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Scott Turow’s Innocent is the sequel to the bestseller, Presumed Innocent—a novel that Turow wrote more than twenty years ago. The sequel is well worth the wait, as long as you can hang in there through the first few chapters.
Rusty Sabich, the chief judge of an appellate court, wakes up to find his wife, Barbara, dead in the bed beside him. Instead of calling the police, he waits 24 hours to think things through and straighten up the room—not such a good idea. It’s part of what gets him arrested for murder for the second time in his life.
The last time Tommy Molto went head-to-head with Rusty Sabich, he nearly ruined his career as a lawyer. Could he prosecute Sabich for murder this time and come out on top? One thing is for certain: Molto isn’t going to make a move until he has a solid case against Sabich. But this proves to be harder than he imagined, and he begins to wonder if maybe Sabich is innocent after all.
The necessary back story nearly bored me to tears, and if I wasn’t reviewing the book, I may not have kept going—which would have been a pity, because it turns out to be an awesome read.
Innocent isn’t as much a legal thriller as it is a drama. I could only shake my head at Rusty’s obvious stupidity—especially when it comes to something that got him into so much trouble before. As the saga continued, I began to laugh at the mess that it all turned into. Right then, I decided that he wasn’t guilty—just dim-witted, despite being such an intelligent man. Still, I couldn’t help feeling a little bit sorry for him.
At the same time, I admired Tommy Molto’s restraint. Unlike Sabich, he at least seems to have learned from the mistakes of the past. Though he and Sabich have a rocky history, Molto isn’t about to prosecute an innocent man, especially not at the risk of his career. He builds a believable case and argues it with a brilliance that makes it hard to see the obvious flaws.
But what makes Innocent such a splendid read is an unexpected turn in the case, which had me clapping my hands and laughing out loud at the irony of the whole thing. I wish I could say more, but I don’t want to spoil it.
Trust me—you need to hang in there with Innocent, but you’ll be so glad you did. It’s a brilliant psychological match between two lawyers who are determined to win, no matter what. And once Innocent finally gets going, it’s incredibly hard to put it down.
