Defending Jacob by William Landay

Well apparently this book is causing quite a stir among readers everywhere and I am happy to be able to feature it on my blog.  I must admit, our teacher book club read this book a while ago after we begged the publisher to let us preview it - they were nice enough to oblige and every person who read this loved it.

About the Author:

William Landay is the author of The Strangler, a Los Angeles Times Favorite Crime Book of the Year, and Mission Flats, winner of the Creasey Memorial Dagger Award for Best First Crime Novel and a Barry Award nominee. A former district attorney who holds degrees from Yale and Boston College Law School, Landay lives in Boston, where he is at work on his next novel of suspense. His latest release is Defending Jacob.

You can visit William Landay’s website at www.WilliamLanday.com. You can also become a fan on Facebook by visiting  www.Facebook.com/WilliamLanday.


About the Novel:

Andy Barber has been an assistant district attorney in his suburban Massachusetts county for more than twenty years. He is respected in his community, tenacious in the courtroom, and happy at home with his wife, Laurie, and son, Jacob. But when a shocking crime shatters their New England town, Andy is blindsided by what happens next: His fourteen-year-old son is charged with the murder of a fellow student.

Every parental instinct Andy has rallies to protect his boy. Jacob insists that he is innocent, and Andy believes him. Andy must. He’s his father. But as damning facts and shocking revelations surface, as a marriage threatens to crumble and the trial intensifies, as the crisis reveals how little a father knows about his son, Andy will face a trial of his own—between loyalty and justice, between truth and allegation, between a past he’s tried to bury and a future he cannot conceive.

Award-winning author William Landay has written the consummate novel of an embattled family in crisis—a suspenseful, character-driven mystery that is also a spellbinding tale of guilt, betrayal, and the terrifying speed at which our lives can spin out of control.

My Thoughts:

I have to admit that I found this book a little difficult to get into, however, I must also admit that I am in the minority.  Everyone else I know who has read this has loved it from page one so maybe it was just me.

The story is gripping, the whole idea of having it all, a great family, life, and nothing major wrong and then in the next moment it all being shattered makes for a great story.  As a parent myself of boys, I really identified with the emotions of Andy as a parent but of course could not truly identify with his situation.  The author does a fantastic job of connecting readers on every level with this story.

I also appreciated the way that he wrote Jacob's character - he is so reminiscent of teens today and Landay does a great job creating him.  You know the novel is effective when you feel like the characters are truly real people and you feel like you know them inside and out when you're finished reading.

I highly recommend this novel, but so does Barnes and Noble as it has appeared on their lists for a few weeks now - you won't be disappointed and you will become a fan of this author...I am excited to see what he comes up with next!