Book Club Book Review: Defending Jacob by William Landay

The book choice for the month of June at Book Club was Defending Jacob by William Landay

This story is told by the Dad, Andy Barber who for 20 years has been the Assistant District Attorney in the county of Massachusetts. The tables are turned when it's his own family who are accused of a crime and taken through the court process with everyone in the town including their friends and colleagues, presuming they are guilty of their son's crime.

 

The accused is Andy's 14 year old son Jacob, who is put on trial for killing a fellow student. The story is a court room drama about the trial and how it affects the Barber family.

 

The story teller Andy and his perception of the world compared to his belief in his family just didn't add up. For a smart, knowledgeable policeman he seemed pretty naive when it came to his family.

I liked the writing style of the book, and it was a great suspense style read - you won't know whether Jacob is guilty or innocent right until the end. But it is a sombre read, with a dry humour and I just felt it was too long at 400+ pages to stay on the one topic and family.

 

I would recommend this book to readers who like court room dramas with a bit of suspense thrown in.

 

I give this book 2 stars out of 5

Jarrah Jungle's Star Rating:
1 Bad - I'd rather eat brussel sprouts topped with anchovies than read this again

2 Not Good - I'd rather watch re-runs of Neighbours than read this again
3 Ok - I'm sitting on the fence - its not great but not terrible either
4 Good - I'd pass up a pack of tim tams for this read
5 Great - I'd pass up a date with Johnny Depp for this read

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[Image via Dymocks]