Presumed Innocent is Turow's first fiction. He previously
wrote an autobiographical book about law school, called One L
if I remember correctly. Not to put too fine a point on it, I
thought Presumed Innocent sucked. I thought the characters
were cardboard, which left the plot. However, I didn't even
have the plot to enjoy after the stilted dialog shone a
spotlight on a crucial clue, so I knew whodunnit very early
on. Somehow I made it through, but have never read anything
else by him. As a matter of fact, the major reason I never
read Grisham is because when I first noticed his books they
were blurbed, Best legal thriller since Presumed Innocent --
damning with faint praise in my book.
About the only legal thriller writer I have consistently
enjoyed is Walter Walker. All of his books are worth reading,
but I particularly liked The Two Dude Defense and Rules of
the Knife Fight. Unlike most other legal thrillers I have
read, his books are not padded, do not employ stock
characters and can be pretty hardboiled.
Mark
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