Why did I love this book?
The book that practically created the courtroom thriller and inspired a million lawyers (including me) to dream about writing fiction. It has everything you could want from a thriller and a legal procedural in one—a grisly murder, a narrator you root for but don’t entirely trust, a smooth defense attorney, a (maybe) corrupt legal system, and a shocking twist at the end.
If you haven’t read it—read it. If you have read it, read it again. I read it almost every year.
6 authors picked Presumed Innocent as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
Rusty Sabich is a prosecuting lawyer in Chicago who enters a nightmare world when Carolyn, a beautiful attorney with whom he has been having an affair, is found raped and strangled. He stands accused of the crime.
This 'insider' book by a Chicago lawyer was one of the great novels of the 1980s, selling more than nine million copies, and was made into a famous film starring Harrison Ford. It's a supremely suspenseful and compelling courtroom drama about ambition, weakness, hypocrisy and American justice.