“To Laurie, I was essentially fatherless… If I had once been Billy Barber’s son, by the time I met Laurie I had long ceased to be, except in strict biological terms.” – William Landay, Defending Jacob

I’ve been reading some top-quality novels as of late. The Correspondent and Broken Country deserve the praise they are getting. I enjoyed my experience reading both books. But for my next novel, I wanted something more exciting, more page-turning. I wanted a thriller, either domestic or psychological, with characters and a story that would grab me. And most importantly, I wanted a realistic, well-written thriller without implausible twists. The book I chose was Defending Jacob (2012) by William Landay.

Defending Jacob is narrated by Andy Barber, who is an assistant district attorney living in Newton, MA. Life has been going well for Andy, his wife Laurie, and their 14-year-old son Jacob. Laurie is much more involved in the life of her community than Andy is, and we sense it’s not simply because the life of a DA keeps him very busy. Andy doesn’t really trust his wealthy suburban neighbors. It’s not how he grew up.

Then one day, a 14-year-old boy named Ben Rifkin is found stabbed to death near his school. It’s the same school Jacob attends. Initially, the police suspect a local pedophile. But evidence begins to mount suggesting that Andy’s son, Jacob, may be the killer.

Andy removes himself from prosecuting the murder of Ben Rifkin, and now he’s a father desperately trying to defend his son on a murder charge. Laurie, Jacob’s mother, is also devastated. Unlike Andy, nothing in her childhood prepared her for life throwing this kind of curveball. She wants to believe in Jacob’s innocence, but doubts are creeping in. And that’s where I’ll leave it, because there is a lot more that takes place which I will not spoil.

I was looking for a plausible, page-turning thriller, and Defending Jacob exceeded my expectations. The plot—parents dealing with a child who may be a bad seed—has been done before, and I do enjoy these kinds of novels. But Landay takes it up a notch in terms of quality. He brings something new to the story, which I can’t go into without revealing too much.

Andy Barber narrates the novel, and initially I found him rather judgmental. It’s clear that, unlike Laurie, he has a certain contempt for his neighbors and their wealthy suburban life and the superficial friendships they have with each other. But Andy is, in many ways, proven right. Laurie was raised to think well of people. Andy has learned to be much more cautious.

And by the end of the novel, I think it’s Andy readers will care most about. I know I did.  I’ve been debating as to whether Defending Jacob deserves a 4 or 5 star rating so maybe I’ll compromise with 4.5. The miniseries of Defending Jacob is on Apple TV but read the novel first. You won’t regret it.