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Oh this was good. So very, very good.
There were times when I wanted to reach through the page and shake Andy for some of the decisions he made.
Oh this was good. So very, very good.
There were times when I wanted to reach through the page and shake Andy for some of the decisions he made.
Andy Barber has been an assistant district attorney in his suburban Massachusetts county for more than twenty years. He is respected in his community, tenacious in the courtroom, and happy at home with his wife, Laurie, and son, Jacob. But when a shocking crime shatters their New England town, Andy is blindsided by what happens next: His fourteen-year-old son is charged with the murder of a fellow student. Every parental instinct Andy has rallies to protect his boy. Jacob insists that he is innocent, and Andy believes him. Andy must. He’s his father. But as damning facts and shocking revelations surface, as a marriage threatens to crumble and the trial intensifies, as the crisis reveals how little a father knows about his son, Andy will face a trial of his own—between loyalty and justice, between truth and allegation, between a past he’s tried to bury and a future he cannot conceive.
This is my latest book-club read and when I went to add it to my Booklikes shelf, I was surprised to see it was already on there, marked as 'Planning to Read'. Further investigation shows a 'Booklikers Recommendations' tag. I have no idea who recommended it but I'm looking forward to reading it particularly because the town where it is set is the one I lived in for twelve years before moving to North Carolina.
William Landay show just how much a father loves his son and what he will to do protect him:
A teenage boy is found murdered in a park in an affluent part of a Massachusetts suburb. Andy Barber is the district attorney for the area and he also lives there with his wife and his own teenage son. Andy is assigned to the case and he immediately starts working the theory of a pedophile in the area. However, people start to questions whether Andy should be involved in the case, as his son went to the same school as the victim and they knew each other. Andy does not see this as a conflict of interest but there is another DA working a different theory and all of a sudden Andy's son Jacob is charged with murder. Every instinct that Andy has is to protect his son and believe in his innocence. But damning facts come to life and a history that Andy has tried to keep hidden has come to light and may be the fact that seals Jacob's fate.
This is the first book that I have read by Landay and I know that it will not be the last. This book was really really good mystery novel and lawyer procedural novel. I absolutely loved how Landay decided to lay out, and tell the story in this novel, which is from Andy's point of view at two different time. The first is Andy telling the story as it happens and the second is Andy on the witness stand in the courtroom as he recounts what happens and answers questions from a prosecutor, (Neil) who basically makes it known he does not like Andy and wants his job. I think that the two points of view add more dimension to the story and you wonder what type of trouble Andy has gotten into to end up on the witness stand. I also really enjoyed to banter between Andy and Neil as Andy challenges Neil on many occasions as he is questioned.
Andy Barber is a person that you would want as your father or on your side if you were in need of a lawyer. He never wavered in believing Jacob's innocence, and he desperately wanted to believe that his genetics were not the cause of some of Jacob's flaws. He may hold on to hope a little too much and have a little bit of too much forced optimisms with his wife, but he stays strong throughout the novel which made him really likable throughout.
Landay raises an interesting concept in this book of the "killer gene" which predisposes an individual to commit violent acts. It was interesting that it was the prosecutor that wanted to bring in this information when this type of concept is still widely debated in the scientific community. However, the more you get to know the prosecutor Neil you understand that he would do anything to win.
I was interested in the story behind Defending Jacob from the moment I read the synopses. As I started reading, I was not disappointed. My interest was engaged all the way through to the end. It had me debating - What would I do if it were my kid? Would I have believed my child possible of such a horrific crime? To what length would I go through to protect him/her?
I'm usually pretty good at figuring things out in the books I read.
I did figure out early on that Jacob would be found not guilty, although I wasn't sure how. I also expected that there would be another murder to which Jacob would be a suspect. I did not expect the ending, or the actions of Laurie.
The fact that this book could throw in some surprises for me was great.
The character consistency is what caused my rating to drop from a 4 to a 3.5. I don't need to love all (or any) of the characters to enjoy a book. However, I do need to feel something for them. And I like characters that are consistent throughout the book. Change is fine (and in some cases desired), but I don't like to see things happen out of character without explanation. When this happens, I have to draw the conclusion that it was for the sole purpose of supporting part of the plot.
For example, Laurie planting a new knife in the pond/lake. If Andy had done it, I would have believed it. However, Laurie just didn't seem the type to plant evidence. Especially so early in the investigation. I don't understand her actions at the end of the novel, however I do feel it could have been possible and was consistent with her 'mental break-down' she seemed to be experiencing. Another action I felt was slightly inconsistent was the moment in Jacob's room when he asked about what would happen to his parents if he left. It just seemed odd that he would care given his attachment issues.
There were a few other things that I felt were inconsistent, but it only annoyed me to the point of lowering my rating by 1/2 a point.
Personally I felt that Jacob was guilty. If I'm correct, I can't say that I understand why he did it, but I do think that he murdered both Ben and the girl while on vacation. And the dog. And the cat.
Overall, I really enjoyed Defending Jacob.
I had never heard of this author when I got the book to read. I am always ready to try someone new in the hopes of discovering a new author. I was absolutely mesmerized by this book. Yes the story is a bit dark but that is intentional.
