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Defending Jacob: A Novel by William Landay
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Defending Jacob: A Novel (original 2012; edition 2013)

by William Landay (Author)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
4,1723483,063 (3.9)206
Andy Barber has been an assistant district attorney in his suburban Massachusetts county for more than twenty years. He is respected in his community, tenacious in the courtroom, and happy at home with his wife, Laurie, and son, Jacob. But when a shocking crime shatters their New England town, Andy is blindsided by what happens next: his fourteen-year-old son is charged with the murder of a fellow student. Every parental instinct Andy has rallies to protect his boy. Jacob insists that he is innocent, and Andy believes him. But as damning facts and shocking revelations surface, as a marriage threatens to crumble and the trial intensifies, and as the crisis reveals how little a father knows about his son, Andy will face a trial of his own--between loyalty and justice, between truth and allegation, between a past he's tried to bury and a future he cannot conceive.… (more)
Member:bsullivan24
Title:Defending Jacob: A Novel
Authors:William Landay (Author)
Info:Bantam (2013), Edition: 1, 448 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:
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Work Information

Defending Jacob by William Landay (2012)

  1. 60
    Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (2LZ)
    2LZ: Gone Girl is a mystery and psychological thriller rolled into one. I loved Gone Girl with the exception of the disappointing ending. Both novels were thought-provoking and engaging.
  2. 40
    We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver (Booksloth)
  3. 30
    The Client by John Grisham (BookshelfMonstrosity)
    BookshelfMonstrosity: These legal thrillers are heavy hitters with emotional depth, developed characters, and frightening revelations. In both, the plot revolves around a young boy's involvement in a murder investigation and trial.
  4. 30
    Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow (BookshelfMonstrosity)
    BookshelfMonstrosity: Personal lives are in thrown into turmoil as connections to a murder threaten careers and family relationships. Despite their differences, these two legal thrillers both contain masterfully crafted characterizations and dialogue as well as emotional depth.… (more)
  5. 20
    The Bad Seed by William March (saratoga99)
  6. 20
    Before and After by Rosellen Brown (amyblue)
    amyblue: Both deal with the situation of parents whose child is accused of murder. Defending Jacob deals more in depth with the legal concepts involved.
  7. 20
    Mystic River by Dennis Lehane (sparemethecensor)
    sparemethecensor: Both are crime novels set in Massachusetts with extensive focus on the crime's impact on family. However, Mystic River is darker and goes far more in-depth into the crime's repercussions on the families involved.
  8. 10
    The Dinner by Herman Koch (myownwoman)
  9. 00
    The Absence of Mercy: A Novel by John Burley (pdebolt)
    pdebolt: Similar moral dilemma by parents of sociopath killer with different outcomes.
  10. 00
    Sycamore Row by John Grisham (Iudita)
    Iudita: Courtroom drama
  11. 00
    The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate, Discoveries from a Secret World by Peter Wohlleben (Sandwich76)
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» See also 206 mentions

English (349)  Spanish (2)  Italian (1)  Dutch (1)  All languages (353)
Showing 1-5 of 349 (next | show all)
The plot was great, as were all the twists. What was hard for me to stomach was how sexist Andy was. He was a POS when it came to women. Being in his head while he mentioned just about any woman, any time was not a happy place for me to be. I wanted to boot him in the nuts a lot. ( )
  amcheri | Jan 9, 2025 |
Liked the beginning but increasingly felt manipulated... the coda (mom and son go blooey....) seemed brutally unnecessary. Maybe because I'm not a mother, I can't imagine being so deluded by your child's activities and motives. I'm also not sure it's good law. ( )
  mjspear | Dec 29, 2024 |
I honestly did not see the end coming. ( )
  tinabuchanan | Nov 13, 2024 |
Defending Jacob was a riveting and very enjoyable thriller one that will send chills up your spine.
My second read of this novel as just as compelling and unsettling as the first


A son accused of Murder and a family on trial.

