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Summary: Lawyer on Trial
Review: Kindle County's chief deputy prosecutor, Rusty Sabich, has an impeccable reputation. He tries his best to be a good father to his son, Nathaniel, and a loving husband to his wife, Barbara. However, Carolyn Polhemus, a fellow attorney, changes all of that. Carolyn has been brutally murdered - and the timing couldn't be worse, just days before Rusty's boss, Raymond Horgan's last re-election campaign. Horgan, busy with his campaign, asks that Rusty head-up the murder investigation. What Horgan doesn't know is that Rusty had an affair with the deceased. Suddenly, Rusty has become the prime suspect. The evidence against him is very incriminating. Did Rusty kill Carolyn Polhemus? Is he being framed? His lawyer, Alejandro "Sandy" Stern, is one of the best. But is he good enough to save Rusty's life?Scott Turow has such a great writing style. He tells you only what you need to know now, keeping you second-guessing your own instincts and conclusions, and forcing you to read on. The many characters involved in this investigation are all very different from each other. They are very realistic and everyone has some kind of reputation exposed, good and bad. This isn't a "lawyer story" just for the pros. It's written for anyone to easily enjoy - and I certainly did.
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Summary: The best courtroom fiction, ever!!
Review: Forget about Grisham. If you want pure courtroom excitement, there is no single book so far can compare with this one. Almost 1/2 of the book is in the courtroom, plus the twist at the end, Presumed Innocent is simply an unforgettable fiction.
The only book which can compare with this one is Richard North Paterson's Degree of Guilt.
Rating:
Summary: Good Court Room Scenes
Review: Not a lot new here on the story side, you probably have even seen the movie. What I like about the book and I think is the authors best quality is the court room and leagal drama he can create. I love the detail and do not get bogged down by it. He gives you enough detail to sink your teath into and really work with. THis is not a 200 page weekend book. I think it is his best book and better then anything Grisham has put out over the last five years.
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Summary: Ups & Downs of a Courtroom Drama
Review: The-wrong-man plot has been exploited both in Cinema and Literature too much, that it already has its own clichês -- the first is the man trying to prove himself to be innocent; there are also an evil prosecutor, and good-at-heart lawyer, a friend who betrayals et al. 'Presumed Innocent' is not an exception to the rule. It is the story of a prosecutor who is accused of murdering a work mate and ex-lover. Most of the novel can be classified as courtroom drama, and this is the most effective part of the story, despite being a bit boring sometimes. The book is divided in three parts. In the first Scott Turow sets the story, presents the characters and the crime. The second, the longest one, is the judgement, and the third, a conclusion with some moral undertones. Turow has an easy reading style. He seems to know a lot about laws, lawyers and their underworld, and he can perfectly translate it to people who is not used to it. The only problem I had with his narrative were the flashbacks. Sometimes he stops in the middle of an event in order to move years back to tell something that in end is not important in the present time. This regression really bothered me sometimes. The main character, Rusty, is interesting but not great or unforgettable. I think Turow wanted to show what happens when a man who knows the law is accused of crime that he might -- or might not -- have commited. His main objective was showing a man who can manipulate the law, and prove himself innocent dispite comminting the crime -- or how the prosecutors can use this device in order to incriminate an innocent man. These questions are at the centre of the narrative, but to me, I could never believe that Rusty could have killed Carolyn, so half of the story sunk to me. The other characters are a bit caricatured and shallow. They work more like human types rather than human beings, i.e. they are the enemy who can do anything to get a position he wants, the betrayed wife, the good lawyer, the fair and sympathetic judge... 'Presumed Innocent' is not a page-turner. The false hints through the novel distracts the reader rather than creating a surprise in the end. This novel demands time and paciency from the reader. It rises some interesting moral questions, but they get lost through the middle of the novel, and in the end, some people may find theirselves asking 'what is the point?'
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Summary: Wonderful!
Review: This first book by Turow is fantastic!
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Summary: Rich, Detailed, Surprise plot; but characters are a bit flat
Review: The style of this book is somewhere between such detective mysteries as Agatha Christie's works and those psychological thrillers like Barbara Vine's "Dark-adapted Eyes" or Thomas Cook's "Chatham School Affair." The suspense and surprises are all there. Indeed, Turow does a very good job creating those intriguing twists, and scattering them not only along the main plot (who's the killer?) but also on the subplots (the bribery, the setup, etc). The characters, however, are not very well drawn out, despite some tastful scenes. For instance, I really like the scene where the narrator and Stern confronted Raymond in his office. It's frigtening to see how Raymond recall the casual conversation he earlier had with the narrator and what he infer from it. But then later, I was dismayed at how eagerly Raymond wanted to make up for his misunderstanding. This 180 degree turn was simply explained away by Raymond's realization that he had been misled. It's OK, but then the character of Raymond is rendered flavorless: nothing special, he just "floated" and let the waves of the storyline carry him. The same thing could be said of most of the characters of the book. Compared to some other successful thrillers such as the two mentioned above, the character development in this book is not entirely satisfying. The portion of the plot that is character-driven in this book is too little... Even the mental state of the killer is never very fully explored in any part of the book, rendering the killer's motive less than absolutely convincing. This lack of description may be partly due to the need to preserve the surprise element of the killer's identity, but I'd think that Turow could do better in this area. The lengthy conversations the narrator had with Stern and Raymond after the trial are useful means to resolve some of the puzzles, but they are just too long. It drags a bit there. But other than this small part, the storyline flows pretty well. The courtroom drama is engrossing, with Turow throwing a lot of interesting legal details (including the lawyers' tactics) to the readers along the way. That part is long but never boring because of many delicious, albeit small, twists. Over all, the plot of the book is rich and cleverly thought out. It's not only because of the surprise ending, but also because of the intricate subplots. Characters, however, could be popped up a bit more, though I realize it's very difficult to achieve everything in one single book.
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Summary: His first was his masterpiece!
Review: Turow broke new ground after this book came out! I had to read it twice. Plenty of plot twists. Grisham has his hands full whenever Turow comes out with a book. UNDOWNPUTABLE!
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Summary: The best yet.
Review: Turow stays unbeaten when it comes to legal suspense/mystery! I enjoyed the ending. GREAT JOB.
Rating:
Summary: A Must-Read
Review: I rarely give popular books 5 stars because they just don't compare to Shakespeare, Tolstoy, etc., yet this is an important book about the US criminal justice system. As an attorney myself, I believe that the book's premise is reasonable. Unlikely, but reasonable. And, after reading it, you will never view a murder investigation or trial in the same light as you do now.
Rating:
Summary: An Unsurprising Surprise
Review: when i first started this book i felt like i could see where it was going. i thought to myself, this is going to be similar to _the murder or roger ackroyd_ or "the witness for the prosecution." but this book goes so far beyond those that it defies comparison. suffice it to say that i was mistaken in my suspicions. this book is like grisham but better, or like agatha christie, only more involved. rusty sabich, the main character, is fascinating in what he thinks, does, says, and omits. some of mr. turow's techniques, such as the multiple names for characters and clunky sentences, put some distance between me and the action, but the writing overall was excellent and the book is well worth the read.
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