PRESUMED INNOCENT

Rating:
Summary: Presumed BORING
Review: Funny how Hollywood can turn a seemingly DULL book into an engaging, exciting movie. Here's one example that stands out from the rest. Turow's writing is as boring and lifeless as a legal brief. Not surprising, when you consider that he's a lawyer-turned writer.

Turow's characters are 2-dimensional, with very little redeeming value. I found myself sympathizing with NONE of them. My interest in the characters as a whole made this book a tedious read (not to mention all the internal dialogue that went on within certain characters).

If you MUST read this book, don't spend money on it. Borrow it from your local library.

Better yet...don't waste the time READING...just watch the MOVIE (starring Harrison Ford, Raul Julia, Brian Dennehy, etc. etc.).

Peace Out.

Rating:
Summary: Disappoint airport literature
Review: If you were looking for great literature, you've come to the wrong place. This is a book for those who are merely searching for thrills. The author fails to make you think about the nature of the system or of human nature. The novel is full of common places and sentences that pretend to be poetic and are merely corny. But I must admit that this terribly flawed novel is very readable. The plot is certainly imaginative, though not terribly credible. The actors lack any depth and are simply caricatures of human beings. But, perhaps because of curiosity about the ending, I could not put it then. I wouldn't recommend it to any serious reader. And I do not intend to keep my copy.

Rating:
Summary: Best Legal Mystery Ever Written
Review: Written in the first person, which totally works in this novel, Scott Turow puts a prosecutor himself on trial for murder. Turow, a former prosecutor himself and then a firm lawyer in Chicago, wrote this on his way to work as a lawyer each morning on the train. As a lawyer myself, I can honestly say that he captures everything you could ever want in a legal mystery-thriller and then some. This is an absolute classic novel, which the movie version doesn't come close to equalling.

Rating:
Summary: Watch the movie and forget the book
Review: Seldom are films better than books. PI is one of them. Don't bother reading it if you've seen the film.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Read
Review: This book is a very interesting legal thriller - certainly better written than a Grisham novel, but not anything more than something that will keep you guessing, and, most of all turning the pages. The book is suspenseful, although the ending is not on par with the rest of the book. Suggested if you are looking for something fun to pass the time, but not for a serious literary experience.

Rating:
Summary: The best legal thriller
Review: Legal thrillers don't get any better than this, but it goesbeyond its genre by showing the corruptions of the political/legalsystem and because it is a great study of the consequences of sexual obssession. Grisham wishes he could be this good.

Rating:
Summary: Presumed Innocent
Review: I just read a review on this site that made me wonder if that reviewer and I had read the same book. Her obvious disappointment with the characters and plot was sad to read. "Presumed Innocent" was a fascinating read I thought. Rusty Sabich is accused of murdering his colleague and, unbeknownst to his accusers, his ex-lover. He tells his own story, and if Scott Turow is a lawyer first, his career as a writer must follow a very close second. First person narrators are barely to be believed if they are telling their own stories. The fragmented technique used by Turow to tell Rusty's story has two vital uses. First, it reflects the state of his mind: he narrates in vivid flashback and in first person present. Rusty is a fragmented man himself. He is emotionally fragile and is being pounded on by elements he feels he cannot control. Rusty believes that he was in love with the dead woman and for the kind of man that he unfolds into being, this is not at all difficult to accept. He makes himself out to be quite dispassionate, but all his actions reveal that he is very passionate and needs to be around people who are as well. Watch out for storytellers who are promising to be objective and truthful. They rarely ever are and more lie in what they say about situations and others than in what they say about themselves directly. Also, this is a wonderful technique to leave the reader wanting more. Turow does not protect his reader from harsh realities in the world of a prosecuting attorney: rape, murder and violent acts. The seemingly large number of characters do not detract from Rusty's story, as they all have their roles to play in the telling. Fragmented narrators seem to feel the need to describe a lot of people around them so as to deflect attention away from themselves and this happens here too. Yet, Turow manages to make all his characters interesting and colourful: Rusty's emtionally distant wife, his politricking boss, his sauve defence lawyer, the larger-than-life judge, the sexy, know-what-she-wants-and-how-to-get-it ex-lover. They all have their stories and very dark sides. Turow may be a "real" writer, but he is not an insensitive one. Barbara Sabich may not be very likeable, but her love for her son is without question, as is Rusty's gentle and intense devotion to their child. The strange kinship between Rusty and his best friend, Dan Lipranzer, is sweet, without being cloying, and it makes you hope to have a friend like that. Turow allows the story to unfold easily and naturally, not hurrying to let things happen, so he keeps the reader in suspense. The investigation into the murder reveals more about others than it does about the accused and when characters begin to become worried about exposure, the book picks up. Flashbacks into Rusty's early career are raw and not for those with a weak stomach. The trial scenes are clear and there is one scene where Rusty's lawyer goes after a pathologist that makes you want to cheer. The film, although sound, didn't do justice the novel and should be read, if just to fill in the blanks. the ending is truly a suprise for a first reader, and not just discovering whodunnit. Turow's novel flows easily, keeps the reader interested and is definately unputdownable.

Rating:
Summary: Great character development
Review: Scott Turow does of good job of developing the main character in PRESUMED INNOCENT.

Rating:
Summary: Dull, Boring and Flat--Dead Between the Covers
Review: Presumed Innocent was one of the most disappointing books I've ever read. I picked it up with such promise; the basic plot thread seemed so good. I thought there were just too many peripheral characters with only minor jobs to do. This made great sections of the book extremely confusing. The book just wasn't strong enough to support all those little subplots. The biggest disappointment, however, was the main character, Rusty. Characters should solve their own problems, or at least try to do so, but Rusty was so very passive, I found myself hating him more and more with every passing page. He seemed not to care what happened to him and was a character who passively accepted whatever happened while others knocked themselves out trying to help. When Rusty does discover the identity of the killer, he does so by accident (deus ex machina?). And even then, he doesn't DO anything about it, and for the flimsiest of reasons. In short, Rusty doesn't act--he is acted upon. Boy, is he acted upon! I also had a problem accepting Rusty's relationship with the murdered woman. If it was just lust--okay--I could buy that, but Turow presents the relationship as though it were one that encompassed feelings of great love and depth--at least on Rusty's part--something that would have been impossible, given the circumstances. When we do learn the identity of the real killer, it comes as a surprise, but it's a surprise with no emotional impact since we haven't been privy to the murderer's thoughts and feelings. This makes the ending fall flatter than the proverbial pancake. All in all, Presumed Innocent is a dull, boring, disappointing book with little or no emotional impact. Certainly not worth anyone's time or money.

Rating:
Summary: Great Read
Review: This book kept me on my toes and the ending was unexpected. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.