Novel, Scott Turow, 1987
A courtroom/crime/suspense story. You would think that CSI/NCIS/my DVDs of Ally McBeal would be enough crime drama to satiate me, but you would be wrong. I picked this up as a vacation read and actually liked it.
It's about this guy Rusty who is accused of murder, but he's a lawyer so the narration is interesting because he captures the finer points of the trial better than your everyman-narrator. The defense strategy is intricately plotted, and if you're into lawyer-ishness you'll be hooked from page 1. Of course there are plot twists galore, but what really sold me on this book was each character's shady motivations. No one in the entire plot is straightforwardly "good", which is pretty cool. Oh and it's got something for everyone, romance lovers--the whole case is based on an affair between Rusty and the hotsy totsy murder victim Carolyn, his lawyer coworker (the affair was before she was murdered, duh.) And for you politicos, there's even a heated race for prosecuting attorney!
My major complaint is some latent racism/homophobia, supposedly part of the characters' natural speech, but I just don't like it and am not entirely convinced it doesn't come from Turow himself rather than the characters (this is not just policemen making racist remarks, it's also the way he writes the dialogue for black and Asian characters, among other things).
Other than that, it's a fun summer read. Plus there's a sequel! (Innocent, 2010.) And a
movie! How did Harrison Ford end up on this blog again so soon? Oh well, Netflix, here I come.
As to your complaint, keep in mind that the book is 25 years old. And wait until you see the movie; the coroner is only one step up from Arnold on Happy Days (trusting that you know that reference). Plus, you'll probably recognize the actor from the intense M*A*S(*H seminar I gave you in your youth.
ReplyDeleteFun blog--I don't think you told me about it first time around.
I don't think I told anyone the first time around :) Thanks for reading, Unknown.
ReplyDelete