Defending Jacob

Defending Jacob
by William Landay
Delacourte, 2012. 421 pgs. Mystery

Andy Barber has been a successful district attorney in his small Massachusetts town for years, but when his son Jacob is accused of murdering a classmate his life begins to fall apart. He and his wife Laurie wonder what the best way to defend their son is, and as the case proceeds they have to confront difficult questions about loyalty, family history, justice, and parenting.

The pace of this book was a little slower than I expected; it includes quite a bit of courtroom drama and so often goes over the same material more than once. It is also narrated by Andy Barber, and it took me at least half the book to realize that Andy might or might not be telling the truth (both to himself and to other people). Sometimes I wanted to reach into the book and smack him because he could be kind of frustrating. The twists and turns of the plot and the interesting narration do make this a great read if you want a mystery that will keep you guessing until the very end.

JC