Defending Jacob

  Defending Jacob

  Willian Landay
  August book club choice









Amazon Blurb -

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 book was just a great suspense novel.  I really liked the premise, the flow, all of it.

Andy Barber is the asst. d.a. in his town for years.  He is very well respected and liked.   His wife Laurie is a loving woman who is considered the "mother" in her group of friends.  Their son Jacob is just a typical teenager, moody and sassy like all of them, or is he?

When local boy Ben Rifkin turns up murdered in a local park of course Andy is on the case.   His boss becomes concerned about a possible conflict of interest since Ben and Jacob attend the same school.  Andy passes it off as fellow prosecutor Neal Longiudice move to push Andy out of the way.  Before he can prove there's no conflict his son is charged with the murder.

Andy has to come clean to his wife and son about a past he thought was buried and forgotten.  His marriage is coming apart at the seams and his son is acting like nothing is wrong.  If they all will be able to survive this through to the end looks slimmer and slimmer with each passing day.  

If you love wondering what will happen next, I highly recommend this book . I liked it so much I told my hubby to read it and he is doing so now :) There was a fantastic twist to the ending that I didn't see coming, enjoy!

4 cannolis