Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Presumed Innocent
Book Review: Presumed Innocent: a good read
Summary: 4 Stars
A great read for mystery/who-done-it readers with a twist ending that leaves your head spinning. I mainly read this book because I want to read the sequel and I enjoyed the task.Book Review: Psychological thriller or legal thriller? You be the judge
Summary: 4 Stars
While PRESUMED INNOCENT might be most commonly categorized as a legal thriller, one could definitely make a case for calling it a psychological thriller. In much the same fashion as the appeal of Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch canon starts with the noir angst-ridden psychological under-pinnings of his main characters, Scott Turow narrates much of his story via the thoughts of Rusty Sabich, the former deputy prosecutor of the Kindle County DA's office.
The basic plot premise is exciting! Raymond Horgan, Sabich's boss and incumbent in the Kindle County prosecutor's position is squared off against Nico Della Guardia in the upcoming election. When Carolyn Polhemus, one of Sabich's colleagues in the office is found murdered, Horgan assigns the job to Sabich. But when Horgan loses the election, Della Guardia discovers that Sabich and Polhemus once had an affair. The magnifying glass of the investigation is focused onto Sabich and he is horrified to discover that he is now the sole suspect for the murder.
We feel like Sabich isn't the murder. Indeed, we very much want to belive that Sabich isn't the murder. But the beauty of the suspense in this novel is that we are never sure about the culprit and the true motives for the murder until the final few pages.
Lots of superb legal drama with lots of colour and detail presented from both sides of a number of different fences - prosecution vs defense; police and investigation vs judiciary; victim vs villain; and husband vs wife, to name only a few.
If you're looking for action in this one, you're bound to be disappointed. This is a thinking man's thriller, a cerebral novel that is plot and character driven. As another reviewer once noted, it's a shame that very little that Scott Turow has written since has measured up to the very high bar that he set for himself with this debut novel.
Highly recommended.
Paul Weiss
Book Review: Still Good After All Those Years
Summary: 5 Stars
I read this book about 20 years ago. When I read there was a sequel I decided to reread Presumed Innocent before I went to the sequel. I am glad I took the time. It is a powerful legal book. Rusty is a difficult character. I was never sure how to react to him. He certainly is more introspective than most mystery heros.
I particularly enjoyed the court room scenes and Sandy Stern is a memorable trial lawyer. All the major characters are a mixture of good and bad. Turow is a wizard at putting ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances and we watch what happened.
I do not want to give away the many turns. I just note that it pays to pay attention to the details.
Book Review: TUROW SPINS HIS MAGIC
Summary: 3 Stars
PRESUMED INNOCENT
Scott Turow
Grand Central Publishing
ISBN: 987-0446-35986-3
464 pages
$7.99 - Paperback
Reviewer: Annie Slessman
Originally published in 1987, PRESUMED INNOCENT by Scott Turow can stand the test of time. It is a thrilling account of a Deputy District Attorney who finds himself on the opposite side of the table as a defendant who is fighting a murder charge.
Turow takes his time with his character introduction and then leads a reader into the complex mystery of who killed Carolyn Polhemus, a Deputy District Attorney. Carolyn is known in the legal community as a tough prosecutor who has a penchant for sharing her bed with multiple men. Her ambition and affairs come to light when another prosecutor is brought to trial for her death. The story becomes one that takes a reader through the inner workings of the legal system, the frail threads that binds human nature, and the conscious that plagues each and everyone of us on a daily basis.
It is a story well told with an ending that is neither obvious nor complacent. A reader is left with an I-Don't-Believe-It impression that will send them to the bookstore to buy Turow latest mystery, INNOCENT, published in May 2010.
Turow is a writer and attorney with seven best selling novels to his credit.
Book Review: The book that made Turow a star, and deservedly so!
Summary: 5 Stars
Scott Turow's first book PRESUMED INNOCENT is still a must read after all these years. I just read INNOCENT and while it referred to the events in PRESUMED INNOCENT and the murder of Carolyn Polhemus, it never reveals the results of the trial in which Rusty Sabich was charged with her murder.
Presumed Innocent is definitely a classic, and a must read. I'm sure many people will check it out after reading the sequel, INNOCENT. The entire novel is from Rusty Sabich's point of view. He's in charge of the investigation into Carolyn's death, but the upcoming election of his boss, Raymond Horgan kind fo slows things down. Horgan loses, and suddenly Rusty is charged with Carolyn's murder. Turns out Rusty may have been hiding things in the investigation that tied him to Carolyn.
Nico Della Gardia and Tommy Molto run the case against Rusty. From reading INNOCENT, I knew Molto to be a decent guy, so it is fun to read about his origins. What I found after reading both books is that Rusty really isn't a good person, yet page after page is compelling reading.
We learn of everything Rusty is thinking and I kept wondering if I was missing something because he never dwelt too much on how Carolyn was killed or how the evidence that implicated him got there. Of course, Turow delivers at the end and everything is explained. This book is much better than its sequel and a must read!