Defending Jacob: A Novel by William Landay

Defending Jacob has lows and highs. I expected a fast paced thriller instead I got a s-l-o-w dragging pace.

The plot itself is very interesting but the writing is dry. I usually find court room reads fascinating but this one just didn't capture my attention. However, I did feel compelled to finish read it because Landay, did create some wonderful characters and I was curious to see what happened to them.

Overall the book had a degree of suspense but lacked realism.

Check it out from the library or borrow it.

Grade: D

Overview [B&N]
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.