Presumed Guilty
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- ¥1,900
発行者による作品情報
An addicting courtroom drama from the #1 bestselling author of Presumed Innocent.
“No one does it better.” ―David Baldacci, #1 NYT bestselling author of Memory Man
★ “This is manna for legal-thriller fans." ―Booklist, starred review
★ “This easily ranks among Turow’s best."―Publishers Weekly, starred review
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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Turow shines in his third legal thriller featuring former Kindle County prosecutor Rusty Sabich (after Innocent). Now 77, Rusty has retired and settled down with elementary school principal Bea Housley. His hopes for a small wedding and quiet retirement are derailed when Bea's 22-year-old adopted son, Aaron, gets into trouble. Ever since he was convicted, 18 months earlier, of felony drug possession, Aaron, who is Black, has been on strict probation that requires him to stay in contact with Bea and Rusty. Then the couple loses touch with him for several days. After Aaron resurfaces, he claims he was camping with his on-again, off-again girlfriend, and that he left her in the woods following a fierce argument. But when Aaron's girlfriend is found strangled to death, he's charged with murder. Against his better judgment, Rusty agrees to defend him, despite having limited experience as a defense attorney. Turow keeps readers guessing about the truth, impressively maintaining suspense across the book's hefty page count. Along the way, he weaves in trenchant observations about the justice system's racial biases, which weigh heavily on Rusty's decision to take up Aaron's case. This easily ranks among Turow's best.
