Defending Jacob: Confronting the Unthinkable

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Defending Jacob (2012)

William Landay

Random House 978040246138

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As a parent, what could you imagine of your child? Or, more to the point, what could you not imagine? That’s the unsettling question at the heart of William Landay’s gripping page-turner Defending Jacob. It’s one part thriller, one part mystery, one part courtroom drama, and one part family nightmare. It adds up to a book that intrigues, terrifies, and can’t be put down.

Andy and Laurie Barber are living the dream. They reside in the tony Boston suburb of Newton, are considered pillars of the community, and are surrounded by people they consider friends. Andy is the first assistant to the District Attorney—a guy everyone trusts. Until they don’t. The Barber dream world begins to fall apart when a 14-yeard-old kid, Ben Rifkin, is brutally slain in the sort of suburban park where things like that aren’t supposed to happen. As first assistant, Andy and his buddy, State Police Detective Paul Duffy, roll up their sleeves and search for Ben’s killer. Until they can’t. Neal Logiudice, Andy’s ambitious but overly zealous former protégé, is now in charge and has removed them from the case. That’s because the prime suspect is no longer a local pedophile; it’s the Barbers’ 14-year-old son, Jacob. The Barbers cannot imagine that their son could do such a thing, but their neighbors can, and when Jacob is charged, the Barbers go from golden couple to community pariahs in the flash of a Rolodex-waving hand. They also quickly learn how little they know about the 14-year-old mind, Facebook, or the shadowy edges of online subcultures.  

Disturbing stuff—but just what 14-year-old boys dabble in, right? Jacob can’t be a killer. Right? Could your kid? And once you “know” that your kid has been wrongly accused, to what lengths would you go to protect him? What if you were convinced that the real killer is still on the loose and that a prosecutor like Logiudice is using you and your child as a stepping stone to further his own career? How would you behave? What would you do when he concocts a story that there is a “murder gene” plaguing your blood line? Especially when you’ve not been forthcoming with your spouse about your birth family tree? Do you ever, even for a moment, wonder if what is being said might be true?

You’ll find yourself ripping through Defending Jacob if, for no other reason, the above questions are so disturbing you can’t rest until you know how they’re answered. You’ll also find yourself drawn in because you can imagine the very things you say that you can’t. And you’ll be rewarded, though not necessarily satisfied, by the many twists and turns this well-crafted, skillfully penned novel takes. No spoilers here except to say that the resolutions are seldom formulaic or predictable. This is creepy nail- biter will leave you shattered no matter whose side you take.­ 

Rob Weir