Identical

By: Scott Turow

Narrated by: Henry Leyva

Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

Identical, based loosely on the myth of Castor and Pollux, is the story of identical twins, Paul and Cass Giannis, and the complex relationships between their family and their former neighbors, the Kronons. The audiobook focuses principally on events in 2008, when Paul is a candidate for Mayor of Kindle County, and Cass is released from the penitentiary, 25 years after pleading guilty to the murder of his girlfriend, Athena Kronon. The plot centers on the re-investigation of Athena's murder, carried out together by Evon Miller, an ex-FBI agent who is the head of security for the Kronon family business, and private investigator Tim Brodie, 81, a former homicide detective. The complex web of murder, sex, and betrayal - as only Scott Turow could weave - dramatically unfolds, and the chilling truth is revealed: People will believe what they want to believe.

©2013 Scott Turow (P)2013 Hachette

Disappointing

I'm a big Scott Turow fan, so I was excited to see he had a new novel. Very disappointing. The brilliant twists and turns of Presumed Innocent just weren't here. I guessed the mysteries too far in advance to feel any sense of satisfaction. My recommendation is that you check out any other of Turow's very entertaining books.

Silly story

What would have made Identical better?

The story was just not up to par, compared to his other books.

What didn’t you like about Henry Leyva’s performance?

Monotone and boring

Disappointed

My husband and I have enjoyed several Scott Turow books so we were eager to listen to another. We gave this book 5 hours and could not take another minute. The story dragged, the characters were not interesting or compelling, and it seemed like some of the characters were unnecessary to the story. I found my mind wandering frequently while trying to listen and we decided to stop listening to the book, something we have never done. The reader is very important to the overall listening experience and this reader did not hold our attention.

Identical is average.. at best

What would have made Identical better?

The whole story lacked imagination. The Characters were cartoonish and lacked depth.

What was most disappointing about Scott Turow’s story?

Scott seemed to go out of his way to express his political leanings.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

I thought the performance was okay provided the material.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Not really...

Potential squandered

Turow had a great idea for a story and then... phoned it in. Gone was the courtroom drama Turow is so good at. It is replaced by lots of bickering and blathering by the characters. While I appreciate the attempt to give each character "depth," it really didn't seem to work.

I don't think it's helped by the narrator at all. He really only has one "voice" and, while he can give that voice an accent if need be, and he does know how to give a passage "emphasis," his characters all sound pretty much the same so, even after several hours into it, you will still be unable to tell who is speaking by listening. That means that you can get lost easily if you're not listening carefully to be told who has spoken. He doesn't perform the book as much as he just reads it.

I'm disappointed.

Silly

What disappointed you about Identical?

The story was unbelievable. The complexity was excessive. Way too many characters.
I gave up 1/2 way thru and that rarely happens.

Has Identical turned you off from other books in this genre?

No. However, Scott Turow is definitely off my list of authors. Some of his previous books were great. Not this time.