Identical

De: Scott Turow

Narrado por: Henry Leyva

State Senator Paul Giannis is a candidate for Mayor of Kindle County. His identical twin brother Cass is newly released from prison, 25 years after pleading guilty to the murder of his girlfriend, Dita Kronon. When Evon Miller, an ex-FBI agent who is the head of security for the Kronon family business, and private investigator Tim Brodie begin a re-investigation of Dita's death, a complex web of murder, sex, and betrayal-as only Scott Turow could weave-dramatically unfolds...

SOMETIMES A STORY GETS OVEREXPLAINED

What did you like best about Identical? What did you like least?

I LIKED MOST OF THE BOOK. UNTIL THE LAST CHAPTER OR SO. IT WAS FINE. I THINK THE CRIME WAS OVEREXPLAINED. IN DOING THIS THE BOOK GOT WATERED DOWN. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A FOUR STAR BOOK OTHERWISE.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

I LIKED THE WAY IT WAS TOLD. EACH CHAPTER WAS AROUND A CHARACTER, I LIKED THAT. SO YOU KNOW WHAT WHAS HAPPENING TO EACH CHARACTER. I DID NOT LIKE THE WAY THINGS GOT OVEREXPLAINED IN THE END. LEAVE SOMETHING TO THE IMAGINATION.

Have you listened to any of Henry Leyva’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I DON'T KNOW BUT I LIKED HIS READING.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

YES I THINK IT WOULD MAKE A GOOD MOVIE.

Great story. Didn't see the twist coming.

Couldn't stop listening. Story was well-written and we'll told. Looking forward to another tale soon.

Worthy followup to his other Kindle County dramas

I enjoyed Identical a lot -- liked the information about twins, about DNA, and Turow's understanding of family and love. After Presumed Innocent and Innocent, I was ready for more courtroom drama, which I enjoy, but Turow takes a different approach here. A ruminative description and contemplation of the dynamic between two families, and an interesting plot that involves a 25 year old murder, and what it does to all the people in the dense world Turow describes. I read Jacqueline's review above with care before beginning, and went back to it a couple of times in the first third of the book, while I was getting the intricate characters and plot fixed in my mind. Also, I liked the performance fine: the reader reads the words with proper inflection, and otherwise stays of out the way. I also like past Turow readers, and was disappointed not to hear the familiar voices from other books.

Fiction or political statement

I have read 3 or 4 of Scott Turrow's books before and I enjoy the creative twists and turns, but he spent so much time during the first quarter of this book discussing his idea of the "good" Democrats and the "evil" Republicans, I almost did not finish reading it. I found all the political party references distracting. . I feel sorry for Mr. Turrow if the only people he ever met who were kind and generous with high ideals are Democrats.
Truth is, the story could have easily been told without all the references to the Dems and the R's. I am sure if the D's are so good and the R's are so bad, an intelligent reader could have chosen the correct party without having been told who was who. Yes, yes I read the whole thing, but got distracted by all the political party diatribe, and I have now subscribed to railing on myself.. LOL

Turow Fans: Don't Get Stuck.

Yes, "Identical" presents us with a bit of a departure for Turow, particularly if you love his wonderful courtroom scenes; but try to keep your mind open to something new from Turow. You will still find some good courtroom scenes here -- actually, some pretty brilliant legal thinking from Judge Du Bois Lands -- but mostly, in "Identical," Turow is branching off into something like Jeffrey Archer territory: a family drama enacted over decades. For example, if you liked Archer's "Sons of Fortune," then you might enjoy Turow's "Identical." Of course, identical twins present a wealth of plot possibilities for a novelist; and Turow takes full advantage of them to create an intriguing mystery. For instance, did you know that identical twins do not have 𝒆𝙭𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙡𝙮 identical DNA, nor 𝒆𝙭𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙡𝙮 identical fingerprints? Turow uses this phenomenon to construct a legal puzzle. I would not call "Identical" a legal thriller, like Turow's previous offerings. Rather, I would put it more into the legal mystery/drama genre, á 𝘭𝘢 Jeffrey Archer. Although I wouldn't rank narrator Henry Leyva among my favorite narrators, he does have a nice voice, and does an adequate job of reading "Identical" for us. Overall, I would recommend "Identical" to mystery-lovers, and even to Turow fans, as long as you keep your mind open to a departure from form.