rglossner's review against another edition
4.0
Good plot, good twists. Another fine legal thriller set in Kindle County from Scott Turow.
courtneynreed's review against another edition
3.0
This book was okay, as far as crime novels go. It's hard to get a story that is constantly engaging, and I've seen a lot of mystery and crime authors struggle with that. It took an incredibly long time for this book to get going. I was able to get through it quickly - pages would pass by with no real movement in the story. It was this readability that saved this novel. If not for the ability of the pages to roll by without my notice, I would have given up and put it away. Luckily, it was easy to move through until something interesting began.
There was really just too much focus on the court proceedings for this crime. I understand that Turow used it as a way to develop his main characters, but it was just so incredibly dry. It almost felt like the material was there just to bulk the book out. Honestly, only the last three sections were needed to make the story.
However, I did enjoy the ending. Things came together nicely, and the reader didn't really know until the end exactly how things panned out. I wish more detail had been given to the actual portrayal of the crime and the events surrounding the murder, but it was enough. The parents - Zeus, Mickey, Lidia, and Hermione, along with Teri, could have been so much more developed. There was a lot of important back story that would have been interesting and was essential for the plot, yet was only brushed on. This was the responsible generation, yet they were hardly introduced as believable characters.
I don't know if I would read any other of Turow's novels. Perhaps Presumed Innocent, since it was his first and most highly praised, but I honestly would rather just read some Agatha Christie and have a good time of it.
Not a bad book, but just not anything spectacular for its genre.
There was really just too much focus on the court proceedings for this crime. I understand that Turow used it as a way to develop his main characters, but it was just so incredibly dry. It almost felt like the material was there just to bulk the book out. Honestly, only the last three sections were needed to make the story.
However, I did enjoy the ending. Things came together nicely, and the reader didn't really know until the end exactly how things panned out. I wish more detail had been given to the actual portrayal of the crime and the events surrounding the murder, but it was enough. The parents - Zeus, Mickey, Lidia, and Hermione, along with Teri, could have been so much more developed. There was a lot of important back story that would have been interesting and was essential for the plot, yet was only brushed on. This was the responsible generation, yet they were hardly introduced as believable characters.
I don't know if I would read any other of Turow's novels. Perhaps Presumed Innocent, since it was his first and most highly praised, but I honestly would rather just read some Agatha Christie and have a good time of it.
Not a bad book, but just not anything spectacular for its genre.
fictionfan's review against another edition
5.0
“We came into the world like brother and brother…”
The lives of the Kronos and Gianis families have been entangled for decades, first as friends and then divided by a feud that has lasted for over twenty years. But when the Gianis boys – identical twins Cass and Paul - grow up Cass falls in love with Dita, daughter of the head of the Kronos family, a man who calls himself Zeus. During a picnic at which both families are present, Dita is killed and a few days later Cass confesses to the crime.
The book has a double time-line. The main one takes place in 2008 and begins just as Cass is about to be released from prison. The events of the day of the picnic in 1982 are told in flashback, in occasional chapters cut into the main narrative. By 2008, Zeus has been long dead, and the Kronos business empire is now headed by his son Hal. Hal has never been satisfied that the full story of his sister’s death has been told and publicly accuses Cass’s twin, Paul, of having been involved. Paul is campaigning to become mayor and is left with little option but to sue for slander, which he does, but with great reluctance. Hal tasks Evon Miller with the job of seeking evidence to back up his accusations…
There’s much less courtroom stuff in this than in most of Turow’s earlier books, and there’s been a bit of a generational shift in the characters. We catch brief glimpses of the old guard – Raymond Horgan and Sandy Stern both put in cameo appearances – but the focus of the book is on the investigation carried out by Evon and ex-cop Tim Brodie, both on the payroll of Hal’s firm. Evon is an ex-FBI agent who first appeared in, I think,
[b:Personal Injuries|4683|Personal Injuries (Kindle County Legal Thriller, #5)|Scott Turow|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1344264828s/4683.jpg|1441618]. Through the feuding families, Turow takes us into the Greek community of Kindle County – a close-knit group of immigrants and their descendants holding to old traditions, and with bonds and enmities that are passed down through the generations.
Turow’s skill is in telling a story slowly, concentrating on each character in turn and giving a complete picture of them. Here he shows us Evon, struggling still in middle-age to find love and acceptance and dealing with a relationship that has reached breaking point. Through Tim and a couple of the oldest of the Greek immigrants, he looks with great empathy and insight at how differently aging can affect people. Love is a major theme in the book – family love, romantic love, lost love and, not least, the unique bond that binds the twins so closely that sometimes it is as if they are two parts of the same identity.
The investigation rests mainly on forensic evidence, with the now familiar story of advances in DNA technology that make it possible to revisit old crimes. By a third of the way through, I was convinced I knew what had happened. By halfway through, that idea was blown out of the water, but again I felt I was on the right track and partially I was. However the end, when it came, did surprise me – but this isn’t really a thriller in the sense of a big explosive action-packed climax. With Turow, it’s more thoughtful than that – more of a concentration on the impact of the people involved and of the legacy in broken lives.
