Presumed Innocent

By: Scott Turow

Narrated by: Edward Herrmann

Length: 15 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

NOW AN APPLE ORIGINAL SERIES FROM APPLE TV+ STARRING JAKE GYLLENHAAL

From #1 New York Times bestselling author and hailed as the most suspenseful and compelling novel in decades, this story brings to life our worst nightmare: that of an ordinary citizen facing conviction for the most terrible of all crimes.

Rusty Sabich, family man and the number-two prosecutor of Kindle County, is handed an explosive case—the brutal murder of a woman who happens to be his former lover. A shocking turn of events suddenly transforms him from the accuser into the accused... and plunges him into a nightmare world where nothing seems real and no one can be PRESUMED INNOCENT.

It's the stunning portrayal of one man's all-too-human, all-consuming fatal attraction for a passionate woman who is not his wife, and the story of how his obsession puts everything he loves and values on trial—including his own life. It's a book that lays bare a shocking world of betrayal and murder, as well as the hidden depths of the human heart. And it will hold you and haunt you...long after you have reached its shattering conclusion.

©1987 Scott Turow (P)2010 Hachette

Critic reviews

"Spellbinding.... The suspense is relentless.... Surprise follows surprise.... The work of a profoundly gifted writer." (The New York Times)

Excellent Mystery, Suspense and Drama ~

I was very much entertained... I loved the movie of years ago and have watch it many times over the years. Even so, I enjoyed listening to the novel because it contained more details. Very good narrator.

Very enjoyable - even after all these years

I read Presumed Innocent shortly after its original release and I remembered enjoying it quite a bit. When I saw that Turow had just released a sequel, I thought it would be fun to re-"read" the original first.

Luckily I had forgotten many of the details, so it was very much like experiencing it for the first time.

Overall it is a great novel and some very nice twists and turns throughout the story. The narration is simply amazing (the one caveat is that the narrator doesn't do women's voices very well, but there are very few female characters so this is not an issue within the story) and this is one of those books that you simply cannot wait to get back to.

If legal mysteries are of interest to you - enjoy this book!

Multiple Twists & Turns

Good news: Herrmann grew on me as a narrator as the book progressed. His ability to reflect different genders, ages and ethnicities is absolutely brilliant and wonderfully understated. The courtroom scenes were absolutely engaging. I thoroughly enjoyed the characters, the strategy and the legal repartee.

Not so good news: The main character is given to rather long personal and societal reflections. For me, these interrupted the pacing of the plot and grew quite tedious. There are many more dark and disturbing moments than light ones. That would be ok if something redeeming came out of all of those scenes...but it didn't.

Bottomline for me: The plot was not predictable. As it developed, there were twists and turns that kept it interesting; and, best of all, I didn't see the ending coming until quite late in the book. So I settled on 4 stars even though the book had its shortcomings. And I will read the 2nd series in this book just to hear more of the narrator and courtroom scenes.

Very good listen!!

I rarely give five stars. A very good, worth the credit is four stars. I have to say I just listened to, also by Scott Turow, Reversible Errors right after Presumed Innocent and that one I would rate five stars. You can tell Mr. Turow was/is a practicing trial attorney, probably at one time was a prosecutor. (I have not read his biography yet) He hits it precisely and accurately on every angle. Now, he only needs to write more and turn them into Audible because I will devour them all shortly and be reduced to waiting for the next. Some lawyers are truly gifted in the war of words, definitely not all, Mr. Turow is a master.

Sophomoric

The story is drawn out and padded with sophomoric sexual fantasy and long passages of childhood remembrances adding little to the story except to add pages. The basic story of a prosecutor accused of murdering another Attorney in his office is interesting but without the fill it is no more a 100 page done novel.

Believable Court Story and Performance

I really enjoyed the story. The times in the court room were so real. Much research must have gone on to have the setting and the discussions be so direct. The only thing that I did not like is the sex scenes. I think one or two could have sufficed. Also the use of the "N" WORD should have not been used in my opinion. I understand that the police officer is a big it, however that word is horrible. Overall though it was a great read. I would gladly recommend it.

OK Book

This was an ok book. I didn't think it was as fantastic as some of the othe reviews. I had to read this book for a class, or else I wouldn't have read it. It starts off REALLY slow and was hard to get through. The revealing of "who did it" was really choppy and confusing. There was no hinting previously in the book to suggest that it was them. The author didn't lead up to telling you who it was, it was just like, BAM! It was "culprit". Overall the story was good, it just took a while to get to the good part.

padded.

a third of the chapters are unnecessary to the plot and could be removed in their entirety.

Still really good

A little dated in some cultural references, but still a really well written, clever murder mystery. Narration was fine, though a few times a character’s voice seemed to slip a little in and out of character.

Well above average

This is a lawyer story, not a cops-n-robbers tale. Somehow I missed that detail. And yet, this is a really good yarn. The writing was top shelf.