This Scott Turow is a legal thriller with a difference that it is not set in a court room but in Bosnia.
Former Bill ten Boom at the age of fifty walks out on everything he thought was important to him, his law career, his wife, Kindle County and even his country. But when he is approached by the International Criminal Court, an organisation that prosecutes crimes against humanity, he feels drawn to what will become the most elusive case of his career. Over ten years ago, in the apocalyptic chaos following the Bosnian war, an entire Roma refugee camp vanished. Now for the first time, a witness has stepped forward. Ferko Rincic claims that armed men marched the camp's Gypsy residents to a cave in the middle of the night-and then with a hand grenade set off an avalanche, burying 400 people alive. Only Ferko survived.

Boom's task is to examine Ferko's claims and determine who might have massacred the Roma. His investigation takes him from the International Criminal Court's base in Holland to the cities and villages of Bosnia and secret meetings in Washington, DC, as Boom sorts through a host of suspects, ranging from Serb paramilitaries, to organised crime gangs, to the US government itself, while also manoeuvring among the alliances and treacheries of those connected to the case. Layton Merriwell, a disgraced US major general desperate to salvage his reputation; Sergeant Major Atilla Doby,a vital cog in American military operations near the camp at the time of the Roma's disappearance; Laza Kajevic, the brutal former leader of the Bosnian Serbs; Esma Czarni, Ferko's alluring barrister; and of course, Ferko himself, on whose testimony the entire case rests,and who may know more than he's telling.

A complex story told expertly well by this talented author.

I would like to thank Net Galley and Grand Central Publishing for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Couldn't put it down, characters are well developed and the plot moves along nicely

It’s been a while since Turow published a new novel and I’ve missed him.

Initially, Testimony seems as if it is going to be a legal procedural, albeit unique in that it involves the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague. But then it takes a twist and becomes more menacing and turns into a thriller/mystery.

The action takes place not only in the Netherlands, but also the Balkans and the US. and includes a look into the life of the Roma. Turow handles introducing the different countries and cultures well.

He successfully interweaves complex story lines; his personal life and reflections of midlife, familial background secrets, NATO’s involvement in the Balkans, the Roma culture. The story is
plausible and he ties up all loose ends.

Although a substantial novel, I read it quickly as it held my attention and I did not want to put it down. It was interesting to learn how the ICC functions and especially the United States’ relationship to it.

Those who have read other Turow novels will find references to some familiar characters from Kindle County. I always enjoy it when an author employs that device.

This was a surprise but a pleasant one. I am a massive fan of the author's Kindle County legal thrillers and was fascinated to see if he could cope with a different milieu. I needn't have worried as this was a fascinating and satisfying read. I learned much about war crimes and genocide but the book was not didactic but an exceptionally, nay, beautifully written description of a man taken out of his normal environment who has to deal with an entirely new situation and use his legal experience in an entirely different manner.

The characters are well crafted and credible and the book draws you in and demands your full attention. The effort required is well worthwhile as this is a highly original thriller written by a master of his trade.

Testimony is the latest story from Scott Turow. Mr Turow states this book was "inspired by real-world events" and he has done an excellent job of mixing fact and fiction and brings the reader to a better understanding of the workings of the International Criminal Court. I was given an early copy to review.

Scott Turow takes his incredible storytelling skills global in this novel of an American lawyer prosecuting war crimes for the International Criminal Tribunal. Fast paced, well great characters and well researched. Recommended

Testimony by Scott Turow is a complex legal thriller. It's also a story of a successful former prosecutor trying to control and change his life. He's turned 50 and to establish other goals and relationship s
His journey takes him to the international criminal court where he is investigating a war crimes.
The story files his progress in the investigation and his relationship said he farms along the way at the end he solves the war crimes and it's more peace with himself and forming more positive relationships and leaving a new life.

A very solid book. I have been a fan of this writer since Presumed Innocent many, many years ago. This book does not disappoint. It is gritty and engaging. I admit that a bit of the military storyline left me a little bored but that's integral to the book and I just speeded through some of that. A couple loose ends that didn't get tied up bothered me, so no 5 star rating. Why the heck did Esma pretend to be Roma? Why was she such an advocate for them? Why was merry so willing to talk to Boom all the time?

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. My opinions are my own.

I'm a John Grisham fan, so it's been a while since I picked up a Scott Turow book. Both are adept legal fiction writers, but Turow has always provided grittier narratives than his more tame competitor.

The description of the book intrigued me and the storyline did not disappoint. Turow clearly did his research, as the tale clearly reflected real events, with enough details changed for the author to remain true to his story, rather than the news accounts.

Other than the ill-defined motivations of the protagonist's early love interest, the characters seemed fairly real and engaging. It also was nice that the personal character development was not shortchanged to the overall narrative.

