In 1986, the novel Presumed Innocent took the nation by storm and began a trend of legal thrillers on bookstore shelves left and right. It is a story that combines a number of intriguing elements: a prosecutor being prosecuted, a secret adulterous affair with the victim, missing legal files, red herrings here and there, and a protagonist, Rozat “Rusty” Sabich, whose stand in this matter is ambiguous to the reader. Sabich is a deputy prosecutor who is assigned to take the case involving the murder of another prosecutor, Carolyn Polhemus, who was once his former lover and for whom he harbored an obsession. Further complicating matters by not procuring enough evidence, he finds himself at the mercy of the very legal system he works for.

Eight novels set in the same fictional location of Kindle County and 24 years later, Scott Turow returns with a sequel titled Innocent, in which an older Rusty, a judge of the county appellate court, gets accused of murdering his manic-depressive wife Barbara. Once again, the ambiguity regarding his innocence is present, like how Rusty waits 24 hours after discovering his wife’s body before calling their son Nat, complicating his defense and keeping the readers guessing.

Now I’ve only ever watched the movie adaptation of Presumed Innocent that stars Harrison Ford, and since I liked that movie and I heard Turow wrote this sequel, I decided to pick it up to read. It was not a quick read – not a difficult book aside from legal and computer technology jargon, but quite lengthy. But, nevertheless, it was a page-turner. Turow’s narrative is easy to fall into. I had somewhat mixed feelings about the shifting narrator and timeframe. The first part of the book switches between Rusty and Tommy Molto, his prosecutor and rival, with the past being presented in the first person present tense and “current” time being presented in the third person past tense. This leads to some confusion in the narrative, and Turow may have revealed key events too early, making it difficult for readers to relish the thrill of the chase, of piecing together the key points within the novel. Otherwise the prose is excellent. Nat Sabich, Rusty’s son, and Anna, his former clerk, also narrate from their respective perspectives.

I was happy to see an older Rusty return as one of the protagonists, and welcomed the additions of his son Nat and his latest lover Anna. However I did find it somewhat unbelievable that a man who engaged in an extramarital affair and was later charged with his lover’s murder, a great if not the greatest punishment for such a sin, would engage in another one with equally disastrous consequences (being tried for the murder of his wife). I also found Tommy Molto’s fervent animosity towards Rusty off-putting, and once more he is obsessed with finding Rusty guilty of Carolyn Polhemus and now Barbara’s death. But the one who takes the cake is his deputy prosecutor, Jim Brand, whose extreme show of contempt can drive the reader to the wall.

Although it is a compelling read, this book may not be everybody’s cup of tea. There is some explicit content, a May-December romance, and some readers may find Nat’s frequent bursts into tears annoying.