Defending Jacob by William Landay

Defending Jacob is a a legal thriller novel by William Landay published in January 2012

Genres

• Legal thriller
• Mystery
• Crime
• Suspense

Plot

The main plot is about a 15 year old, Jacob Barber, who is accused of the murder of his classmate.
Jacob is quiet boy with only a few close friends. His father, Andy Barber, who is the assistant District Attorney investigates the murder of the dead boy who who has been stabbed in a local park. There is pressure on him to leave the investigation when it is found out that the boy is the classmate of his son, Jacob. However, when the few available evidence starts pointing at his son, he is forced to step down. Then begins the legal battle of proving that his son is not guilty.
In the course of the trial, secrets are revealed that may threaten his marriage. He also realises how little he knows about his own son.

My thoughts

May contain minor spoilers.
I am a great fan of thrillers, especially crime thrillers. The suspense of this book really kept me hooked till I finished the whole book. It's one of the few books that I finished in one go without putting it aside.

The pace was a bit slow, however, the suspense forced me to keep on going. The good thing was that it was not too slow. Something new usually comes up before you start getting bored.

It was interesting to see the role of Andy, the assistant District Attorney, in the story. Andy who is usually trying to prove people guilty takes the role to defend Jacob and try to prove him not guilty. He is also forced to exploit the loophole of 'guilty beyond reasonable doubt' that is applied in criminal cases.
I also voted it as one of my top 5 thriller novels of 2012.

My rating: 5 out of 5.

Recommended to

I would recommend this novel to anyone who likes crime and legal thrillers. I would also recommend it to anyone who likes mystery and suspense novels.

Have you also read Defending Jacob? Do you agree with my review? If not, what are your thoughts on the novel? Would you recommend any other similar novels to me? How would you rate the novel? Let me know through the comments.