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.

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


سكوت تورو.

"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 recently reread this classic and again it did not dissapoint. What most amazed me was the quality of the writing, the precise use of words and description. No wonder Turow is doing a sequel.

The 2nd half of the book was much better than the first half largely because of the twist. I’m not too much of a thriller fan, at times it felt like Gone Baby Gone. I just don’t believe the characters in the book act plausibly, ever hear of ruling out suspects before going to trial?

3.5 stars.

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.

The hubster and I recently binged the Apple TV series, so I had to see how the book compares. I MUCH more preferred the series and didn't care for the book all that much. Perhaps because the book was published in the 80's, so things just seem outdated now. And it was sooooo long.

The narrator was fine, but he doesn’t sound like Jake Gyllenhaal

With its first person POV narrative, absence of DNA evidence analysis, reliance on psychoanalyst therapy, the lack of mobile phones, etc. this novel may appear a bit dated to today readers (it was published in 1986). I did work out the twist at the end, however I enjoyed it very much. As they say it’s an oldie but a goodie. 3.5 stars rounded up.

Slow start and the dialogue was more about what they didn't say in the courtroom that what they did say and were implying.
While I guessed who was the murderer way before that fact was revealed. I stil did enjoy the book.
(spoiler alert) The wife elaborately planned and framed her husband but when she admitted to the murderer, she stated that she would have confessed to the brutal premediated murder before seeing her husband go to jail-I did not believe her for a minute-she woud have let her unfaithful husband rot in jail.

While I have not seen the movie, Harrison Ford cast as the wimpy ,infatuated and wimpy lover would be totally miscast not an Indian Jones genre for him- William Hurt played a similar character in Body Heat to perfection.

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.

Sometimes I find the Goodreads descriptions so infuriating. I know it isn't their fault. The descriptions, for the most part, come from the publishers. I'm too lazy to go figure out how to not tell readers what happens about 1/3 in and not just 'sort of' spoilerish. In any case, knowing who would end up accused did have me paying a mite closer attention, so I guess knowing that wasn't all bad.

I admit that I have aged enough that I could have done with fewer explicit sex scenes which I'd put in the category of gratuitous. There aren't enough of them, however, to have cut this from 430 pages to even 375. Yeah, I've aged that much.

It has been years since I read Scott Turow and I wondered if this was going to be a reread. I decided not because absolutely nothing, not one word, seemed famliar. And I was very happy being in front of this legal thriller. The courtroom scenes and the pre- and post-trial lawyer/client discussions had my undivided attention. (Except once, when the word venire caught my eye and I knew it would play immediately in an online word game.)

There were clues that had me pretty sure I knew who the perpetrator was, but because I am so often wrong about such things, I would not have placed any bets on my being right. I was right after all, and that was satisfying, but it didn't spoil the novel for me. This is a very good 4-stars and that, for me, is high praise in the genre.

DNF at chapter 5. The writing style is definitely not for me (dull, blunt), I tried 3 times and I was on the verge of sleeping each time. Also, I thought it was stupidly crass. Good thing I only paid like $.05 for it!