Assistant District attorney Andy Barber is called to a gruesome crime scene after Ben Rifkin, a 14 year old boy, has been brutally stabbed in a city park. Suspicion turns to Andy’s son Jacob as the murderer when it turns out that Ben has been harassing Jacob and some of Jacob’s fellow students post messages on Facebook suggesting he is quilty. Jacob admits to having shown a knife to his friends but when Andy finds the knife he quickly disposes of it. Even he’s not sure if he does this because he suspects his son is innocent or because he suspects he is quilty. Andy has concealed his past from his wife Laurie in that both his father and grandfather have been murderers and he fears Jacob may have ininherited a gene associated with aggressive behavior. Lots of courtroom drama with a shocking ending. This is a good read comparable to Scott Turow and soon to become a motion picture. Reviewed by NB

This was a truly compelling story of a parent who unconditionally loved his son, and believed that he could do no wrong. As a parent I could relate to this underlying theme, and found the main body of the book extremely absorbing. However, I felt that the ending was weak and disappointing.

What do you do when your son is accused of killing a classmate? William Landay puts us into the mind of a father who can not (or will not) believe that his son could possibly do such a thing. His mother, on the other hand, feels differently. Thought-provoking, with an interesting twist at the end.

Barnes and Noble recommended title. "Equal parts legal drama and the story of a family in crisis."