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Reviewer: Mark Lamendola

This was the first time I'd read a novel by Turow. I had read his non-fiction work before, and was impressed. Now I understand how me made his non-fiction so compelling--he's a solid writer who understands, and deftly uses, the elements of fiction (and non-fiction, for that matter).

Turow writes as though he's never heard of formula books, one-dimensional characters, ghosts in the machine, or the other slop that characterizes so much of today's fiction.

I like a good plot, and Turow surely delivered on that score by giving this novel several twists that kept the story moving at a fast pace. The various plot nuances were delightful.

I like Tom Clancy novels because the technical detail is excellent--Turow delivers in that department, as well. I made a point of checking his credits at the end of the book, just because he kept getting these things right.

When an author fails to get these things right, you end up with things like The DaVinci Code, which leave any informed reader feeling cheated and lied to. Even many purported non-fiction works, such as Kurzweil's Fantastic Voyage, are filled with disinformation that ruins the book for any reader who has had enough interest in the subject to have read about it already.

When an author takes the approach of a Clancy or Turow and presents a novel that is well-researched, the reader gets a triple bonus when that novel also exhibits tight writing and a gripping plot.

But what most sets this book apart is the complex way the characters interact--turning that triple bonus into a quadruple bonus. We follow Robbie Feaver throughout the story, initially seeing him as an opportunistic lawyer who uses the system to cheat. We then see him as a coward who rats out on his friends. But as the book progresses, we see those initial impressions are just part of his facade and that deep down his sole motivation is to protect the people he loves. The way he deceives various other characters initially gives you the impression he's a master at deception--until we see other deceptions that fool even him. He's the perfect character for the multi-layered plot. The story seems to be about Feaver--yet when you finish the book, you have to wonder if that was the case at all.

Maybe the story was about another character, a female FBI agent assigned to stick to Feaver like glue and watch his every move. Evon Miller is as complex as Robbie, and we find that she--like Robbie-- is full of secrets that make this book a powerful story. A half-dozen other characters bring their own star power to the story, and each of them provides at least one  surprise.

An interesting thing about this book is it brings up several moral and legal issues, without ever preaching to the reader or having the characters "do the right thing." Instead, the characters react to those issues in their own way--thus creating much of the page-turning tension this book provides.