I don’t think this is Turow’s best plotted novel, but as always loved the quality of his writing and the depth of his characterisation. Oddly, the weakest characters for me were the twins themselves and I found the resolution of their part of the story stretched my credibility a bit more than I like. But the Greek theme was handled very well, giving a genuine feel to this community within a larger society. And I loved the concentration on the older age-group – it means these characters have fully-finished lives; they are who they are, not what they might become. Although this is not, for me, Turow’s absolute best it’s still an excellent book: thoughtful, a little nostalgic and of course beautifully written. Highly recommended.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
The lives of the Kronos and Gianis families have been entangled for decades, first as friends and then divided by a feud that has lasted for over twenty years. But when the Gianis boys – identical twins Cass and Paul - grow up Cass falls in love with Dita, daughter of the head of the Kronos family, a man who calls himself Zeus. During a picnic at which both families are present, Dita is killed and a few days later Cass confesses to the crime.
The book has a double time-line. The main one takes place in 2008 and begins just as Cass is about to be released from prison. The events of the day of the picnic in 1982 are told in flashback, in occasional chapters cut into the main narrative. By 2008, Zeus has been long dead, and the Kronos business empire is now headed by his son Hal. Hal has never been satisfied that the full story of his sister’s death has been told and publicly accuses Cass’s twin, Paul, of having been involved. Paul is campaigning to become mayor and is left with little option but to sue for slander, which he does, but with great reluctance. Hal tasks Evon Miller with the job of seeking evidence to back up his accusations…
There’s much less courtroom stuff in this than in most of Turow’s earlier books, and there’s been a bit of a generational shift in the characters. We catch brief glimpses of the old guard – Raymond Horgan and Sandy Stern both put in cameo appearances – but the focus of the book is on the investigation carried out by Evon and ex-cop Tim Brodie, both on the payroll of Hal’s firm. Evon is an ex-FBI agent who first appeared in, I think,
[b:Personal Injuries|4683|Personal Injuries (Kindle County Legal Thriller, #5)|Scott Turow|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1344264828s/4683.jpg|1441618]. Through the feuding families, Turow takes us into the Greek community of Kindle County – a close-knit group of immigrants and their descendants holding to old traditions, and with bonds and enmities that are passed down through the generations.
Turow’s skill is in telling a story slowly, concentrating on each character in turn and giving a complete picture of them. Here he shows us Evon, struggling still in middle-age to find love and acceptance and dealing with a relationship that has reached breaking point. Through Tim and a couple of the oldest of the Greek immigrants, he looks with great empathy and insight at how differently aging can affect people. Love is a major theme in the book – family love, romantic love, lost love and, not least, the unique bond that binds the twins so closely that sometimes it is as if they are two parts of the same identity.
The investigation rests mainly on forensic evidence, with the now familiar story of advances in DNA technology that make it possible to revisit old crimes. By a third of the way through, I was convinced I knew what had happened. By halfway through, that idea was blown out of the water, but again I felt I was on the right track and partially I was. However the end, when it came, did surprise me – but this isn’t really a thriller in the sense of a big explosive action-packed climax. With Turow, it’s more thoughtful than that – more of a concentration on the impact of the people involved and of the legacy in broken lives.
I don’t think this is Turow’s best plotted novel, but as always loved the quality of his writing and the depth of his characterisation. Oddly, the weakest characters for me were the twins themselves and I found the resolution of their part of the story stretched my credibility a bit more than I like. But the Greek theme was handled very well, giving a genuine feel to this community within a larger society. And I loved the concentration on the older age-group – it means these characters have fully-finished lives; they are who they are, not what they might become. Although this is not, for me, Turow’s absolute best it’s still an excellent book: thoughtful, a little nostalgic and of course beautifully written. Highly recommended.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
pharmdad2007's review against another edition
3.0
Pretty interesting mystery with equal parts whodunit, forensic evidence (with some surprising twists), and thriller. The whole premise of a crime committed by an identical twin and the forensic challenges that presents is interesting.
coolbaud's review against another edition
5.0
I love Turow's writing; plot keeps you guessing all the way.
mazza57's review against another edition
3.0
I have not read anything else by Scott Turrow but would certainly consider other offerings from him. This book is more than just a mystery, having some elements of forensic criminology and some legal underpinnings as well. The plot was good but i did work out really early on that there were only two likely culprits. What i couldn't work out was how the initial investigation had managed to fit the forensics to the confession. I really enjoyed Turrow's characterisation and felt they were fully fleshed within the story. I did think everything was a little drawn out towards the end and that some parts of the book were taken to unnecessary lengths. Whilst the personal life of the investigators were interesting they id not necessarily add anything to the plot. This is why the book gets only a 3 star rating
heather_g's review against another edition
2.0
mildly interesting. identical twins with drama in the family & a murder where one twin goes to prison. Was a little too policti-cy for me but the story was interesting.
hmonkeyreads's review against another edition
3.0
I really like Scott Turow and generally enjoy the time I spend with his characters but this particular story went a little too off the rails for me to fully buy into it. It was still mostly a good time.