The Laws of Our Fathers

Kindle County Legal Thriller #4

by Scott Turow

In Kindle County, a woman is killed in an apparent random drive-by shooting. The woman turns out to be the ex-wife of a prominent state senator and an old acquaintance of Judge Sonia Klonsky, on whose desk the case lands. As the pursuit of justice takes bizarre and unusual turns, Judge Klonsky is brought face-to-face with a host of extraordinary personalities and formidable enemies bent on her destruction.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Legal Thriller, Thriller, Legal, Crime, Mystery Thriller

817 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Scott Turow is the author of ten bestselling works of fiction, including IDENTICAL, INNOCENT, PRESUMED INNOCENT, and THE BURDEN OF PROOF, and two nonfiction books, including ONE L, about his experience as a law student. His books have been translated into more than forty languages, sold more than thirty million copies worldwide, and have been adapted into movies and television projects. He has frequently contributed essays and op-ed pieces to publications such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, and The Atlantic.

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was published in 1996. I read it a while ago, during my John Grisham/legal thriller drama interest period. To be honest, I am always looking for those-kind-of-books, so I am always open for recommendations.

It was recently donated to my Little Free Library Shed, so it was another opportunity for me to refresh to it.

I am now bringing my review to Goodreads.

This book seems to tackle an ambitious theme. How do children break free of their elders to live meaningful, whole lives?

During several flashbacks to the Vietnam era, we see Seth (our main character) wrestling with parents damaged by their experiences at Auschwitz. And numerous other characters tackling their own issues. (Too many to keep track of…)

There are many plot twists that are typical Turow, including a canceled check that may or may not be a political payoff and an intricate kidnapping-extortion scheme.

But the characters drag down the action with talk. I won’t go into the conversations. Let’s just say they are relentless babble about minutia.

The book gets stranger and stranger.

With a gang, too.

And a fragile 15-year-old child trying to be a street tough.

It seems that Turow wanted to write historical fiction, but tried to play it safe in the framework of a contemporary courtroom drama. For this reader, it didn’t work.

Just give me a good solid courtroom drama – and I will come around every time! 2.5 stars.

[Gary · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the 4th book in the Kindle County Legal Thrillers by author Scott Turow. I really enjoy the writing of this author and although it is well written, good characters and a decent synopsis it is difficult not ot mention the length of the novel, 800+ pages. As interesting and well written as it was I didn’t feel there was enough to the plot to justify such an epic novel.

June Eddgar is seemingly shot dead in a random drive by shooting In Kindle County. The dead woman is the ex-wife of a prominent state senator and an old acquaintance of Judge Sonia Klonsky, on whose desk the case lands.

I do enjoy a good legal thriller and this book is certainly well written but I felt it became more of a challenge to get through it rather than enjoying the read. I fully intend to continue reading this series because there are plenty of plus points to this series.

[Bonnie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was disappointed in this book. I have read probably three or four other books by Mr. Turow and liked all of them better than this one. It moved at a snail's pace for me. His other books that I've read are also somewhat slow reads, but are nonetheless engrossing and build to a very satisfying and frequently unexpected conclusion. I especially liked "Ordinary Heroes" for that reason. The language in certain parts where the narrator is a gang member is highly offensive (but realistic I'm sure, so there's justification for it). This book just seemed to go on and on and left me with just a feeling of relief when it was done.

[Sheri]

After reading 'Presumed Innocent' & being blown away, I immediately put Scott Turow on my list of favorite authors. I was excited to read another book from him, but could not be more disappointed. Like some of the other people who reviewed the book on here, I could not get into the story or the characters & was often forgetting who was who. The revolutionary issues of the 1960's & '70's didn't interest me much - not my generation, couldn't relate - nor did I find myself too interested in the ghetto lifestyle & jargon of Hardcore or Bug. I hung in there & completed the book, mostly because I kept waiting for something to turn my opinion around, but it never happened. It took me forever to complete. When I normally read between 1-3 books a month, this one alone took me over 3 months to complete. Definitely SKIP! (But I won't give up on Scott's work - Presumed Innocent was too amazing - I'm sure this was just a bad apple).

