Innocent
By Scott Turow
You can view this book's Amazon detail page here.
Most of the Ten Commandments don’t phase me. Not that I would do most of that stuff, but hearing about people violating them in fictional books and movies doesn’t change my life or anything. That is, with the exception of adultery. There must be something in my past that I don’t remember because I squirm when hearing about adultery, even when it’s fictional. Well, the basis for this story, a follow-on to Turow’s previous book, Presumed Innocent (also in my library) is . . . wait for it . . . adultery. I almost had to stop about a third of the way into the book. I hung tough, though and finished.
Other than the whole adultery thing, which goes on forever, it’s a good story. In a sense, I liked it even better than the first book. Most of the text reflects the character’s thoughts, not what they actually are saying or doing. Almost as if the individual characters themselves were telling the story from memory. So, there are multiple narrators throughout the book. I like the technique.
Turow is a lawyer and this book is about what he knows – lawyers, judges and courtrooms. Not a bad thing at all, but that’s the world in which the events happen. If you like that sort of uber Grisham-esque thing, than this book will be a thrill. If you don’t, stay away.
The only problem I had with the book was the same problem I had in the first book (although I thought the first book was even more guilty of this). If the story is being told through people’s thoughts instead of actions, then the people need to disclose everything they know. If the character knows who the murderer is or that they did not commit the murder, it’s in their thoughts, they don’t skip over that part. Turow conveniently withholds information that his characters know to make the plot thicker. Reasonable in some sense, but I felt a little (just a little) cheated at the end.
Perhaps even worse, Turow, when reflecting on the previous book and story, doesn’t disclose who did it in this book. I know he wants people to go back and buy the first book, but come on. Knowing what happened 20 years previous to the same characters is part and parcel to the background for this story.
I suggest you read the first book, Presumed Innocent, before you read Innocent. I read the two within a few months of each other and I think I would have been annoyed given how often Turow reflects back on the story in the original if I had not.
It was an enjoyable story. I wasn’t dying to get back to it every day, but I liked the flow.
- Started reading:
- 6th October 2010
- Finished reading:
- 18th October 2010