Excellent narration. Really no troubles there.

So a cheating husband, who is a powerful prosecuting attorney – his mistress ends up dead – mistress thought she was going to sleep her way to the top and out of any situation she got into. Not really a fan of the storyline. There were lots of characters in this and definitely had troubles, keeping which prosecutor or police officer straight throughout the narration.

I listened because I want to watch the show on Apple TV, going to think about that for a bit after listening to the book. Not so sure that I am still interested.

Definitely better reads out there.

The cheating husband and the story going out on a note talking about searching for everlasting Hope through the want and desire of his mistress. That really kind of put it over the top for me.

Such a great story, this kept me wondering to the end. I don't think we should step out of our marriage and I guess neither did his wife(in a big way.) Thrilling and exciting are words I would use to describe this book.

A solid plot with extraordinary twists. I have read this before and will read it again.

Bought this in a charity shop in Canberra eighteen months ago; finally decided to give it a go after seeing it’s been adapted for an AppleTV show. If the show, and Jack Gyllenhaal’s performance, lives up even to half of Rusty’s complex inner psyche, and Turow’s expertly woven, winding and questioning narrative, then it will be a miracle of adaptation. One could argue this is a mystery novel ‘for the lawyers’, but the often confounding American legal lingo is merely a vessel for the cynical and doubtful journey of judicial morality. Don’t let the scant blurb belie the gradual genius of this book.

"Αθώος μέχρι αποδείξεως του εναντίου", εκδόσεις Bell.

Επιτέλους πήρα την απόφαση να διαβάσω το πολυδιαβασμένο αυτό θρίλερ, από τη μια γιατί είναι από τα πιο καλά και πλέον κλασικά δικαστικά θρίλερ που κυκλοφορούν εκεί έξω και από την άλλη γιατί κάποια στιγμή θα ήθελα να δω και την ομότιτλη ταινία του Άλαν Τζ. Πάκουλα, που είναι ένας από τους σκηνοθέτες που εκτιμώ πολύ. Και, βέβαια, πολύ απλά γιατί ήθελα να διαβάσω ένα θρίλερ με μυστήριο, νομικά κόλπα και όλα αυτά τα ωραία. Λοιπόν, ναι, πρόκειται για ένα πολύ ενδιαφέρον, καλογραμμένο και εθιστικό δικαστικό θρίλερ, με όλα τα καλούδια του είδους αλλά και της σχολής και της εποχής του, κατάφερε να με κρατήσει από την αρχή μέχρι το τέλος. Γενικά, δεν συγκλονίστηκα κιόλας -κάποια πραγματάκια τα έβλεπα να έρχονται-, αλλά μου άρεσαν κάποιες εκπλήξεις εδώ κι εκεί στην πλοκή, λάτρεψα την όλη ατμόσφαιρα, ενώ σίγουρα μου άρεσε και το στιλ γραφής του Τάροου. Γενικά, είναι ένα αρκετά ποιοτικό, ψυχαγωγικό και εθιστικό θρίλερ που αν μη τι άλλο θα σας κρατήσει καλή συντροφιά για λίγες ώρες.

I must admit that I saw the movie first, then read the book. But the book is so much better. I love the fact that Turow is a lawyer writing about the law; he knows his stuff. Even taking that into account, Turow does not weigh the reader down with too much legalese, something that adds to the book's success. This novel was the first that I read of this author: but definitely not my last. 4★

البريء المفترض

رواية إثارة قانونية ممتازة، حصلت على الجزء الثاني منها والذي صدر بعد سنوات طويلة بعنوان (البريء) من معرض الرياض الفائت، جريمة قتل بشعة تذهب ضحيتها محامية جميلة ويتهم بالجريمة زميلها وحبيبها السابق، يضعنا سكوت تورو على حافة الترقب، ما الذي حدث؟ هل ارتكب رستي سابيتش الجريمة فعلاً؟ أم هو بريء وهناك مؤامرة ضده، استطاع تورو إبقائي في الظلام حتى الصفحة الأخيرة.

Every so often, a new writer comes along to refresh a genre grown stale. Turow brought the mystery/legal thriller back.

What a mess. It was unnecessarily racist, and unjustifiably long.

I opened this book expecting to be gripped, suprised, and excited. Instead, I was disppointed.

It was a far too long blow-by-blow account of unimportant details. I guess who the killer was halfway through the book, and it somehow managed to further disappoint me, in the process of revealing the killer to me at the end.

