Reversible Errors

By: Scott Turow

Narrated by: J. R. Horne

Length: 14 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's Summary

Rommy "Squirrel" Gandolph is a Yellow Man, an inmate on death row for a 1991 triple murder in Kindle County. His slow progress toward certain execution is nearing completion when Arthur Raven, a corporate lawyer who is Rommy's reluctant court-appointed representative, receives word that another inmate may have new evidence that will exonerate Gandolph.

Arthur's opponent in the case is Muriel Wynn, Kindle County's formidable chief deputy prosecuting attorney, who is considering a run for her boss' job. Muriel and Larry Starczek, the original detective on the case, don't want to see Rommy escape a fate they long ago determined he deserved. Further complicating the situation is the fact that Gillian Sullivan, the judge who originally found Rommy guilty, is only recently out of prison herself, having served time for taking bribes.

Scott Turow's compelling, multidimensional characters take the listener into Kindle County's parallel yet intersecting worlds of police and small-time crooks, airline executives and sophisticated scammers and lawyers of all stripes. No other writer offers such a profound understanding of what is at stake when the state holds the power to end a man's life.

Listen to a conversation with Scott Turow.

©2002 Scott Turow (P)2002 Random House Inc., Random House Audio, a Division of Random House Inc.

Critic Reviews

"This is a tour de force for a novelist writing at the top of his game." (Amazon.com)
"No one on the contemporary scene writes better mystery-suspense novels than Scott Turow." (Los Angeles Times Book Review)

An engaging story

I've liked many of Turow's books in the past, and so this was the book I chose as my indoctrination into the wonderful world of audio books and audible.com. I'm not upset at all about my choice. The story is engrossing from the start and maintains that quality throughout. As this was my first audio book, I could see where the narrator is key to enjoying the book. In this case, he(J.R. Horne)was spot on. His accents made the characters' dialogue a breeze to follow and his pacing was quite excellent. It was like being at a play. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Great job, Scott, and thanks for the good read, Mr. Horne.

25 people found this helpful

Reversible Errors

This book offers a very different perspective on our legal system. It is much more about the system than about the man who is rightly/wrongly sentenced to death row. It was captivating and I recommend it highly.

10 people found this helpful

Worth reading

The author, Scott Turow, put together a book that was more than just a "Who done it". He exposed the conflicts in the legal system by allowing us to view the personalities of the players in the system as real people. The unraveling of the hidden truths throughout the book kept me looking forward to the next chapter.
The beginning of the book was difficult to follow because the story jumped from the present to the past. Perhaps it was the reader, but in the beginning it was difficult to tell what time frame the story was in. As the story progressed however the problem of time was resolved.
I thouroughly enjoyed the reading but felt a little let down with the ending.
The process of getting to the end of the book made the reading worthwile. The personalitites of the players were very well developed in the book.
I rate this 4 stars and would recommend this audio as an enjoyable listening experience.

14 people found this helpful

Adequate

This book could only be described as adequate. I found it confusing with the jumping from past to present. I wondered if I was listening to two love stories or a legal review of this case. Most stories about the legal system are plausible. This case seemed so fraught with legal errors and investigative oversights that I can't imagine it could happen. Ending was very predictable. I think I'll stick with John Grisham.

4 people found this helpful

Lawyerly and Literate

Nothing against Grisham, but this is the way to write a book about lawyers. Not only an engrossing plot, but real, thinking characters. The book also is read well. As good as Presumed Innocent--and that was a classic of this genre.

8 people found this helpful

Loved it!

Loved the book. In many books, I often wish there was less of the characters' personal lives but not this time. I was interested in every bit. And I figure a narrator is very good when I don't hear him but hear the characters and they come to life. Well done!

3 people found this helpful

Brilliant

I can't decide who is better; the author or the narrator

3 people found this helpful

Reversible Errors

I have been a fan of Scott Turow for years and I feel that Scott has lost focus on what he does best, writing mysteries that challenge the mind and his depiction of high tension court room episodes with dueling attorneys at their best.
Today his books are filled pages with frivolous uninteresting and unimportant boring dialog that becomes the story and does nothing to enhance what ever it was he started out writing about. After rowing my way through several hours of part #1 I am left wondering what's happened here?
90%chaff and 10% wheat is more then I can handle.
I'm going to take a pass on part two and look for an author that is more focused on writing story then selling words.
BK Hanson

6 people found this helpful

Great

I really enjoyed this book. It held my interest and was well narrated.

1 person found this helpful

A good ordinary thriller

Communicating to other readers that a book is ordinary but that does not mean you should not listen to it is tough. Reversible error falls in this category. While listening to this book, you will not fall asleep while driving but nor will you look forward to long drives and thick traffic jams to reach the climax. The characters are reasonably interesting. The plot is intriguing at times with some twist and turns that you may not predict. Do not worry too much if you are not a choosy listener?enjoy.

3 people found this helpful

Enjoyable and very well narrated

Scott Turow's first two books, "Presumed Innocent" and "Burden of Proof", should be in anyone's top ten of legal thrillers - wonderful reads. His later work was never of the same quality and I have struggled and sometimes failed to get through a few pretty stodgy efforts.

"Reversible Errors", I am glad to say, gets back closer to the high standards of his early books. Plot and character development are kept in balance and woven together cleverly; momentum only occasionally falters; and whilst the ending is perhaps a little too easy to guess and so lacks the nail-biting quality of the best legal thrillers, the way the story is unfolded and draws to its conclusion is never less than absorbing, and very enjoyable.

The narration was top-notch too - judgement of pace - very important in Scott Turow's books which can ramble - was near faultless, as was tone, and the characters were all very well drawn.

Overall, warmly recommended particularly if you like legal thrillers.

1 person found this helpful