave up half way through. Dont bother to buy this.
Rating:  Summary: Check the book out of your library and save your money! Review: Wishing and hoping could not make this book better. Less than halfway I sat down and made note as to what the end would be. I was only wrong in my first thought on "Evon". Turow does spend too much time building characters at the expense of the plot. I used to be a huge Turow and Grisham fan. Now I will take my business elsewhere.
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