Identical

De: Scott Turow

Narrado por: Henry Leyva

From the #1 bestselling author of Presumed Innocent, a twisty legal thriller that's full of surprises.

State Senator Paul Giannis is a candidate for Mayor of Kindle County. His identical twin brother Cass is newly released from prison, twenty-five 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 ...

Interesting...

This was an interesting book, but not one that kept me on the edge of my seat. Although not a page turner, it was worth the credit. It had some unexpected twists and turns. Scott Turow is a very talented author. I will continue to buy his books.

Courtroom Drama Takes a Back Seat

I was so looking forward to this novel, as two of my favorite Turow books, "Innocent" and "Presumed Innocent" are so rich in the details and drama of courtroom action. However, this story does not put the spotlight on the judge or attorneys.

Overall this is a complex story of two Greek families over a 25 year period. You need to pay close attention to get the numerous characters straight in your mind at the beginning, or it is easy to become lost. The two main players are Paul and Cass Giannis, identical twin brothers.

I found this a difficult review to do since there is so much going on, but I've condensed it to the following:

The story starts in 1982 at the home of Zeus Kronon during his annual Labor Day party. Among the guests are Lidia Giannis and her twin boys who are 25 at the time. The Giannis family and Kronon family have a shaky history, especially between Lidia and Zeus, but that doesn't keep their children from being friends. Unfortunately that day turns out to change the future of both families lives. Zeus Kronon's daughter, Dita, is found murdered in her bedroom after the guests have gone home, and Cass Giannis is quickly arrested on circumstantial evidence. He agrees to a 25 year sentence if he can serve it in a minimum security prison. No trial is necessary and the deal is agreed to.

Jump ahead to 2008. Paul Giannis is running for mayor. Cass Giannis is about to get out of prison. Dita's brother, Hal, a wealthy businessman, is against it and starts a media campaign to stop his release. This is where the real story starts. Hal asks his head of security, Evon Miller and a former homicide detective, Tim Brodie, to investigate and see if they can turn up any new information from the murder 25 years ago. Hal has never been convinced that Paul wasn't involved in some way, and is using the suggestion of his involvement to stall his campaign for mayor.

Back and forth the story is slowly revealed to us over time, from the Labor Day party and the actions of people on that day, then back to the present and what the investigation is turning up.

I liked the story, and it had enough momentum to keep me listening. The only small complaints I would mention are 1) the narrator is ok, but gets a little monotone, and 2) there is a lot of extraneous material that just goes nowhere. This is mostly related to Evon's girlfriend who keeps popping up throughout, and has no real relevance to the story.

Turow did keep me entertained throughout. There are a ton of suspects- - it is never really clear until almost the very end who murdered Dita and why. Recommended!

Not plausible

I like Turow's books but this story, at least to me, does not make sense and it is too implausible.

I So So Wanted to Love This One

Yes this book is a bit of a disappointment. I really like this author, his previous books: Limitations, Innocent , Presumed Innocent , Reversible Errors, and Burden of Proof... well I've given them reviews of 4 or 5 stars.
This time however Mr. Turow misses the mark. The story gets bogged down with too many unnecessary and uninteresting characters. The plot if executed better would have been very engaging. But this time the author spends so much time with family feuds and character quirks, he loses momentum and the reader/listener gets lost in the details that are frankly just not that interesting. By the time the "good part" happened I kind of lost focus and just didn't care that much any more. Next book I hope Mr. Turow gets back on track!

Good Turow

If you could sum up Identical in three words, what would they be?

Good story. Stilted reading

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

Rhythm didn't flow. His inflection and rhythm was like driving over a bumpy road

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No

Any additional comments?

Leyva didn't do Turow justice - so to speak,