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A review by karieh13
Innocent by Scott Turow
3.0
This was a great book to read for this particular day and time. It was a sunny weekend and I had time to sit on my deck and read – and this story sucked me in.
I loved the book “Presumed Innocent” and enjoyed the movie as well. This sequel drew me in just as that one did – and I didn’t really want to put it down.
As with most courtroom thrillers, I spent much of the book trying to figure out what the truth was and where the next twits might come. Some things I guessed but there were certainly a few surprises.
The main character, Rusty Sabich was fascinating to me, but I think the most interesting and well drawn of the characters was his son Nat, a young child in the first book. We learn much about how this boy was affected by the events that took place twenty years ago and through him, learn about another side of his father.
“In the meantime, every so often another police officer will arrive and ask my father about what happened. He tells the story again and again, always the same way. What was there to think about all that time? one cop will say. My dad can have a hard way with his blue eyes, something he probably learned from his own father, a man he despised.”
Nat’s mother Barbara, is at the core of the book, although we only view her through the eyes of others, given the circumstances.
“From the time I was a little kid, I sort of felt responsible for her. Maybe all children feel like that. I wouldn’t know, since I’ve only been me. But I realized that I was more than important to her. I was her lifeline. I knew that the only time my mom felt completely right was with me, tending to me, talking to me, thinking about me.”
Though I suppose this is a book that is primarily about “Who?” – who did what…I ended it feeling like the more important question was “Why?” Why do people do the things they do, make the choices they do? Especially those choices that even in the moment they know are wrong…that will come back to haunt them. And when people realize the consequences of their actions…why so rarely do they learn from them and make different choices next time?
This book is full of flawed individuals, few who are genuinely “bad”, but even fewer who are completely “Innocent”.
I loved the book “Presumed Innocent” and enjoyed the movie as well. This sequel drew me in just as that one did – and I didn’t really want to put it down.
As with most courtroom thrillers, I spent much of the book trying to figure out what the truth was and where the next twits might come. Some things I guessed but there were certainly a few surprises.
The main character, Rusty Sabich was fascinating to me, but I think the most interesting and well drawn of the characters was his son Nat, a young child in the first book. We learn much about how this boy was affected by the events that took place twenty years ago and through him, learn about another side of his father.
“In the meantime, every so often another police officer will arrive and ask my father about what happened. He tells the story again and again, always the same way. What was there to think about all that time? one cop will say. My dad can have a hard way with his blue eyes, something he probably learned from his own father, a man he despised.”
Nat’s mother Barbara, is at the core of the book, although we only view her through the eyes of others, given the circumstances.
“From the time I was a little kid, I sort of felt responsible for her. Maybe all children feel like that. I wouldn’t know, since I’ve only been me. But I realized that I was more than important to her. I was her lifeline. I knew that the only time my mom felt completely right was with me, tending to me, talking to me, thinking about me.”
Though I suppose this is a book that is primarily about “Who?” – who did what…I ended it feeling like the more important question was “Why?” Why do people do the things they do, make the choices they do? Especially those choices that even in the moment they know are wrong…that will come back to haunt them. And when people realize the consequences of their actions…why so rarely do they learn from them and make different choices next time?
This book is full of flawed individuals, few who are genuinely “bad”, but even fewer who are completely “Innocent”.