Innocent [Paperback]

When it appeared in 1987, few people realised that Scott Turow’s Presumed Innocent would not only be a remarkable commercial winner (selling over 4 million copies) but would be the main instigator of a virtually new popular fiction genre -- the legal thriller. With the aid of a highly successful movie starring Harrison Ford, Turow forged a writing career that has enjoyed considerable acclaim to this day. And here, 23 years later, is Innocent, a belated sequel to that groundbreaking earlier book, in which his protagonist Rusty Sabich (now in his sixties) is once again accused of murder -- and this time he has further to fall, having become a senior court judge in the interim.

Some might argue that Turow should have left the concept of the original novel alone, but just a few pages of this powerfully involving new novel should put most doubts to rest. Rusty has woken up next to the dead body of his wife, who has died from an overdose of barbiturates. But why has he waited 24 hours before informing anyone of Barbara's death? His opponent once again is Tommy Molto (with whom he went head-to-head in the earlier book when the latter tried to convince the jury that Rusty had murdered his lover Carolyn). Once again, the plot ramifications are positively labyrinthine -- and it's perhaps difficult to like any of the protagonists. But Scott Turow’s narrative skills in Innocent remain in rude health, and we are quickly involved once again in surefire plotting that will ensure (for most readers) a particularly speedy turning of the pages. --Barry Forshaw --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

'The man who created the legal thriller with 1987's Presumed Innocent has struck gold again as the chief protagonists of his stunning debut novel return.' --Daily Mirror

'Presumed Innocent, Scott Turow's dazzling first novel, inaugurated the modern courtroom thriller... [It] was a breakthrough comparable to John le Carré's in spy fiction, showing that the legal thriller could combine suspense and mystery with the richness of texture of a literary novel. Turow's more autumnal follow-up pulls off this feat again: it's as gripping as a Grisham page-turner, but is also beautifully written, expert in its psychological probing and control of point of view as it shuttles between the four main characters' perspectives, and as insightful about marriage, adultery and fatherhood as one of Richard Ford or Philip Roth's studies of middle-aged men in crisis.' --Sunday Times

'VERDICT: This is a beautifully written book with finely drawn characters and an intricate plot seamlessly weaving a troubled family story with a murder. Drawing the reader in and not letting go until the last page, Turow's legal thriller is a most worthy successor to Presumed Innocent and perhaps the author's finest work to date.' --LIBRARY JOURNAL

'It is, as openers go, hard to resist. ''A man is sitting on a bed. He is my father. The body of a woman is beneath the covers. She was my mother.'' So Scott Turow lures us into Innocent... Here we see again the whip-smart courtroom exchanges that Turow excels at, the twist and counter-twist and the last-minute revelation that turns everything on its head... Yes, it's poor Rusty Sabich, but it's lucky, lucky readers. The prolific Grisham might do it more often, but Turow does it so much better.' --Observer

'As sequels go, Innocent is brave and ambitious. The original, Presumed Innocent, was rightly acclaimed as a seminal work of crime fiction... [Innocent is] detailed, gripping and full of twists, and incorporates sustained criticism of the criminal justice system and of legal ethics... Superb writing... An intelligent and superior page-turning read.' --The Times

'Legal thrillers are set to rule the bookshelves and the box office again - Scott Turow raised the bar... Before Dan Brown's Pope-a-dope pulp fiction and Stieg Larsson's Swedish hacker porn, the legal thriller was king of genre fiction. The pioneer was Scott Turow... Innocent is set to rejuvenate the gavel-banger for a new generation.' --GQ

'It is two decades since Scott Turow initiated a new sub-genre of courtroom thrillers with his brilliant, best-selling Presumed Innocent... Innocent is bound to be a bestseller and deserves to be.' --Literary Review

'The perfect courtroom drama, [Presumed Innocent] is the one against all others are now judged. This sequel is a triumph, matching the first in sinewy intensity... A lonely man aware of his age and his failings as a husband and father, stricken by sexual longing, [Rusty] is like a cousin to one of Philip Roth's melancholy creations... The microscopic dissection of the characters' emotions is matched by the superhuman skill with which Turow reveals the whys and wherefores of the events... How does Turow juggle all this conflicting data? File cards? Computer software? It's really complex but he makes it seem effortless... Turow will keep you guessing until the very, very end.' --Daily Express

'A rocket-fuelled read that refuses to loosen its grip until it has explained whodunit and how.' --Herald

'Turow has come up with a sequel to Presumed Innocent that is as gripping as Grisham, is expert in its psychological probing, and is extremely well written.' --Sunday Times

'You are carried along by Turow's potent blend of narrative cunning and classy prose. Innocent is as gripping as a Grisham page-turner. Not only is it beautifully written and expert in its psychological probing, but it is as insightful about marriage, adultery and fatherhood as any one of Richard Ford or Philip Roth's studies of middle-aged men in crisis.' --Sunday Times

'A scintillating sequel' --Daily Telegraph

'If the opening of this stylish court room thriller does not grip you like a vice, you must be very hard to please... Scott Turow has consistently out-Grishamed, and this sequel to his 1987 bestseller Presumed Innocent sees him at full creative throttle... a terrific read' --Sunday Telegraph

'I will be re-reading Room by Emma Donoghue because it has continued to haunt me thanks to a pitch-perfect young narrator who has to acclimatise to a world about which he knows nothing.' --Jodi Picoult

'[One of] this year's most rewarding thrillers... Compelling courtroom drama is once more combined with Philip Roth-like stylistic verve and psychological insight' --Sunday Times `Books of the Year'