[Judi · Rating 5 out of 5]

he Laws of Our Fathers is different than Turow's previous novels. It is a story about our legal system, but it is more of an exploration of the sixties and events that sculpted a generation. The story moves back and forth between the past and present day murder trial, with usual twists that make us appreciate Turow's skill.

Sonia Klonsky, whom we met in The Burden of Proof, is a newcomer to the Superior Court bench. She is charged with deciding the outcome of a murder trial in which Nile Eddgar, a probation officer, is charged with arranging the drive-by shooting of his mother. The scene with the Black Saints Disciples is unforgettable. By weaving the tale of the lives of Sonia with the murder victim and a few in the courtroom, Turow offhandedly compares the experience of the two generations.

In some ways, I enjoyed this book better than his last two because it goes deeper than being just another legal drama, getting at societal issues as well.

[Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was put off by Turow after the last book I read of his, but my friend Jane gave me this one to try. After Innocent and Burden of Proof, very hard acts to follow, I was hoping that he still had more great books in him, and this one qualifies. a Great read, it was hard to put down after about the first 40 pages or so, which it took to get the gang lingo figured out and sort out the characters, which there are many. Spread between two times, 1970-1971 and 1995-1996m it was confusing for awhile, but it all fell into place. There is some beautiful philosophy in this book, great wisdom and insight into the human endeavor, there is love, and there is crime. The courtroom scenes are brilliantly done, and as a reader, about the time I thought I was lost, there would be just enough info to get me back on the plot and mysteries of it. Wonderfully written. Characters are alive, real, well defined and I felt I knew and understood them-finally, at the end.

[Karl Jorgenson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic writing and nuanced character development drives this book which is nominally a mystery. Chance brings a group of seventies hippie-protestors back together, their revolution, drugs, and free love long past. One is a judge, one a defense attorney, and one the accused murderer, former precocious child.
So much beautiful prose! If there's one thing that holds me back from a five-star rating, it is the length. At around 250,000 words, it's gone on too long. We read mainly for payoff, the orgasmic moment where things resolve, become clear, change, and are understood. We need to do a certain amount of work to make the payoff worth it, but is not sufficient to merely make the journey gorgeous. We are not satisfied by a thoughtful, lyrical journey that never ends. Here, the value of the payoff is good, but the time spent to reach it is excessive, even if there are no unworthy scenes.

[֍ elle ֍ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overwrought, overlong, disjointed, indulgent and meandering, and too drunk on its own self-importance to realize it's just a dressed-up law romance about the typical 90's characters (think: the family from American Beauty, where there's nothing really wrong in their lives but their ~ feeeeeeeeeeeeelings are oh so wound up and oh there's so much drama and oh things are so hard and complex and oh no one really loves them which makes it hard for them to love themselves which makes it hard for other people to love them which makes it hard for them to love themselves and on and on).

I didn't hate the book while I was reading it, but I will definitely have forgotten everything about it in three months except for all the parts I hated.

[Elizabeth (Alaska) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Goodreads has more than one description of this title. The one for this edition tells too little, while another I've seen borders on spoilers. I have liked others in this series enough that I probably don't need to read any of them. However, I have marked in my private notes that this series is probably better read in order. I might be wrong about that, but I thought I needed reminding, just in case.

The opening pages tell of an older white woman driving up to the public housing project and getting out of her car. A young black woman is there who tells her "Lady, you in the wrong place." And she definitely was in the wrong place. A few seconds later a young man on a bicycle with a gun rides by and shoots the older white woman in the head.

The story unravels, mostly in the courtroom. June Eddgar, ex-wife of a State Senator, was the victim. Nile Eddgar was a probation officer whose clients numbered several in the project, including Hardcore, an ex-con, now drug dealer, who spins a tale about how and why this killing took place.

