Andrew "Andy" Barber is an assistant district attorney living in Newton, a suburban Massachusetts area, and truly enjoys his life. He has a wife that he's still madly in love with and a fourteen year old son, Jacob, who he dotes on. Andy is respected and great at his job. In short, he couldn't ask for his life to be any better.

That all changes when a young man, also fourteen years old, is found murdered. Andy is just as outraged and sad as all of the other families in their community. He promises to see that the killer is caught and justice is served. This promise is made before the unthinkable happens.

Evidence turns up linking Jacob, Andy's own son, to the crime. In no time, Jacob is formally charged with the murder of his fellow student.

DEFENDING JACOB started out a bit slow for me because William Landay, the author, tends to put in a lot of details about everything. This is neither good nor bad. I just don't happen to be one of those people who enjoy reading too many details. Having said that, DEFENDING JACOB turned out to be one of the best books I've ever had the pleasure of reading. Once it pulls you in, you're hooked.

This one has big screen movie written all over it! I would love to see it made into a feature film. All of the elements of a blockbuster are right there within the pages of DEFENDING JACOB. There's suspense but it's not actually the scary kind. It is more along the lines of what is going to be discovered next during the investigation. I do enjoy the unveiling of clues and this was done with a finesse that held just the right amount of teasing before showing it all.

DEFENDING JACOB is an involving book. I became part of its cast of characters. There were plenty of human weaknesses and just the kind of behavior that you would find in a small town when one of their own is murdered and another is accused of the crime. While I did want to shake the main characters more than once, I could still understand their behavior when put into this horribly, unthinkable situation.

Suffice it to say that DEFENDING JACOB is a book that has it all. A twisted murder mystery that has one slam dunk of an ending. Whatever you do, read it as Mr. Landay has written it. Don't skip ahead to the end or you'll wish you hadn't!