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

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.

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.

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.

Twins and the spin

Eh, it was ok. Any story involving crime and identical twins has elements that you can expect; one covering up for the other, extreme devotion or hatred, one taking the place of the other and fooling the people they know, living life as one person interchangeably, etc. The application of those elements will depend on the rest of the story and it does here. It got bogged down in a lot of family history and personal insights that didn’t move the plot forward or heighten any sense of mystery, suspense or drama. It felt weighty and torpid. I did like that the primary investigator was brought back at 81 years old and proved effective. Usually those old dudes are relegated to porches and parlors, reeling off their tale of frustration or triumph to the new investigator who will no doubt, stand on his shoulders. This time Tim goes back over the evidence and shows that what he found could have been spun to damn or exculpate, but also that what he didn’t find was just out of reach. Nice touch, but it couldn’t save the book for me and while I remained interested, I wasn’t really riveted.

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.

Scott Turow at his best

I have now read enough of Turow's work that I usually get the punchline before I get to the end of the book.... But not so with this one. The tale is believable and complex and holds the reader's attention all the way through. I recommend it highly!

Identical

This book was really hard to follow on Audible. At least I felt it was. I normally listen while doing housework etc but found this one hard with the jumping back and forth from current time to 25 years ago. Great story, I wish I would have read the actual book instead.