Bill ten Beem has just gone thru a divorce and quit his job. He has no plans for the future when he is offered a job at The Hague with the International Criminal Court. His first case involves the murder of 400 Roma 11 years ago in Bosnia. There is only one surviving witness and there has been opposition to bringing this case before the court.

This book has a complicated plot. The investigation involves international politics and there is no mass grave. There is no question the people from this village disappeared but there are many theories among the Roma as to what actually happened. Finding actual hard evidence isn't easy after so many years. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

Thank you Net Galley for the free ARC in return for an honest review.

A different kind of Scott Turow book takes the court room drama overseas to the International Court of Justice. Bill ten Boom is prosecuting a potential Roma massacre in Bosnia with different twists and turns happening along the way.

I thought this was an interesting story line, but I prefer the American court books. Also I was annoyed with the Esma/Nara narrative, which was pretty cliche.

In Scott Turow's latest novel, Testimony (Grand Central Publishing 2017), Bill ten Boom retires from not only his law practice where he is a partner in a white collar crime firm, but gets divorced from his wife and children and moves across the planet. His new job with the International Court of Justice will be bringing criminals of high crimes to justice. In this case, it's the alleged murder of an entire Roma town of about 300 people. Wiped out ten years ago and never brought to justice, it becomes Bill's job to convict the bad guys, be they military, civilian, or American. To do this, Bill must travel the world, read between cultural lines not always familiar to him, and avoid some fairly clever twists and turns that take the story places I didn't expect.

The book starts as vintage Scott Turow--no description wasted, filled with emotion and backstory:

“And what about these other structures in the background?” I asked. “Who lived in those houses?” ‘House’ was generous. The dwellings shown were no better than lean-tos, each jerry-rigged from whatever the residents of Barupra had salvaged. Timbers or old iron posts had been forced into the ground and then draped most commonly with blue canvas tarpaulins or plastic sheeting. There were also chunks of building materials, especially pieces of old roofs, which had been scavenged from the wreckage of nearby houses destroyed in the Bosnian War. That war had been over for nine years in 2004, but there was still no shortage of debris, because no one knew which sites had been booby-trapped or mined. “The People...”

And Turow--as he often does--brings up those midlife questions probably many of us deal with:

"For all of my success, in looking back I couldn’t identify a moment when, at core, I had felt fully at home with myself."

Overall, a worthy read that kept me thinking throughout.

--review to be published on my blog, WordDreams, June 23rd

Couldn't put this book down. Fast paced and well written. Highly recommend this book.

Interesting plot line. Lots of good info on international law.
Really enjoyed.

Thank you for the opportunity to preview Testimony by Scott Turow. A 50 something lawyer is offered a position that will take him into the international arena and be part of a war time hate crime. Bill Ten Boom must go to Holland to hear the case to find out what happened to 400 people who disappeared. These people were assasinated and it is Bill's job to determine who committed this hate crime.
Unfortunately, this book just did not resonate with me. The characters are not interesting the locale is just not Kindle County, and the plot rambled on. I really like Turow and always found his legal thrillers to be above average, but this one did not keep my interest at all.
Disappointing since his last novel, Identical, was one that I really enjoyed.

I've been of longtime fan of Scott Turow's and was thus excited to have the opportunity to read an advance copy of his most recent novel, Testimony, due for release in May 2017. In Testimony, Bill Ten Boom, a former Kindle County prosecutor, has retired from his law firm partnership and left his life behind, including his wife, children and home. He accepts a position with the Office of the Prosecutor in the International Criminal Court at the Hague and it is here that the novel opens as he questions a witness, Ferko, about the alleged mass murder of 400 Roma (Gypsy) refugees ten years earlier in 2004. Ferko testifies that he watched from a hiding place as a group of armed men came into the refugee camp in Bosnia, forced the entire village out of their homes and buried them alive in a nearby cave. Only Ferko survived. While there appears to be little question that the 400 Roma disappeared, Boom, as he is known to his friends, quickly realizes there is no agreement as to who is responsible for their murder or even whether they actually were murdered. The investigation that follows takes Boom back to the US and to Bosnia as he attempts to discover what really happened.

Testimony is a long book and it took me some time to get through it, but only because there is a lot to absorb in an intricate and oftentimes complex plot. Along the way, Scott Turow manages to make the ICC and the underlying political and social issues accessible and relatable. His descriptions of Holland and Bosnia are some of the best parts of the book. The plot itself has many twists and turns on its way to a very satisfying and somewhat surprising conclusion.

Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for providing me with an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

4 and 1 / 2 stars

This book examines the missing 400 Roma that vanished during the Bosnian war from a refugee camp.

