Defending Jacob
A Novel
by William Landay
This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app
1
To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
2
Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.
Pub Date Jan 31 2012 | Archive Date Apr 15 2013
Random House Publishing Group | Delacorte Press
Description
NOW AN EMMY-NOMINATED ORIGINAL STREAMING SERIES • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Entertainment Weekly • Boston Globe • Kansas City Star
Andy Barber has been an assistant district attorney for two decades. He is respected. Admired in the courtroom. Happy at home with the loves of his life: his wife, Laurie, and their teenage son, Jacob. Then Andy’s quiet suburb is stunned by a shocking crime: a young boy stabbed to death in a leafy park. And an even greater shock: The accused is Andy’s own son—shy, awkward, mysterious Jacob.
Andy believes in Jacob’s innocence. Any parent would. But the pressure mounts. Damning evidence. Doubt. A faltering marriage. The neighbors’ contempt. A murder trial that threatens to obliterate Andy’s family. It is the ultimate test for any parent: How far would you go to protect your child? It is a test of devotion. A test of how well a parent can know a child. For Andy Barber, a man with an iron will and a dark secret, it is a test of guilt and innocence in the deepest sense.
How far would you go?
Praise for Defending Jacob
“A novel like this comes along maybe once a decade . . . a tour de force, a full-blooded legal thriller about a murder trial and the way it shatters a family. With its relentless suspense, its mesmerizing prose, and a shocking twist at the end, it’s every bit as good as Scott Turow’s great Presumed Innocent. But it’s also something more: an indelible domestic drama that calls to mind Ordinary People and We Need to Talk About Kevin. A spellbinding and unforgettable literary crime novel.”—Joseph Finder
“Defending Jacob is smart, sophisticated, and suspenseful—capturing both the complexity and stunning fragility of family life.”—Lee Child
“Powerful . . . leaves you gasping breathlessly at each shocking revelation.”—Lisa Gardner
“Disturbing, complex, and gripping, Defending Jacob is impossible to put down. William Landay is a stunning talent.”—Carla Neggers
“Riveting, suspenseful, and emotionally searing.”—Linwood Barclay
Advance Praise
Advance praise for Defending Jacob
"William Landay makes bold use of his genuine storytelling gift, his amazingability to craft believable dialogue, and, above all, his extraordinaryunderstanding of what it means to be a husband and father to present us with anunforgettable tale of an ordinary marriage and family in crisis. On the surfacethis novel reads like a first-rate thriller, but at its heart it's a lovestory. It's the story of a man who adores his wife and child, but morethan that, it's a novel that describes the fine edge between love and madness,and the lies we sometimes tell ourselves. Landay has proven himself to be anextraordinary writer, and Defending Jacob is an amazing novel. Doyourself a favor and read it. It's that good."-Nicholas Sparks
"Defending Jacob is smart, sophisticated, and suspenseful-capturing boththe complexity and stunning fragility of family life."-Lee Child
"Powerful . . . leaves you gasping breathlessly at each shocking revelation."-LisaGardner
"A page-turning, stomach-clenching exploration of family."-Chevy Stevens
"A stunning novel that will be compared to classic courtroom thrillers likePresumed Innocent and Anatomy of a Murder."-Phillip Margolin
"A carefully plotted and precisely written thriller about a family put to theultimate test . . . Defending Jacob is bound to enthrall."-Thomas H.Cook
"More than a terrific legal thrill ride, Defending Jacob is anunflinching appraisal of the darkest, most poignant consequences of the lovethat binds, and blinds, families. It's one of those rare books that call forcontemplation and insight along with every breathtaking surprise."-StephenWhite
"Landay spins a tale of such complexity and emotion that you don't even realizeyou're spiraling deep into his world until he spits you out at his shocking,shattering conclusion."-Carla Buckley
"Sensational . . . one of the best books of the year."-John Lutz
"A novel like this comes along maybe once a decade . . . a tour de force, afull-blooded legal thriller about a murder trial and the way it shatters afamily. With its relentless suspense, its mesmerizing prose, and a shockingtwist at the end, it's every bit as good as Scott Turow's great PresumedInnocent. But it's also something more: an indelible domestic drama thatcalls to mind Ordinary People and We Need to Talk About Kevin. Aspellbinding and unforgettable literary crime novel."-Joseph Finder
"Powerful, disturbing, complex, and gripping, Defending Jacob isimpossible to put down. William Landay is a stunning talent."-Carla Neggers
"Riveting, suspenseful, and emotionally searing."-Linwood Barclay
"Brilliantly conceived . . . combines a harrowing family drama with rivetingcourtroom scenes that make readers feel they are actually witnessing the trialunfold."-Stephen Frey
"Harrowing....This searing narrative proves the ancient Greek tragedians wereright: the worst punishment is not death but living with what you-knowingly orunknowingly-have done." -Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9780385344227 |
| PRICE | $28.00 (USD) |
| PAGES | 432 |
Readers who liked this book also liked:
Jodi Picoult; Jennifer Finney Boylan
General Fiction (Adult), Literary Fiction, Women's Fiction