I'm not even sure whether or not I should go into the mess of a sub-plot. Becuase the killer is, suprise surpise, his wife, and because he wanted to avoid having to end with her confessing her crime to the courtroom, Turow decided to end the trial abruplty, through the use of that infamous 'B-file'. Judge Larren was once involved in bribery, and through fear of all of his dirt being brought to light in the courtroom, he dismisses the trial, and sets dusty free. No one cared in the slighest. Practically every one knew, but not one single character cared. Why, then should I have cared? I didn't. It was sloppy tactic. It's as if Scott Turow sat at his desk scratching away with his pencil in a 'got to have a twist, got to have a twist' frenzy, and was prepared to jot down ANYTHING, to deliver that god damned twist.

I can't remember being gripped by the story, once, and the highest point, was the second to last trial.

I gave it two stars instead of one, because although a drag it's written well (linguistically), and the facts pumped behind all of the law, and forensics, were interesting (if you like that sort of thing).

All in all, it was nothing out of the ordinary, and am quite miffed that the reviews on the back claimed that this book would take over my life for a while. Maybe I should be blaming them.

Book 1 of the Kindle County series.

For the most part this was a well constructed courtroom thriller. I say “for the most part” for there were aspects of the book that I had some problems with. Much of the dialogue was written in the local vernacular, which is all well and fine if the reader is conversant with the local vernacular but if not it was a bit like reading a foreign language at times.
But apart from that, as I said earlier, it’s a clever, well constructed courtroom thriller.
The premise of the story is based on that old truism, from a male point of view, that is “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”. You better believe it!

Rusty Sabich is Kindle County’s deputy Public Prosecutor and he has been having a torrid affair with one of his female colleagues. When the colleague turns up murdered and some circumstantial evidence seems to point at Rusty the new Chief Prosecutor has Rusty charge with the murder.

The ensuing trial I found riveting. Watching the defence team at work was quite something. The use of verbal language, body language and the addition of some theatrics all this put together makes for a highly entertaining read.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Харисън Форд, пардон – Рожат (Ръсти) Савич, първи заместник главен прокурор в предстояща оставка на окръг Киндъл, включващ голям град в Средния Запад, се оказва обвиняем за убийство на колежка любовница. Ключова улика е една чаша с негови отпечатъци, намерена на местопрестъплението. Щом съм знаел, че го е играл Харисън Форд (във филма на Алън Пакула), значи съм знаел и чий е неидентифицираният чужд отпечатък на същата чаша, преди да посегна към този 35-годишен вече класически съдебен трилър. Но не кой е убиецът е най-интересното. Нито за читателя, нито за … съда. Нито даже за Ръсти Савич, който макар и прозрял отговора запазва свободата си да изгради собствена си въздушна кула относно мотивите. За мене най-ценното е умелата игра на страните по делото и съдията, които се намират в сложна ситуация на противопоставяне на три плана – съдебен, политически и личен. И трябва да я изиграят по обществено приетите правила, без да пристъпват червените линии на конфликт на интереси. Удоволствие е да се следи как го правят. Особено – защитата. На филм, в който акцентът логично е върху сюжетните обрати, е трудно да се оцени по достойнство.

Любим детайл на епохата - полицията има само един компютър и счетоводството има предимство да го ползва за заплатите пред детективите - за разследване на убийства

This is a terrific murder mystery, as well as being a fun legal thriller. Having spent decades as a lawyer, I often find that books featuring lawyers, the law, and courtroom scenes often contain errors – and this one doesn’t! (It completely messes with my suspension of disbelief if in legal fiction, I end up thinking, “That wouldn’t have been allowed.”)

I picked this book up because I recently re-watched the movie (which I love)… and there was one area in the movie that – while not wrong or impossible – made me cock my head to one side and raise an eyebrow. Hmm, I thought. I wonder if that’s Hollywood or the way it was written?

Happily, I enjoyed the book very much (in addition to getting the answer to my question – Hollywood cut one very small scene, which, if included, would have kept my eyebrow firmly in place, but which, honestly, to anyone but a lawyer is really not needed). The mystery (even though I knew the answer) was well played out, the characters were fully fleshed out and the writing was smooth. The author does a great job of keeping the legal aspects clear and understandable to the layman.

In this story, Rusty Sabich, is a prosecuting attorney. When one of his colleagues, Carolyn Polhemus is murdered, he is put in charge of the investigation. Rusty is torn, professionally and personally, by Carolyn’s death – because not too long before the murder, they had had an affair. Even worse, every bit of evidence they have about the murderer is pointing to Rusty being the culprit… Fantastic stuff.

I must say, the Rusty character in the book is not quite the tower of strength Harrison Ford portrays in the movie, but naturally, the book is much richer in details of the different characters’ motivations and the legal process. The movie does an excellent job of rendering the story, but if you want to delve a little deeper, this book will deliver.

Highly recommended to lovers of legal thrillers!

True rating: 4.5 stars.