At the age of fifty, Bill ten Boom leaves his marriage, his home, his job and finally his country. All of his relatives, friends and colleagues had pat reasons for why he acted thus, but the truth was that for all his success, he never “felt truly at home” with himself. So he went to Holland and the International Criminal Court.

In this job, he has to balance politics, evidence, heartfelt stories and his own feelings to reach the truth. It is not easy. It is a prescription for sleepless nights.

While it has been a long time since I’ve read any of Scott Turow’s novels, he doesn’t fail to still write moving and thrilling fiction. (Or, in this case, semi-fiction because while not in dispute are the missing 400 Roma what is in dispute is exactly what happened to them.) While this book is a departure from his usual novels, but it is still remarkably well written and plotted. His descriptions are brilliant. He can evoke a mood of seriousness like no other. Well done, Mr. Turow!

I want to thank Netgalley and GrandCentral Publishing for forwarding to me a copy of this interesting and well written book for me to read.

Testimony is a good but not great book. Although we don't know all the details until the last 15% or so of the book, the reader can easily guess the broad-stroke outline. Turow writes well and it is this ability that helps him transcend the mundane into a fast-paced and thoroughly enjoyable novel.

Scott Turow writes intelligently, but I found myself a little bored with this one. The complexity of the number of parties to the legal action, a farrago of actors involved in the Bosnian War, was confusing, and sorting it out wasn’t all that exciting. The ongoing lapse into the protagonist’s sexual exploits was a little overdone, in my opinion, and didn’t seem to me to be all that essential to the plot.

I also thought that the author’s insistence on retaining the conceit of the previous setting of fictional Kindle County and the fictional Trappers baseball team served no purpose whatsoever except to allow the main character to name-drop a few of the characters from Turow’s previous legal procedurals, which also seemed totally gratuitous.

Finally, I felt Turow could have expanded a bit more on the role of contractors in recent military engagements by the U.S. instead of wasting so much narrative space with sex and scenery. The conclusion left me feeling like not all that much had happened.

It has been a long time since I've read a book by Scott Turow, and I had forgotten how good his books can be. Testimony is a complicated and complex novel. Complicated because finding evidence and prosecuting war crimes often involves an intricate, convoluted maze that leads to unexpected discoveries. Complex because of all of the human emotions and relationships involved.

This is not a courtroom drama, but the International Criminal Court's investigation of a war crime makes Testimony a suspenseful legal thriller. Bill Ten Boom, embarks on a new phase of his career when tasked with investigating an event that occurred ten years previously.

During the turbulent conclusion of the Bosnian war, approximately 400 Roma disappeared from a refugee camp and none have been heard of since. That much is beyond refute, but what happened to these people is still unknown. No mass grave has been found, but friends and family members have not heard from any of the refugees from the camp in the ten years since that April night. The stories about the missing refugees are rife and opinions vary widely.

Afraid of retaliation, the lone survivor of the camp, Ferko Rincic has only recently been persuaded to come forward to give his account. Rincic testifies that he was in an outdoor privy when armed men in masks descended on the camp at midnight, herded the refugees into trucks, disgorged them into a cave, then set off an avalanche burying the refugees alive. In order for the ICC to prosecute the case, however, Ten Boom and his investigator Goos must discover evidence that the event actually happened.

Only when factual evidence of the massacre is discovered, can the investigation move to determining who was responsible.

There are plenty of twists and turns as Ten Boom and Goos plunge into a rabbit hole of partial information, deliberate deception, and inadvertent misconceptions. Bosnia is still a dangerous place in 2015, and as Ten Boom and Goos investigate, their opinions about whom to believe and whom to trust change as the investigation progresses.

(I wish Esme had been omitted from the plot; while she does offer more mystery, she really was not necessary and becomes a sort of side story. Someone else could have been responsible for discovering Ferko Rincic. She is my only quibble about the book--just a personal thing.)

The information about the ICC in the Hague, the way the investigation is carried out, the aftermath of all of the ethnic violence in Bosnia, and the cover-ups -- make fascinating reading. This is another fine example of Turow's work, but it is also another of those uncomfortable novels that make us uneasy. Black and white and shades of gray.

from the Author's Note:
"So how much of this is true? Every novelist wants to answer that question the same way: All of it--and none."
Turow says that none of the characters represents "anyone who has lived" and that he altered actual occurrences for dramatic effect, but he does list some of the sources of inspiration, often from Human Rights Watch Reports.

Now, I have to go back and see if my library has copies of some of the books I've missed in the Kindle County series.

Read in February; blog post scheduled for May 1, 2017

NetGalley/Grand Central Publishing

Legal Thriller/Crime. May 16, 2017. Print version: 496 pages.