Rating: 
Summary: I had to force myself to finish this one
Review: I've read all of Turow's books and have always been captivated from beginning to end. How different this one is! I'll finish it out of sheer obstinacy, but I have had a very hard time staying interested. I lived through the campus protests of 1970, and I still couldn't connect with it. I'm less than 100 pages from the end, and I'm still trying to figure out what's it's about! I keep thinking there's a plot in here somewhere! I will definitely think twice about buying another Turow book if this is representative of what he's going to write.
Rating: 
Summary: Engrossing character studies with intellectual twists
Review: Mr. Turow proves himself again to be largely beyond comparison in the genre. I imagine that many of his contemporaries will read it with some sense of nostalgia for a bygone era. The characterizations are rich and complex, the story line engrossing. The reader who can follow the thickening plot to its conclusion will be richly rewarded with the surprising twists. I must say that I was highly impressed by the lucidity and passion of this text -- highly recommended!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Powerful, thought-provoking, mature, nourishing
Review: Although this book doesn't have the courtroom pyrotechnics of Presumed Innocent, it reflects a far more mature, ambitious author, interested in more than just a ripping yarn of trial lawyers. In fact, what hits you hardest about this book is not the trial (although it's clever and satisfying) but the characters, many of which we get to know closely through Turow's shifting narrative perspective. I was drawn to the book because I loved Presumed Innocent (though I found Turow's last ttwo books disappointing), and am a Chicago lawyer who finds Turow's description of the "KindleCounty" (read Cook County) courtrooms and chambers strikingly accurate. I was also attracted by the New York Times quote on the paperback's cover that the book was "Big Chill" meets "Bonfire of the Vanities" (both of which I loved). But what is most haunting about the book is the overarching motif of what it means to be a parent and a child -- the book returns time and again to how the characters (who a
Rating: 
Summary: Not sure I'll pick up another Turow novel
Review: The book was rewarding only during the mid section. The ending was a surprise, but only because it whisked by unexpectedly without much importance. I think I'll reread "Presumed Innocent" before I buy another Turow novel. The paperback is 817 pages, quite a time investment for a book I don't think I'd read again.
Rating:
Summary: I have read better books by Scott Turow
Review: I so enjoyed Scott Turow's other books (Burden of Proof, etc.) that I raced to buy this book and looked forward to reading it. This is book is confusing and difficult to follow. The plot is not all that exciting or interesting. I was very disappointed in this book.
Rating:
Summary: Is Scott Turow really a woman??
Review: His portrayal of Sonny, a female judge, was incredible. Although several bouts of whining by the major characters kept me from rating it a 10, it was otherwise a most satisfying read. Perhaps I'm biased by my sympathy for a woman rethinking her life.
Rating:
Summary: His best since Presumed Innocent
Review: I simply loved this book. I have to say that initially, before buying it, I had almost bought it about 10 times, but wasn't sure it sounded like something I'd like. Lucky for me, it was. I loved the way he changed perspectives, settings, times. I loved the story. I couldn't put the book down, quite simply. I loved Presumed Innocent, and wasn't as impressed with The Burden of Proof and Pleading Guilty. I'm happy the Scott Turow I fell in love with all those years ago is back!
Rating:
Summary: OK, but tries to take on too much and fizzles
Review: WAY too long! Turow fans will be sorely disappointed, I'm afraid. The usual can't-wait-to-turn-the-page-and-find-out-what-happens-next is GONE. Instead it jumps back and forth from time to time, character to character, and doesn't even reward the reader with a satisfying ending. If anyone has any brilliant insight on the limp of a last night, you're more deep--or more something--than I am
Rating:
Summary: Read it for Turow's mastery at characterization
Review: Awesome work. As the NY Times put it, this is has elements of both "The Big Chill" and "Bonfire of the Vanities." The difference is that both of those works took a humorous, even satirical look at the issues they brought up. This is serious. Turow can set a scene so vividly you can smell the dope in the ghetto, see the sweat pour off his brow as Seth is "kidnapped" in Las Vegas, and, of course, listen raptly as the lawyers hold court under Sonny's watchful eye. The 60's were a turbulent time, so I've been told. This novel helped me glimpse just what it was that made my dad say to me at age 10, "you'll never go to Berkeley to college if I'm footing the bill!" The turmoil of that shared past is something the characters here have never been able to run from. Here they are back East in Kindle County, but this time--maybe--at least some of them can reach closure and move on from the heated involvement of the past. The characters who are given the most narration, naturally, are the ones we get to know the best. Even toward the end of the book, though, we're still getting new insights into them. Reading this book is a little like watching the movie, "The Sting." The first time through you're trying to figure out what's going to happen. The second time through you can just enjoy the wonderful characterizations. So I'll be re-reading parts of this for that sheer pleasure of revisiting these folks who have stayed on my mind ever since finishing the book. This is Turow's best since Presumed Innocent--one of my all-time favorite legal thrillers. Enjoy. .
Rating:
Summary: Turow's best yet!
Review: Excellent reading for Turow fans. Superb characters and a great story.Interesting story-telling method, as well
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