Testimony

By: Scott Turow

Narrated by: Wayne Pyle

Length: 14 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

Scott Turow, number-one New York Times best-selling author and "one of the major writers in America" (NPR), returns with a gripping legal thriller about an American prosecutor's investigation of a refugee camp's mystifying disappearance.

At the age of 50, former prosecutor Bill ten Boom has walked out on everything he thought was important to him: his law career, his wife, Kindle County, even his country. Still, when he is tapped by the International Criminal Court - an organization charged with prosecuting crimes against humanity - he feels drawn to what will become the most elusive case of his career. Over 10 years ago, in the apocalyptic chaos following the Bosnian war, an entire Roma refugee camp vanished. Now, for the first time, a witness has stepped forward: Ferko Rincic claims that armed men marched the camp's Gypsy residents to a cave in the middle of the night - and then with a hand grenade set off an avalanche, burying 400 people alive. Only Ferko survived.

Boom's task is to examine Ferko's claims and determine who might have massacred the Roma. His investigation takes him from the International Criminal Court's base in Holland to the cities and villages of Bosnia and secret meetings in Washington, DC, as Boom sorts through a host of suspects, ranging from Serb paramilitaries to organized crime gangs to the US government itself, while also maneuvering among the alliances and treacheries of those connected to the case: Layton Merriwell, a disgraced US major general desperate to salvage his reputation; Sergeant Major Atilla Doby, a vital cog in American military operations near the camp at the time of the Roma's disappearance; Laza Kajevic, the brutal former leader of the Bosnian Serbs; Esma Czarni, Ferko's alluring barrister; and, of course, Ferko himself, on whose testimony the entire case rests - and who may know more than he's telling.

A master of the legal thriller, Scott Turow has returned with his most irresistibly confounding and satisfying novel yet.

©2017 Scott Turow (P)2017 Hachette Audio

Very poor narrator

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

You may want to read this in print or on Kindle, but do NOT get the audio version. For a best-selling author, you'd think they could hire a competent narrator. Pyle cannot do foreign accents, which is a problem since major characters have British, Australian, and Indonesian accents. All of these accents (and many more that he butchers) are ludicrous. Turow's characters are two-dimensional to begin with; with atrocious accents, it's almost impossible to take them seriously. Pyle also can't pronounce French, and he is under the impression that Nantes and Bruges are two-syllable words. It was excruciating to listen to this recording.

A surprise!

Mr. Turow manages to take subject matter many of us, including me, might mention a few times when it's in the world news but otherwise find it easier on the conscience to pretend it doesn't exist. At no point did I feel like I was in a pew being tossed a sermon and yet it still made me think. More than that, I was duly entertained by the story and the reading by Mr. Pyle.

Do have a rare production complaint that I had to occasionally adjust the volume. It would come as a new section started. Wonder if the team came back from break and the sound person failed to correct the output level for fresh vocal chords? Who knows? But that's why a 4 for the performance, Mr. Pyle gets a 5.

Testimony was Terrific

This was a terrific story with some amazing characters superbly intertwined into this story. I loved the performance especially with the various accents of the characters!

Integrity

As always I found everything here I was looking for, which probably means I missed a lot. Turow's rigorous legal perspective to a riveting tale under extreme conditions that persist in the world offers rich texture to the principles and humanity that drive culture today. No character is a caricature and even the absolutes are situational. And, at the end of the day all we can do is try to do good and maybe we'll even find love. There's a lot of integrity here, by which I mean that paying attention to what the author believes will help you live a better life. The last chapter set up a parallel that I didn't expect, so now I'm tempted to listen to it all over again!

The Aussie accent!

Enjoyed the story line and the characters and fair to say that if I had read it I would have rated it a 4 but when the author said at the end that the narrator had been coached in an Australian accent I choked on my coffee! Not sure which nationality did the coaching - an Italian maybe?

very good

I enjoyed this book, the narrator was great and I recommend it to everyone. thanks

Wonderful Scott - so talented

Classic Scott Turow he captures your attention until the very end. He writes so well. I listened to this on Audiobook and it just enhances the experience. Make sure to read his books in order as it will make the experience much better.

Wow

loved it and did not want it to end. characters are perfect and real. well done Turow

a good but complicated story

this story takes place in bosnia after the war there and involves atrocities and deceit and international diplomacy. it held my interest and I enjoyed it.

historic nivek

quite a .multifaceted story woven together. a bit far fetched at times but told well