Review: Presumed Innocent

3 stars. I once heard - ages ago - that this book was the epitome of a page turner, extremely suspenseful and one of the best legal thrillers out there. It isn't my usual genre, but I think it's healthy to branch out every now and then and truthfully, I never mind a good courtroom drama. This book definitely delivers the drama.

We are pulled almost instantly into the local politics of Kindle County, as Rusty Sabich, chief deputy prosecutor, attends the funeral of one of his colleagues, who was brutally murdered, and also at one time was the subject of an intense obsession. His motivation to solve the case is complicated by the lingering traces of their affair, an upcoming election, and political corruption that goes deeper and wider than he ever considered. 

I went in fairly blind, but I joked about wondering if and how it would pass the Bechdel test (it didn't. The only female characters were the victim - busty, blonde, perfume-y, loved anal sex - and the perpetrator, who was portrayed as your typical entitled shrew.). I was surprised though at how outdated, in almost every way, it felt. Ready yourself for misogyny, racism, classism, homophobia, and everything else that seeped through society in the late 80's - and in some ways, still does.

On the other hand, believe it or not, I have zero complaints about the writing style. Everything else aside, this dry, crunchy prose zips along and I think I'll miss it when I inevitably move back to purple fantasy or cosmic horror. It takes real skill to nail a story like this from the big picture narrative down to the word choice, and I think I understand what the hype is about. Just trying to be fair.

There was definitely a point in which I was kind of like, oh, this is going to be that type of book, is it? I certainly rolled my eyes more than once (like when he was turned on by the coroner's photographs LOL). But - I liked it. I was very captivated. I admire the author's knowledge, abilities and style. It's clearly a classic and I firmly believe that we shouldn't stay away from things - or, ahem, modify them - simply because they're outdated. 

Presumed Innocent on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads