Rusty Sabich is back in a tense courtroom showdown. He's older, wiser, and in love. Quietly enjoying life away from the spotlight, Rusty is soon drawn into the quagmire of a trial - this time in the role of defense lawyer. With his experience, he knows (firsthand) that the adage 'innocent until proven guilty' is not always true. He knows that the legal system is set up to presume someone is guilty. No one does a legal thriller better than Scott Turow. When you read a book like Presumed Guilty, you get the entire picture of how a trial works. Turow is a master at articulating complex legal strategies. I especially love reading about familiar characters and catching up with them in later books. Yes, this is a story about a trial and how defendants are treated, but it's as much about how Rusty has put his life back together after the events in Presumed Innocent and Innocent. Rusty Sabich's career is complete, but if not, I'd read those books, too! Highly recommend this book!
Review by Laura L.
Presumed Guilty by Scott Turow
"Rusty is a retired judge attempting a third act in life with a loving soon-to-be wife, Bea, with whom he shares both a restful home on an idyllic lake in the rural Midwest and a plaintive hope that this marriage will be his best, and his last. But the peace that's taken Rusty so long to find evaporates when Bea's young adult son, Aaron, living under their supervision while on probation for drug possession, disappears. If Aaron doesn't return soon, he will be sent back to jail. Aaron eventually turns up with a vague story about a camping trip with his troubled girlfriend, Mae, that ended in a fight and a long hitchhike home. Days later, when she still hasn't returned, suspicion falls on Aaron, and when Mae is subsequently discovered dead, Aaron is arrested and set for trial on charges of first-degree murder. Faced with few choices and even fewer hopes, Bea begs Rusty to return to court one last time, to defend her son and to save their last best hope for happiness. For Rusty, the question is not whether to defend Aaron, or whether the boy is innocent--it's whether the system to which he has devoted his life can ever provide true justice for those who are presumed guilty"--Inside jacket flap.