“ما الأكثر صعوبة؟ معرفة الحقيقة أو العثور عليها، أو البوح بها أو تصديقها؟”.


سكوت تورو.

“Presumed Innocent” (book 1 of Kindle County series), by Scott Turow - originally published in 1987

3.75 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

I picked this book because I was very impressed with the adaptation for the TV, starring Jake Gyllenhaal. The teleplay was written by David E. Kelley, Miki Johnson and Sharr White, but Scott Turow also took part in the teleplay. I honestly think that the adaptation was better and more interesting than the original book, especially the conclusion.

The book was very well written, but the narrative was very slow. The book could have been a lot shorter, by at least 125 pages, in my opinion.
But the author did a great job building the main character around the concept of the storyline.
The characters’ behaviour and prejudice reflects the time the story was written, not the author’s personality.
The courtroom scenes were excellent and left me wanting more.
I just thought that this could have been more exciting. It was not a story that grabbed me immediately or made me want to read it in one sitting. It wasn’t that thrilling. But I blame on the narrative.

I’m looking forward to reading the next two books in this series.

e-book (Kobo): 511 pages (default), 158k words, 40 chapters

Read Again 07/03/16 for Maze mystery book group.

I always remember whodunit, but here I forgot most of the surrounding facts. Truly some of the best courtroom scenes ever.



This book came out in 1987. At that time (and since) I was keeping track of my reading, however this does not appear on any list I have. But I remembered who-dun-it.

I have been a fan of Scott Turow's writing since 1981 when, just before entering law school, I read his "One L" -- a fantastic book. As a former federal prosecutor of corruption cases, I know that the knowledge he brings to this story is impeccable. He is not only a greatly successful trial attorney, but writes a damn good thriller as well.

N.B. p. 355: "The Saints' [an urban street gang] would make some sociologist a reasonably good dissertation.' See "Gang Leader for a Day".

Read this one some years ago but the memory of what a terrific book it is has remained with me ever since.

A gripping work of crime fiction, splendidly written by Scott Turow, which kept me guessing to the last page. An exploration of the mind of its leading character, Rusty Sabich, who narrates this tale of political, social, and sexual tension. Rusty is a prosecutor in Kindle Country, no doubt a fictional stand-in for Cook County in Illinois who is assigned to investigate the rape and murder of a co-worker, with whom he has been having an affair. But all the evidence points to Rusty as the prime suspect.

The novel was a massive best seller and justifiably so as it is a superb literary thriller.
I bought the hard cover edition when it was first published in 1987 and it was already in its tenth printing and had also been a major book club selection.

Never thought the 1990 film version, directed by Alan J. Pakula and starring Harrison Ford, although very successful, quite captured the brilliance of the original material.

Oh man, this is as old school perfect as it gets. Scott Turow's Legal Thriller masterpiece still holds up well nearly 40 years after its initial publication, even with all the leaps forward in forensic science.

The novel opens with the discovery of a woman apparently raped and strangled in her own apartment. County prosecutor Rusty Sabitch is assigned to the case, and as he works with various PD and forensics experts, readers are immersed in feverish reminisces of his complete obsession with a colleague - the woman who is now deceased. These flights of memory are what makes Presumed Innocent an absolute knockout of a novel: Scott Turow puts you right inside the mind of a man whose dark, torrid affair was all-consuming. He betrayed his family and took risks with his job and reputation because he could not stop at all. The cover of the copy I borrowed said "Spellbinding. - New York Times," and that's exactly how it felt.

The trial lasts for almost the rest of the novel, interspersed with ongoing investigations on the defense side. Certain evidence goes missing; certain expert witnesses implode on the stand. At the very end, Turow gives readers a good old-fashioned denouement, complete with who, how, when and whydunit. They sure don't write 'em like that anymore, and now I'm super nostalgic for neat, clean wrapups.

Going into it, all I'd heard was that there was a really terrific twist. While I can't say the big reveal blew my mind, it was very well done. However, there were developments during the trial and concurrent investigation that made me say, oh, really!, and that's always a good feeling. My copy was narrated by actor Edward Hermann, who did an outstanding job. The whole thing was fantastic and I highly, highly recommend this book. All the stars.

This book drags terribly, starts slow, really slow then picks up a bit and then halfway through becomes predictable and painful. Most characters are unlikeable, especially the main one, with a few exceptions. I listened at 2x speed and it was not enough. Not intriguing or exciting and had the culprit figured halfway through.

Rusty Sabich, chief prosecutor of Kindle County finds himself in hot water when Carolyn Polhemus, a recent lover and current colleague winds up murdered. Rusty gets the case, and before he knows what hits him, he ends up thrown into the ring and being tried for her murder.

Sandy Stern, hot shot defense attorney presents a solid case, and Rusty goes from the prosecution side to the defense side.