The chapters are dated. The courtroom chapters are dated 1995. And then, disconcertingly, we are taken back to 1969/1970 in what can only be Berkeley, California and the time of the anti-war marches and attendant violence of the Black Panthers and the allusion to the kidnapping of Patti Hearst. Berkeley is called Damon and Patti Hearst is called by another name, but there is no real disguising any of it. I was stumped. Why oh why do we have to go back there? The 1995 and 1970 chapters alternated, and I wasn't thrilled. I didn't care about this 1970 and wanted to know more about the trial and 1995. I should have trusted Turow.

After I'd finished I thought this was less a legal thriller than a commentary on society. I've read elsewhere that Kindle County of this series is really Chicago. And so I know the housing projects have been razed. If what is portrayed in this book was anything like the reality of the projects - and I have no reason to doubt that it is - then tearing them down was definitely the right thing to do. This is definitely an R-rated book. The language of the gang members, especially Hardcore, is about as blue as you can get. There is also some sex - both in the 70s and the 90s.

Because I was of a mindset for a legal thriller, I'm going to downgrade this to 3-stars. But that might just be because I was ready for something else. It won't deter me from reading more. I have 3 on the Kindle and have checked that my library has some of the later ones. I hope it isn't forever before I find myself in front of another.

[Francie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started reading this book several years ago, at a time when my life and brain were a bit scattered, and found it difficult to follow. I couldn’t stay focused. And I gave up on it. Last week I tried it again, and I’m glad I did. This is a profoundly intense, complicated, spiritual, intellectual, emotional story that gripped me and wouldn’t let go until the very last page. I will give it some space and then I’ll read it again. If I could memorize it, I would. I have read most of Scott Turow’s books and have been astonished by his tremendous skill as a writer; but this is, I think, his finest. It’s a long book. It deserves time and focus and thought. Turow’s perception of people and life – and the 60s (in America, at least) – are brilliant. They will stay with me. They fill my heart and my mind. I have learned from them, from Turow’s beautiful writing and depth of observation. And I have thoroughly enjoyed a magnificent story. I wish I could find the words to do it justice.

[debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

More like 3.5. Turow writes well, he had a good story-too much introspective, repetitive belly gazing for me.

[Dan Fahlgren · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was very disappointed with this book. It started out pretty good, a standard legal thriller. The story got bogged down in the flashbacks. They went on way too long. The backstory of the characters made it clear that the Judge in the book made a very obviously wrong decision right at the beginning--which would have been ok for dramatic purposes--if it had been at all plausible, but it wasn't. The decision and her weak reasons for it were so wrong that I was no longer able to suspend disbelief.

Once I lost interest in the plausibility of the story, the continual flashbacks became more and more tedious. Turow's prose is overly flowery to the point where by the time I got through the long strings of adjectives describing every minute detail, I forgot who or what he was writing about. (and in many cases, no longer cared)

The book is just way too long and the twist ending is weak and confusing. By far the worst of Turow's efforts.

[Dierregi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Case No. 700 Pages: The People vs. Scott Turow

Opening Statement:
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I present The Laws of Our Fathers, a crime against literature weighing nearly 700 pages. The charges? First-degree verbosity, aggravated pretension, and assault with a deadly subplot.

Exhibit A: The alleged thriller. Judge Sonny presides over the trial of Nile, a sulky son accused of murdering his mother, June Edgar. The twist? June’s ex-husband is a former radical who once planted a bomb, and everyone involved in the case - judge, lawyers, parents, friends - just happened to be tangled together back in their campus-protest days. That’s not a coincidence; that’s narrative nepotism.

Exhibit B: The digressions. Instead of focusing on the trial, Turow lectures on:
- the plight of African Americans (complete with almost canonized Black Panthers),
- immigrant communists of the ’30s,
- Holocaust survivors,
- Vietnam draft dodgers,
- student terrorism,
- urban gangs.
One book, all the traumas of the 20th century. A courtroom novel turned compulsory history seminar.

