I ordinarily don't read mysteries and crime novels but this was a compelling read.

Sad story of a 14 year old boy accused of murder. The last 58 pages were so jammed full of events it was hard to take in. I felt rushed and wanted more details about about how it all happened. One thing stood out all the way through the book and that was the father's loyalty and believe in this son.

Loved, loved this compelling novel. Could not put it down. I only hope Mr. Landay will not go the way of other authors who once they put out an awesome book and gain huge success, are forced by publishers to write books....that are less then stellar.

6/1 - This is a good legal thriller with the ADA's son as the main, if not only, suspect of the murder of a boy from his class. The only evidence of his guilt is the discovery of a single fingerprint on the jacket of the murder victim, with no way of telling <i>when</i> Jacob (the ADA's son) touched the victim; and some hearsay that the victim bullied the defendant given as a reason for motive. That sounds like <i>very</i> weak evidence to base a homicide case on. If Jacob hadn't been the ADA's son then I don't think the DA would have been so quick to take the case to trial, she didn't want to seem like she was being soft on Jacob because of who his father is. Jack McCoy (long-standing ADA in Law and Order played by Sam Waterstone) would never have gone to trial with such flimsy evidence. I like the way Landay gives us little hints and teasers of what's coming up in the last section of the book. I can see something's going to happen between Andy and Laurie and I'm not as convinced of Jacob's innocence as Andy claims to be. I think Jacob is too smug and some of the evidence that the jury isn't going to see, like the violent porn website and the knife that he owned, plus the off-colour 'jokes' about the murder and his apparent desire for his 15 minutes of fame all add up to a boy that appears a lot more guilty than the actual 'evidence' shows he is. 8/1 - WARNING: SPOILER AHEAD. I really liked the way the scenes from the courtroom featuring Andy and Logiudice were a trick. As you read it you think you're reading bits from him testifying at Jacob's trial and then suddenly, you realise it's not Jacob's trial it's Laurie's. I thought Jacob might not be innocent and so I wasn't all that surprised when another dead body turned up around Jacob, but I didn't imagine he would be stupid enough to repeat his crime so soon after being set free, plus this time he didn't have ANY obvious motive. Why would he want to kill this girl who was interested in him, unless he's graduated from simply troubled to an actual sociopath. It wasn't made clear, I guess the reader is supposed to make up their own mind. I WAS surprised by the revelation that Laurie killed Jacob. I feel like he has parents who's emotions sat at either end of the spectrum. Laurie didn't believe that Jacob was innocent from the beginning and was constantly planning how to deal with his conviction and sentence as well as how they should deal morally as the parents of a murderer, while Andy believed 100% in Jacob's innocence against all the evidence, even after the second murder (not sure I could be so 100% sure of my child). I don't think either parent handled the situation well, you can't fall apart and you can't implicitly trust whatever your child tells you. I mean, do you trust your 15-year-old when they tell you that they haven't been drinking, even though you can smell the alcohol on their breath? No, so why would you trust, without any qualifications, what you're child tells you about a much more serious crime? Anyway, despite my problems with Andy's naivete and Laurie's idiotic belief in the 'murder gene' I really enjoyed the story especially the misdirection angle.

I enjoyed the book and the characters. Althought I struggled with the first couple of chapters, the story became quite gripping and moved rapidly. I was happy that the characters received full attention and development despite the fast pace of the story.

Wonderfully woven story. My heart was racing during the last couple of chapters.

An unsettling legal thriller and family drama that explores nature vs. nurture. The typed transcript of a court reporter that is woven into the story is very effective and manages to make a page-turner of a book even more suspenseful. What an ending! An excellent read.

Loved this book! Could not put it down. Can't wait to read his other books. Totally agree with the other commenter - could not stop thinking about the characters after I had finished reading!

Excellent, well-written legal thriller and so much more. The story of this family is riveting, and I could not stop thinking about them after I finished the book. Heart-breaking, gripping, and highly recommended.

This book is a legal thriller with lots of twists and turns that keeps you guessing right until the end. I really empathized with the characters, even though they were not the most likeable people.