Andy Barbers job is to put killers behind bars and when a boy from his son Jacob's school is found murdered Andy is under pressure to find his killer and prosecute.
When a crucial piece of evidence turns up linking Jacob to the murder the Barbers lives are turned upside down. This is every parent’s worst nightmare and Andy and Laurie will do anything to defend their child but while doing so learn that Jacob has his secrets.


This is exactly the sort of Novel I normally stay away from as as having a teenager I sometimes scare away from books like this as feel they make me overthink and thats not a good thing in some cases but this was a group read and therefore I joined in and I loved the book.
I loved the suspensful and twisty plot and I was captivated by authors style of writing, all the complex characters are cleverly and convincingly drawn. A terrific courtroom drama full of suspense and drama.

I am normally tight with my 5 stars but this book really made me sit up and think, exclaim out loud and once finished just couldnt put the story out of my head. Second time around the book was just as good as its been a few years since I read it and happy to say still a 5 star read for me. ( )
  DemFen | Oct 31, 2024 |
This gripping novel shows the struggles and heartache of a district attorney whose teenage son is indicted in the murder of a fellow student. As his job and family unravel, Andy Barber analyzes 14 years of memories in a new light, raising questions about his duty as a human being, as a lawyer, and as a father.

This is not a book with particularly likable characters, but the tension of the unfolding story kept me turning pages until the end. ( )
  MuuMuuMousie | Oct 16, 2024 |
Showing 1-5 of 349 (next | show all)
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» Add other authors (7 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
William Landayprimary authorall editionscalculated
Gardner, GroverNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Hanssen, KurtTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Horsten, TheoTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Poulsen, Anne MetteTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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In April 2008, Neal Logiudice finally subpoenaed me to appear before the grand jury.
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Here is the dirty little secret: the error rate in criminal verdicts is much higher than anyone imagines. Not just false negatives, the guilty criminals who get off scot-free—those "errors" we recognize and accept. They are the predictable result of stacking the deck in the defendants' favor as we do. The real surprise is the frequency of the false positives, the innocent men found guilty. That error rate we do not acknowledge—do not even think about—because it calls so much into question. The fact is, what we call proof is as fallible as the witnesses who produce it, human beings all. Memories fail, eyewitness identifications are notoriously unreliable, even the best-intentioned cops are subject to failures of judgment and recall. The human element in any system is always prone to error.
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A jury verdict is just a guess—a well-intentioned guess, generally, but you simply cannot tell fact from fiction by taking a vote.
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Andy Barber has been an assistant district attorney in his suburban Massachusetts county for more than twenty years. He is respected in his community, tenacious in the courtroom, and happy at home with his wife, Laurie, and son, Jacob. But when a shocking crime shatters their New England town, Andy is blindsided by what happens next: his fourteen-year-old son is charged with the murder of a fellow student. Every parental instinct Andy has rallies to protect his boy. Jacob insists that he is innocent, and Andy believes him. But as damning facts and shocking revelations surface, as a marriage threatens to crumble and the trial intensifies, and as the crisis reveals how little a father knows about his son, Andy will face a trial of his own--between loyalty and justice, between truth and allegation, between a past he's tried to bury and a future he cannot conceive.

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Andy Barber has been an assistant district attorney in his suburban Massachusetts county for more than twenty years. He is respected in his community, tenacious in the courtroom, and happy at home with his wife, Laurie, and son, Jacob. But when a shocking crime shatters their New England town, Andy is blindsided by what happens next: His fourteen-year-old son is charged with the murder of a fellow student.

Every parental instinct Andy has rallies to protect his boy. Jacob insists that he is innocent, and Andy believes him. Andy must. He’s his father. But as damning facts and shocking revelations surface, as a marriage threatens to crumble and the trial intensifies, as the crisis reveals how little a father knows about his son, Andy will face a trial of his own—between loyalty and justice, between truth and allegation, between a past he’s tried to bury and a future he cannot conceive.

Award-winning author William Landay has written the consummate novel of an embattled family in crisis—a suspenseful, character-driven mystery that is also a spellbinding tale of guilt, betrayal, and the terrifying speed at which our lives can spin out of control.

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