Rusty, a retired judge, has finally found peace. He has a lovely home in the setting he has chosen and a fiancé, Bea, whom he adores. When things seem too good to be true it sometimes really ends up being too good to be true. When Bea's adult son, Aaron, is charged with murdering his girlfriend, she pleads with Rusty to defend him. After much deliberation, seventy-seven-year-old Rusty finds himself back in a courtroom while wondering if the legal system will give his client a chance at a fair trial.
PRESUMED GUILTY, a novel by Scott Turow, is a powerhouse of a legal thriller. The author skillfully takes readers from pre-trial through to the verdict and the aftermath. With vivid details, readers are placed into the courtroom and all the complexities of the responsibilities of both the prosecuting and defense attorneys are laid out in plain English. A good investigator is invaluable to Rusty and in this narrative, he has found a gem. Together their work is impressive. But will it be enough?
A late-in-life relationship can be fragile. If it doesn't work out, there might not be another chance. Rusty is all too aware of this and fears that if he doesn't succeed in getting a not-guilty verdict his relationship with Bea will not survive. Unexpectedly, Rusty is shocked to discover there is much about Bea he didn't know. Can he stay focused on this case?
PRESUMED GUILTY is a masterfully told riveting novel. Well-plotted, filled with meaningful dialogue and suspenseful, this novel is well worth reading. Highly recommended.
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 in fact innocent—it’s whether the system to which he has devoted his life can ever provide true justice for those who are presumed guilty.
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