Exhibit C: The prose. Turow juggles styles like a lawyer juggling evidence - and drops every ball. Gang slang, memoir, inner monologue, courtroom drama, Nile’s scrambled thoughts, even a "love" letter no fiftyish woman on earth would write. Each transition clunks louder than the last.

Closing Argument:
This novel is guilty on all counts: guilty of dragging, guilty of preaching, guilty of drowning a murder case in sanctimonious sludge. The defense may plead “ambition,” but ambition without discipline is literary malpractice.

Verdict: Scott Turow is hereby sentenced to life without parole in the Department of Bloated Fiction. Readers are free to go - unless, like me, they’re stranded on a beach with no other book in sight.

[Bob Box · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read in 1996. A probation officer is charged in the murder of his mother. Turow's longest book at 800 plus pages is a rich, complex and ultimately profoundly moving tale. Great legal thrillers that I've only recently stopped reading. This was one of my favorites that year.

[John Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scott Turow's debut novel, Presumed Innocent, is one of my favorite books. It virtually created the legal-thriller genre later occupied by John Grisham, and in my view is one of the signature novels of the 1980s, along with Bright Lights, Big City, Bonfire of the Vanities, and a few others. Turow has been called the thinking man's John Grisham, but in light of Turow's priority of publication, perhaps Grisham should be described as the non-thinking man's Scott Turow.

The Laws of Our Fathers is not up to the high standard set by Presumed Innocent. The writing is brisk. It is a difficult task to make an 817-page novel into a page-turner, but Turow accomplished that task here. However, The Laws of Our Fathers lacks some of the depth of Presumed Innocent.

In Presumed Innocent, the action seems to unfold naturally. Every character has things he or she would like to hide - weaknesses, fears, immoral acts, and in some cases outright crimes they have committed. It makes for a good neo-noirish tone, and provides universality to the story.

In contrast, the main characters are all of a specific type - ex-hippies, yippies, and draft dodgers from privileged backgrounds who have assumed positions of power in the legal and political system. They express some skepticism about the destruction wrought by their "revolution," both through bombings and riots in the late 1960s, as well as social destruction hastened along by the disastrous social/welfare policies emanating from that time. At the same time, they still are living for the most part in a bubble where everyone agrees with the basic assumptions of 1960s radicals and questions are not asked. They have not yet been "mugged by reality," and seem largely impervious to the concerns and common sense of ordinary people.

One gets the sense that these are the types of people with whom the author normally associates. This focus may make the book seem more visceral to ex-flower children who still are tying to sort out what the 1960s meant. However, it results in a lot of navel-gazing, and reduces the book's impact for the rest of us. On the whole, The Laws of Our Fathers is a good, but certainly not a great, novel.

I also should note that as a trial lawyer myself, I especially enjoyed the courtroom scenes. When I was in law school, L.A. Law was on tv. In a way, it provided a good weekly pop quiz on evidence and procedure. Almost nothing the L.A. lawyers did in court would have been allowed in a real courtroom, and thinking about why provided good practice in the application of the rules. Turow doesn't rely on such crutches, and instead uses actual courtroom rules, as well as the verbal stutters and failures of memory which inevitably creep into almost every trial, to build tension. It also gets one thinking about trial tactics and procedure, but in a more positive way.

[John Findlay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read other books by Scott Turow, and have liked them very much. It turns out that he is a friend of an old high school friend of mine, and, in part, that led me to find another of his books to read. The Laws of Our Fathers is a good book, that kept me intrigued as I read it, but not a great book. I found it hard to put down, as I genuinely wanted to find out how events unfolded, both in the 1960s, and in the trial in the 1990s. I could relate to the turmoil and the revolutionary spirit of the earlier times, as young people rioted for civil rights and against the war in Vietnam. Turow was clever in bringing all these same characters together many years later for a trial. But there were some difficulties. I did not enjoy the use of street lingo during the trial. It was very hard to figure out what certain characters were saying, and it came across as artificial to me. And I had a lot of trouble figuring out the strategies and tactics during the trial. But I really enjoyed the storyline in the 60's, and wanted to learn how things transpired. But for me, the essence of a good legal thriller is whether you find it enjoyable and want to read it quickly to completion, and that describes this book. Turow is perhaps the father of the genre that John Grisham has further popularized. I will continue to read his books.

