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"No one writes better mystery suspense novels than Scott Turow." -"Los Angeles Times
"Scott Turow not only knows what his readers want, he delivers just about perfectly . . . Turow is the closest we have to a Balzac of the fin de siecle professional class." -Todd Gitlin, "Chicago Tribune
"[Turow has] set new standards for the genre, most notably in the depth and subtlety of his characterizations . . . the kind of reading pleasure that only the best novelists-genre or otherwise-can provide."-Gary Krist, "The New York Times
"Of all the lawyer-storytellers who have clambered onto the bestseller lists in recent years, Scott Turow is the champ. Not only are his plots absorbing and his characters persuasive, but his sentences flow with an artful cadence."-Dennis Drabelle, "The Washington Post Book World
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What's a Hero? 'The story is always our own',
By
This review is from: Ordinary Heroes (Hardcover)
I've lost count of the number of critically acclaimed so-called 'page-turners'which have left me cold. You've probably read a few despite yourself: The kind of thriller which has sketchily-drawn photofit characters, a tortuous plotline and a kind of moralistic sheen sprayed over it to justify the meagre story. 'Ordinary Heroes', however, is not that kind of book.I was aware of Scott Turow's abilities as a storyteller, but in his latest novel he has raised his game to produce an extraordinary book- the kind of satisfying read which makes you feel you have truly engaged with the characters, rather than having been a mere spectator. In short this is that rare breed: a genuinely literary novel which still manages to retain the best attributes of more populist fiction. The story poses some of the more intractable questions about what motivates the individual- love, duty, self-interest- and in the context of a family history, arrives at surprising, if ultimately satisfying, answers. Stewart Dubinsky, a journalist, researches the life of his recently deceased father, David Dubin. He discovers that David was attached to the Judge Advocate General's Department of the US Military during World war II, dealing with Court Martials in the newly freed France and Germany. Against the background of the Battle of the Bulge and the onward push of Allied forces into Germany, David Dubin is sent on a 'Heart of Darkness'style mission to track down a renegade US Officer, Major Robert Martin. Although ostensibly working for the OSS, Martin's motives and loyalties are called into question. He and his nemesis, General Teedle (Dubin's commanding officer, and the source of the mission)crop up again and again in a game of cat and mouse throughout the novel. In a more literary sense, 'cat and mouse' (or perhaps snakes and ladders?)describes Stewart Dubinsky's search for the truth about his father. He discovers that his father has been court martialled,then mysteriously cleared. Through the oral testimony of his father's now 96 year old court martial attorney Bear Leach, the written narrative of David Dubin, and the inquiries and conclusions of Stewart Dubinsky, we see the 'truth' about his father's history pieced together in front of us, complete with all the motivations and justifications of the characters involved. The juxtaposition of these various sources is a clever chess game with our expectations on Turow's part, yet the story is always crystal clear. David Dubin's involvement with Gita Lodz, initially Robert Martin's 'companion' (though the edges are blurred as to what this actually meant)forces him to question his own assumptions about relations between men and women, and challenges the foundation of his duty as a soldier. Thrown by chance into active combat- not the expected route for an Army Lawyer- and working with a black Sergeant, Gideon Bidwell who has passed for white and hence is operational (not in the support role for which he otherwise might have been destined)similarly leads Dubin to challenge, in his own mind the whole ratinale behind war. The Legal process may be black and white, but what happens when the world is itself grey? Stewart's examination of his father's written account allows him to see the true emotional being behind his hitherto distant parent. Indeed, the narrative makes this engagement with his father's story unfold organically until having occasionally re-written or re-shaped passages fromn his father's account for publication "I frequently cannot remember whose lines are whose when I turn the pages". This is a novel set firmly within an historical context, but the research is worn lightly. The landscapes and people are vividly drawn, and the characters are fully rounded. The atmosphere of the time is accurate but by no means academic.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great story from World War Two,
By
This review is from: Ordinary Heroes (Paperback)
I have been let down by so many books about or set in World War Two BUT this is NOT one of them. Its a very powerful portrayal of Americans at war seen through the eyes of a lawyer pursuing an OSS agent and ending up in combat during the Battle of the Bulge.
Its very well written and very detailed and despite what you might think after reading the above very believable and realistic. It reminded me a bit of the great book and TV series Band of Brothers. If you liked that you will like this.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Wartime drama/romance worth a go,
By
This review is from: Ordinary Heroes (Paperback)
Turow has written another legal thriller here, but one with a difference, as the novel takes the form of a tale within a tale and has mainly a wartime setting.
Following the death of his father, Stewart Dubinsky discovers the parent he knew as a staid, respectable lawyer had faced a court-martial in the Second World War. His father's manuscript account of the events leading to this forms the bulk of the novel. The book contains some powerful writing about the experience of war and its impact on ordinary men. Certainly it is a cut above the usual derring-do of many war adventures. There is also a sort of love story, but one in which the development of romance is shaped by the war in which it blooms. Turow has fashioned a thoughtful novel about the search for identity and the quest for truth. The father, David Dubin, struggles to understand his own self, and the true intentions of others during the maelstrom of battle. This is followed by the son's quest to understand his father more fully. Along the way, Stewart Dubinsky (whose surname has reverted to its original form) discovers more than he expected about his family and true heritage.
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