For me, this was a solid read, just a little slow for a legal thriller than I would've liked. I found myself figuring out the ending, and didn't connect with the main characters as much as I would've liked. I think this may be one where I enjoy the movie more than the book.

A good book, but it dragged at times (to me). The story was very good, with some twists, but I thought he went a little overboard on the psychological thoughts all along the way. But perhaps this was a necessary part of the story, even though it was unexciting.

3 ½ stars. Some parts very good, I was eager to know what would happen. Other parts average.

STORY BRIEF:
Married prosecutor Rusty is accused of murdering his former lover. The first third of the book is what happens prior to the indictment. The last two-thirds is primarily the trial. It’s told in first person by Rusty.

REVIEWER’S OPINION:
This did not have the typical bad guy killer. I liked the unusual plot and motivations. I saw the movie several years ago and I remembered who did it, which was the same as in the book. But other things were very different between the movie and the book. During the first third, I was impatient for things to happen. It seemed too drawn out, getting to know various characters: lawyers, cops, wife, lover. Then when Rusty was indicted for the murder of Carolyn I was frustrated. I was anxious about the ending. Would it be happy or not? I didn’t want to invest another ten hours, just to be let down and depressed at the end. So I read the last chapter which summarized many of the details, and I was relieved. I liked the ending for Rusty. Then I went back to where I left off at his indictment and listened to the rest of the book. My enjoyment from that point on was much better than when I was worrying about the ending. The last two-thirds is mostly about evidence and watching the judge and the lawyers on each side. At times it was exciting. Sometimes it was slow. For someone like me, I’d recommend reading the last chapter (40) first, then go to the beginning and read the whole book. As a result I paid more attention to key characters. Since I knew certain things would happen, I was eagerly anticipating those events thinking “when’s this going to happen?”

There were two scenes describing torture and brutality which bothered me. I wish the author had NOT included them. They were about other cases the prosecutor worked on. One a small boy tortured by his mother. Another a man put in prison, raped, and suffered permanent damage to his body.

NARRATOR:
The narrator Edward Herrmann was fine.

DATA:
Unabridged audiobook reading time: 15 hrs and 33 mins. Swearing language: strong, including religious swear words. Sexual language: moderate. Sexual content: About 7 sex scenes, mostly referred to, not a lot of detail shown. Setting: current day mid-sized city and suburbs in the U.S. Book Copyright: 1987. Genre: legal mystery. Ending: Good enough for those who want happy endings.

This was a great read. There were a couple of issues that made me cringe and wish I had fast-forwarded  the little boy abused by his mother and the CPA who went to prison , but I was engrossed for most of the book. I listened to it via Overdrive and I think the narrator was very good, especially as Sandy. I look forward to the next book in this series - it is about Sandy and his family.

The brutal murder of coworker, Carolyn Polhemus, has unnerved chief deputy prosecuting attorney, Rusty Sabich. Carolyn was a former lover, a woman who still preoccupied his thoughts, much to his shame. Rusty had confessed his adultery to his wife, and is trying hard to keep the marriage together for the sake of their son. His boss, Raymond Horgan, is in the midst of a campaign and wants Rusty in charge of Carolyn’s case, which puts him in an awkward position. But things go from awkward to shocking when Rusty is arrested for Carolyn’s murder.

I’m probably one of the last people to read Presumed Innocent, and I’ve never seen the movie. I liked the story of this terribly conflicted man on the verge of losing everything he values. Author Scott Turow does a wonderful job of weaving agendas, angles, legal wrangling, and the dark side of law enforcement through this plot.

Having said that, it took me a while to get through the book, as the back story was frequent and overly long in places. In one instance, the back story wasn’t even relevant. By the book’s halfway point, Rusty’s fears, feelings, and conflict became repetitive. For readers who like long, reflective books that incorporate highly tense and dramatic courtroom scenes (arguably the best part of the book), this is a great read.

7/10

An enjoyable legal thriller that really hits it stride in the courtroom and less so in the bits outside of the courtroom. I thought it was an interesting, and quite novel, idea to set the first pages after the murder has occurred and then fill in the blanks as you go along. A lot of back story was needed to get the reader up to speed and this is when things were a little slow and sometimes less interesting with the political campaign less absorbing but we know what is just around the corner.

When the story gets into the courtroom the book was hard to put down. The dialogue flowed with ease and there were many times when you were keen to just read that next chapter to find out what was going to happen instead of going to sleep.

Whilst the solution to the murder and side plots weren't all that great in the end it had some of the best courtroom interrogations I've read in a long time.

If only the whole story was as tight as those scenes this would have been much higher rated overall. Worth a read if this is a genre you're interested in.

If you enjoy this try: "The Lincoln Lawyer" by Michael Connelly