[Francine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Liked the beginning of this, the case is a good set up, wondering what really happened.... but THEN we go down a memory lane chapter or two (no, actually, the book is half flashbacks) which seems to be an excuse for Turow to revisit his days at UC Berkeley in the 60's... assuming he had some... and it's a little BOR-ing. I was there and it was more interesting than this. It's Ok, but could have been handled in a few pages... Now that I have nearly finished it, this is NOT a legal mystery or thriller. It's a character study of a female judge and people she knew in college. I liked the courtroom scenes a lot, but there are very few of them. I expect no more surprises at this point but will read the last 50-100 pages and see if my opinion changes.
Ok, so, there were a couple of surprises in the end. But really I wish I'd just read a different book. I think I'm done with Scott Turow... even though he resembles my father in his youth.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

If this book was 100 pages shorter, it'd be a 4-5 star rating for me. I'm a child of the 70s/80s. I've heard all about the 60s and the Vietnam War for my entire life. So, for almost half of this book to be dedicated to that time period wasn't that interesting for me. I've heard enough. But, more than that, that section of the book just didn't feel compelling until about 4/5 of the way through. I know you've got to have the back story of these characters for it to work, but I just wanted less. The 'present day' trial and lives of the people were much more interesting to me. And the culmination of the trial was terrific! That did however leave around 80 pages of further explanation and resolution, which I thought was too much. Turow is a great writer. I've loved his other books. So this isn't going to dissuade me from reading more books he's written. Especially since I did love half of this book. The flashbacks just didn't do it for me.

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had a hard time going back and forth through time with Seth on this, although I loved the book. I'd love to understand why the author did this? I'm going to have to read up on his interviews to understand. Found myself wanting to skip through these years to get to the current.

I know the gang terminology makes it realistic, but it made it a little difficult to understand during the trial. It does make the book, and definitely the Niles character and what he goes through that much more realistic. But you don't realize that until the end?

The ending was fantastic. Had to re-read that. Wow.

I "rent" these books from the library on electronic readers, so I'm not reading them in order. Love Turow. Long books, but well worth the read. Can't put them down (the old Nook charger is a challenge!)

[Sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

I started this book and almost gave up on it from the beginning. The first chapter was written in this gangster's tone of voice, and it just pissed me off. But I didn't have anything else to read, so I stuck with it, and a few chapters in it started to get really interesting, and never went back to the gangster's point of view again. Then I got to the last 50 pages or so and completely stopped caring, and consequently stopped reading. Oh well.

[lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The underlying concept of a group of sixties graduates who spend a few years in proximity in the late 60's, are 'reunited' 25 years later in a courtroom where one serves as judge, another as defense attorney, another as journalist and the last two as victim and defense witness. The story moves back and forth between the two decades, exploring relationships and beliefs, current and past. Gets a little muddled and at the end, I found myself wondering what just happened and what was the point!

[Tom S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid 4 stars. Turow is the best in the business in legal thrillers. This story revolves around a group of former student activists from the 60's in the Bay area. Fast forward 30 years, and they are all involved in a high stakes trial back home in Kindle county.

[Crista · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF -

Picked up on a whim from a Little Free Library with high hopes; story had all the components of a gripping legal thriller, except the “grip” bit. A planned assassination goes wrong (or does it?) and local acquaintances find themselves as members of the legal system’s determination to resolve the seedy deeds of the wealthy. I found myself looking for reasons to put it down and not pick it back up. It’s dated, and doesn’t hold up well under current reading. Gave it about 150 pages and then dropped it back off in another Little Free Library.

