DNF
I’m just not a fan of the 60s hippies and counterculture. Turow is a great writer as I enjoyed Presumed Innocent, but this one annoyed me early on because I can’t stand the glorification of America’s 1960s. Meh.

World class writing.

I did NOT care for this book. Too much garbage information I don't need to know. So I am not going to read Personal Injuries. Maybe you would like them. And I bought 2 nook books, I hope I did not spend much on. We will see, maybe. WOW, not used to really not caring for books.

This is the third of Turow's books that I have read, the other two being Presumed Innocent and its sequel Innocent. This story takes place in the same fictitious Kindle County as those books, although the only character from those books appearing in this one is the prosecutor, Tommy Molto.

The story jumps between 1970 and 1995 and then back again throughout. Sometimes this had a disappointing effect for me. The story would approach a climax only for the next chapter to take us back to 1970 or forward to 1995 again. The crime at the center of the trial occurs in 1995 but the characters central to the trial have relationships that date back to the earlier time period, so much is invested in developing these characters. The trial itself is compelling. The 1970 story line, set in the San Francisco area during a tumultuous time, starts slow but I found it more interesting as the book continued.

I was not particularly invested in any of the main characters, which was a problem. In the Turow books I had read earlier, Rusty Sabich was the clearly the "hero" you hoped would prevail. This book doesn't as clearly delineate its protagonist. I suppose it's Judge Klonsky although her role in the story seems mainly to serve as the means by which we see the story unfolding. We learn bits and pieces of the story through her eyes. The story of the crime and trial are compelling, but in the end, I found that I didn't have much of a connection to any of the characters.

I had a hard time going back and forth through time with Seth on this, although I loved the book. I'd love to understand why the author did this? I'm going to have to read up on his interviews to understand. Found myself wanting to skip through these years to get to the current.

I know the gang terminology makes it realistic, but it made it a little difficult to understand during the trial. It does make the book, and definitely the Niles character and what he goes through that much more realistic. But you don't realize that until the end?

The ending was fantastic. Had to re-read that. Wow.

I "rent" these books from the library on electronic readers, so I'm not reading them in order. Love Turow. Long books, but well worth the read. Can't put them down (the old Nook charger is a challenge!)

n Kindle County, a woman is killed in an apparent random drive-by shooting. The woman turns out to be the ex-wife of a prominent state senator and an old acquaintance of Judge Sonia Klonsky, on whose desk the case lands. As the pursuit of justice takes bizarre and unusual turns, Judge Klonsky is brought face-to-face with a host of extraordinary personalities and formidable enemies bent on her destruction.

Abandoned this book 5% of the way in. It starts out from several different POVs and getting through just the first two was painful. The judge, Sonny, spends a lot of time on introspection. As someone who does that too, if I think it’s too much, that’s saying something. Not interested in moving on with the story.

This book was published in 1996. I read it a while ago, during my John Grisham/legal thriller drama interest period. To be honest, I am always looking for those-kind-of-books, so I am always open for recommendations.

It was recently donated to my Little Free Library Shed, so it was another opportunity for me to refresh to it.

I am now bringing my review to Goodreads.

This book seems to tackle an ambitious theme. How do children break free of their elders to live meaningful, whole lives?

During several flashbacks to the Vietnam era, we see Seth (our main character) wrestling with parents damaged by their experiences at Auschwitz. And numerous other characters tackling their own issues. (Too many to keep track of…)

There are many plot twists that are typical Turow, including a canceled check that may or may not be a political payoff and an intricate kidnapping-extortion scheme.

But the characters drag down the action with talk. I won’t go into the conversations. Let’s just say they are relentless babble about minutia.

The book gets stranger and stranger.

With a gang, too.

And a fragile 15-year-old child trying to be a street tough.

It seems that Turow wanted to write historical fiction, but tried to play it safe in the framework of a contemporary courtroom drama. For this reader, it didn’t work.

Just give me a good solid courtroom drama – and I will come around every time! 2.5 stars.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't find a reason to finish reading this book after having gone through the misery of the first 85.

Turow is the best legal writer and all his books are great. This one a little less but still great. Many voices in the well done audio story of former 60s ... liberals? Hippies? Protesters? with a history together who all wind up in court, the judge, the defense counsel, the reporter, defendant, witness, etc. Sex and drugs, not so much rock'nroll, in another historical time. I was troubled by the bad rep of the defendant's father who seemed unfairly judged, not to mention the camp survivor immigrant father who was cheated by his self righteous son.

Another good Scott Turow book for me. I liked "One L," "Burden of Proof" and "Presumed Innocent," all legal thrillers. This brought back memories of my days as a law clerk in the DC criminal courts. The legal drama was set against the backdrop of revolutionary, anti-war, anti-authority culture on college campuses during the Vietnam War era. The plot was moving (but not terribly fast-paced), the characters were well-drawn and the legal proceedings pretty realistic. A good read from someone who enjoys the genre.

Publisher's Description: In Kindle County, a woman is killed in an apparent random drive-by shooting. The woman turns out to be the ex-wife of a prominent state senator and an old acquaintance of Judge Sonia Klonsky, on whose desk the case lands. As the pursuit of justice takes bizarre and unusual turns, Judge Klonsky is brought face-to-face with a host of extraordinary personalities and formidable enemies bent on her destruction.