Innocent by Scott Turow - B+

I really enjoyed Scott Turow's first novel, Presumed Innocent.  I enjoyed his follow-up, Burden of Proof even more.

Those novels were released in 1987 and 1990, respectively.  As much as I liked them, I had not read another Scott Turow novel.  I suppose that I figured Turow had "gone commercial."  I don't know if that's true or not.

I expected to hate hate hate Innocent which focuses on Rusty Sabich, the main character from Presumed Innocent.  The action takes place 21 years after the end of the Presumed Innocent.  Sabich, found not guilty of murdering his lover in Presumed Innocent (no other spoilers from Book 1), is now a sitting judge.  His wife, Barbara, turns up dead (evidently of natural causes) in Innocent, but the prosecutor from Sabich's first trial smells a rat.  That's all you're gettin' from me on the plot.

Different chapters are told from the perspective of different characters--Rusty, Tommy (the prosecutor), Nat (Rusty's son) and Anna (Rusty's law clerk).  At first, I found the "Tommy" chapters the least compelling, but those chapters improve as the novel progresses.

Like I said, I expected to hate the novel, but I didn't.  True, I had a difficult time not thinking about Harrison Ford as Rusty Sabich.  The narrative is fairly taut.  I read the novel at a good time because I was kind of in the mood for a page turner, and I had a difficult time putting this book down.

I would NOT read Innocent unless and until you read Presumed Innocent.  I also wouldn't read Innocent unless you, like I, were invested in the characters from Presumed Innocent.  This novel was like visiting with old friends for a few hours, and I enjoyed the visit.

Live long, read and prosper.  We'll leave the lights on for you.