Scott Turow: Best novelist in America

I've read Presumed Innocent, but I haven't read any of his others yet. What can you tell me about them? Is he pretty consistant in his writing? Should they be read in order?

The only second chance you get is to make the same mistake twice. - David Mamet

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The Burden of Proof is the second book that I have now read by Scott Turow, the other one being his fiction debut, the wonderful Presumed Innocent. The story revolves around Sandy Stern, the middle-aged defense lawyer from Presumed Innocent, as he deals with his wife's suicide and an FBI investigation into irregularities in his brother-in-law's commodity trading business.

Turow's strength in this novel is his narrative, which is very enjoyable to read. This isn't a break-neck thriller with running, shooting, and danger around every corner. Unfortunately, that's about all the good things that can be said about it. With the two story lines there is no time to get to know the characters in any depth, and their actions, especially the relationship between Stern and his brother-in-law, seem unrealistic. The biggest flaw, I think, was the suicide subplot, which requires a writer of extreme knowledge and talent to present in a truthful way. It opened the novel, was rushed past in the early pages, and ultimately lacked the raw pain that should have been expressed. As well, he overdoes it with the misunderstood conversations, shallowly paints the prosecution with a very black brush, and gives us a twist at the end that just makes the reader role their eyes. With Presumed Innocent, he presented a prosecutor who had the tables turned on him and was now on the opposite side of the courtroom, and who would do anything to disprove his guilt; the twist at the end of that book wasn't as important because he gave us a very thought provoking novel leading up to it. He does not give us the same with this one. I can't help but feel that Presumed Innocen was a novel that he spent his entire life thinking about, whereas The Burden of Proof was just something he threw together after Presumed Innocent was published.

To his credit, he does try to discuss certain legal issues, particularly how a lawyer can defend a client who is a known criminal without himself stepping outside the most minute letter of the law, and the importance of confidentiality in the attorney-client relationship.

I'd recommend Presumed Innocent any day, but would only recommend this one to John Grisham fans who want to try something written a little better, but not too difficult.

The only second chance you get is to make the same mistake twice. - David Mamet

Yeah, right. If Turow was even second best in America, he'd make characters that were at least halfway sympathetic. As it is, he made a hero who turned out to have no balls and even screwed the sick bitch who was his wife AFTER everything she did, and I would have preferred to see the wife in a public hanging. Sick bitch