Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1969542 in Books
• Published on: 2006-12
• Format: Large Print
• Original language: English
• Binding: Library Binding
• 223 pages

From Publishers Weekly
The latest offering from legal thriller master Turow began life as a serial story in the Sunday New York Times Magazine and won't be mistaken, even by devoted fans, for his finest work. As with his previous novels, the action centers on the fictional Kindle County in Illinois, and he revives some familiar characters, including George Mason from Personal Injuries and Rusty Sabich, the hero of his acclaimed fiction debut, Presumed Innocent. Mason is now an appellate judge, faced with the challenge of crafting the decision in a high-profile case involving a sexual assault that reawakens his long-suppressed guilt over his role in a similar incident decades before. To compound his inner turmoil, Mason finds himself the object of threatening e-mails from an unknown source. While Turow's writing is assured as ever, the plot and the legal dilemmas interwoven into it aren't up to his usual high standards, and whodunit fans who loved the brilliant twist that highlighted his debut are likely to be disappointed by the mystery's resolution. (Nov.)
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From AudioFile
Stephen Lang's low-key presentation fits Turow's protagonist, Judge George Mason. The judge has many years of distinguished service behind him and an election ahead of him. He must deal with a rape case, threatening emails, and a cancer-stricken wife, but he remains calm and rational--even when he's assaulted in a parking garage. It's easy to get caught up in the legal minutiae (the judgment document in the rape case comes complete with notes to an assistant) and miss Lang's subtle vocalizations. Mason's phone call to the female victim of a long-ago fraternity assault is made more poignant in audio. This may be less than Turow's best, but Lang does credit to himself and the plot. J.B.G. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
This slim volume appeared in the New York Times as a magazine serial in 2006. Although some new material has been added, it still lacks the heft and depth of a full-fledged Turow novel. Even as a novella, it's top-heavy with legal procedure and courtroom scheduling minutiae that would better fit the scope and pacing of a much longer work. However, even Turow Lite delivers a fairly good read. Former criminal defense attorney George Mason (readers will recognize him, as well as the Kindle County setting, from Personal Injuries, 1999) has been comfortably ensconced for almost a decade as a judge on the Court of Appeals. But a case is resurrected that disturbs him in ways that are both perfectly explicable and unfathomable to him. In 1999, four high-school ice-hockey players, all white, videotaped their gang rape of a drugged 15-year-old black girl at a party. The videotape didn't come to light until 2003; a conviction followed, which is now under appeal. The case is horrific in itself; it becomes more frightening to Mason as long-buried shards from his past start troubling him. Add to this a psychotic who keeps threatening him and the fact that his wife has been diagnosed with cancer, and you have one very fragile judge. An intriguing premise, buried under legal procedure that seems tacked on. Connie Fletcher
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