Turow meets Picoult in the thriller of the year.
When a teenaged boy is discovered stabbed to death in the woods adjoining the local high school, a wave of shock ripples through the suburban community of Newton, outside of Boston. Assistant district attorney Andy Barber is used to dealing with murder and its after-effects, but with his own son, Jacob, also a student at the school, he too is anxious for a swift arrest and conviction. But as the kids appear to be stonewalling the cops and the investigation stalls, evidence emerges that ties Jacob to the crime - and suddenly Andy faces a very different challenge: preventing his son from being convicted of murder.
Together with his wife, Laurie, the family closes ranks in the midst of an increasingly hostile community as Andy prepares for the trial of his life, the one trial he cannot afford to lose. Especially when the emergence of his own dark family secrets threatens to undermine Jacob's defence.
As the drama reaches its climax, Andy and Laurie have to face every parent's toughest questions: how well do you really know your own child and how far would you go to save them?
Strong characters, a moving story and an avalanche of product placement.
Landay's protagonist is well drawn and as a father, very easy to connect with. The story switches between first person narrative and court transcripts seamlessly and keeps teasing that what you think you know is going on is actually something else entirely. And it concludes as something entirely different again. This isn't your traditional page turner - But the pay-off is worth the long slog. Speaking of pay-off's, the only negative aspect of this work is the constant, blatant advertising throughout the book. By page 33, five brands and products were named and described. Description of clothing unrelated to the plot had either the brand names inserted or a very good description of the brand logo. And Landays description of an iPod Touch in chapter 19 would rival that of Apple's top marketing people. Overall, a good and satisfying read. But if I want to have brand names shoved in my face, I'll watch a movie.
Guest, 19/01/2012
