Nevermore's Picks: The Guilty One and Detroit: An American Autopsy

One of the beauties of the Nevermore Book Club is that the members read and report on their own books so folks don't always read the same book. Still, there are some books that make the rounds of more than one reader.  Here are a couple of books which made a big impression on our members:

The Guilty One by Lisa Ballantyne is highly recommended by Nevermore.  British solicitor Daniel Hunt is handed the case of an eleven year old boy, Sebastian, who is accused of murdering a younger child in this psychological thriller. As he investigates, Daniel is forced to relive parts of his own childhood with his drug-addicted mother and his time in foster care. The author asks a lot of hard questions about child welfare and the criminal justice system, but also explores the nature of love, family and forgiveness. The fact that this is a first novel makes it all the more impressive. 

 Our readers found it hard to put down, and drew comparisons to Defending Jacob by William Landay and The Child Who by Simon Lelic, both of which deal with the same shattering premise. All three offer ample room for discussion of the juvenile justice system (or lack thereof) while being entertaining at the same time. Landay's book offers a lot of twists and turns in addition to great court room scenes, while Lelic is less on the identity of the murderer and more about the consequences of taking an unpopular stand-- and yes, there are still twists and turns.

The other top recommendation is for Detroit: An American Autopsy by Charlie Leduff.  How did Detroit go from one of the most vibrant, wealthy cities in America to being one of the nation’s poorest, a symbol of decay?  Investigative reporter Leduff, a native of Detroit, traces the trail of corruption and mismanagement, all the while revealing the human faces behind some of the stories such as firemen forced to sell their brass poles to raise money for equipment or policemen taking the bus to crime scenes.  One story involved a corpse left so long that it froze into ice several feet thick.  As someone commented, it’s like watching a car wreck—it’s horrible and horrifying but you can’t look away.

Defending Jacob by William Landay

College sweethearts Andy and Laurie are living a quietly satisfying life in Newton, Massachusetts with their fourteen year old son, Jacob.  Andy is an Assistant District Attorney, so he’s one of the first called to the scene of the murder of a schoolboy.  While Andy first suspects a local pedophile, a fingerprint links the murder closer to home—to Jacob who, as it turns out, had been bullied by the victim.

While this book seems at first to be a standard courtroom thriller, albeit a well-written one, the characterizations, strong domestic drama, and the provocative questions raised take this novel to a higher level. At first, both Andy and Laurie are totally focused on proving Jacob’s innocence. Old secrets come to light,and strains their formerly idyllic marriage.  Laurie begins to doubt whether or not Jacob is actually innocent while Andy remains steadfastly convinced that he is not the killer. The uncertainty takes a physical and emotional toll on both parents, especially  Laurie who goes from a cheerful, loving wife to a shadow of her former self. Andy, desperately seeking to save his son, has to revisit some portions of his past.  The book tackles a number of difficult themes:  how far do you go for someone you love?  Can you ever really know someone?  How does society react to a person charged with a horrific crime, guilty or not? Is a propensity for violence genetically determined?

The court room scenes are expertly done and quite believable.  Landay is a former ADA himself, so he knows whereof he speaks.  Parts of the book are in trial transcript form, which is an interesting technique: flat testimony, stripped of emotional context, makes one re-evaluate a situation. It allows readers step outside the characters we think we know and view the situation as a stranger might.

The plot has enough twists and turns to satisfy mystery fans and enough substance to satisfy general readers.  This review was suggested by a member of the Nevermore Book Club, who thinks this is one of the best books she's read lately and highly recommends it to everyone.

Note:  This is actually Landay’s third novel, but is his most critically acclaimed.  Many seem to believe it will be his breakout book.  The book has been praised by writers as disparate as Lee Child and Nicholas Sparks, and has drawn comparisons to Grisham and Turlow.