[Kristen Claiborn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Reading this was about as enjoyable as watching paint dry.

[Peggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Haven’t read a Turow novel in years. This was the only remotely interesting book in the hospital lounge at Fairview Southdale where I spent six days recently getting diagnosed with an almost complete blockage of my colon due to diverticulitis. Ouch. The book kept me well-entertained. It was among his earlier efforts and not bad, with a twist that a mistrial is declared and the actual way things went down is only told at the very end. Nothing great but a fun read.

[Evelyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did NOT care for this book. Too much garbage information I don't need to know. So I am not going to read Personal Injuries. Maybe you would like them. And I bought 2 nook books, I hope I did not spend much on. We will see, maybe. WOW, not used to really not caring for books.

[Stephen Christian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the third of Turow's books that I have read, the other two being Presumed Innocent and its sequel Innocent. This story takes place in the same fictitious Kindle County as those books, although the only character from those books appearing in this one is the prosecutor, Tommy Molto.

The story jumps between 1970 and 1995 and then back again throughout. Sometimes this had a disappointing effect for me. The story would approach a climax only for the next chapter to take us back to 1970 or forward to 1995 again. The crime at the center of the trial occurs in 1995 but the characters central to the trial have relationships that date back to the earlier time period, so much is invested in developing these characters. The trial itself is compelling. The 1970 story line, set in the San Francisco area during a tumultuous time, starts slow but I found it more interesting as the book continued.

I was not particularly invested in any of the main characters, which was a problem. In the Turow books I had read earlier, Rusty Sabich was the clearly the "hero" you hoped would prevail. This book doesn't as clearly delineate its protagonist. I suppose it's Judge Klonsky although her role in the story seems mainly to serve as the means by which we see the story unfolding. We learn bits and pieces of the story through her eyes. The story of the crime and trial are compelling, but in the end, I found that I didn't have much of a connection to any of the characters.

[Kate Watson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Law of Our Fathers is an ambitious work, taking on several meaty, hot button issues from the last 40 years: war protesting, the Holocaust, political activism, recreational drug use, gang violence, poverty, grief and oh lets see, unhappy childhood/unresolved parental conflict/middle age divorce. [return][return]Scott Turow writes such total insight and witt, its hard to believe that a writer can create characters with that total depth and rich history. This is a lengthy novel that takes time to journey through given its sheer size. The story itself unfolds as two parallel universes; flipping between the past and the present, with the breaks coming at times of suspense, so there is motivation to read on. However, the story can be boggy. And the characters themselves? I can't say I really connected with them. But I do appreciate a well written story with a complex plot. [return][return]This is a work typical of Turow, just not my favorite.

[Sharon Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Normally I enjoy the deep introspection of Scott Turow's characters. This book, however, had numerous characters whose lives were intertwined. Each character's backstory was told from his or her individual perspective. It could be disorienting and even annoying to hear the tale from the viewpoint of one character, then have the story suddenly switch gears to a new character and new perspective. The most interesting part of the book was the courtroom scenes, but disappointingly, this was a very small part. Many of the characters were just not that engaging or believable. I had to force myself to finish this book. Yet, previously, all the other books that I'd read by Scott Turow I couldn't put down. None-the-less, this book won't deter me from reading future books by Scott Turow. I have been hooked by previous books that I've read and I'm still definitely a huge fan of his.

[ROGER C · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was not the usual elevated legal thriller that we expect from Scott Turow, but rather an exploration of history and social conditions in America, concentrating on the plight of African Americans and the multigenerational effects of the Holocaust. To this retired, middle class Canadian, the description of the stresses of black ghetto life, were particularly vivid and enlightening. The backstory of student life during the Vietnam war fascinated me as well since I am a baby boomer who knew several American draft evaders at university. If you are not of my generation, I can see how you would not appreciate this backstory as much as I do, but I urge you to work your way through it simply for the history lesson. There is also the story of an unusual but great romance in this book, which helps bring healing to the main characters.