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Book Review By Bo Morris
Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow

    In the novel Presumed Innocent, by Scott Turow, the main character Rusty Sabich, chief prosecutor of Kindle County, is helping his friend Raymond Horgan, run for re-election. During this time, Carolyn Polhemus, a colleague of Rusty's is brutually raped and murdered. With the case becoming an important issue, Rusty, who had a short affair with Carolyn, was assigned to it. The case goes no where due to the lack of evidence and no clues.
    After Raymond loses the election, Rusty is accused of killing and raping Carolyn. The newly elected Nico Della Guardia and his right hand man, quickly bring up evidence against Rusty as he has to battle to prove his innocence. Rusty can only rely on the team of layers he assembled and a mysterious B file.
    This novel provides deep insight into the day to day struggle between the defense and prosecution.


Plot & Themes
Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
How difficult to spot villain? - Very difficult--no foreshadowing/clues
Time/era of story:
Misc. Murder Plotlets - character killed during/after sexing - Proving innocence of very obvious suspect - Big focus on forensic evidence - Killer purposely leaves clues
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 70%
Special suspect? - relative
Murder of certain profession?
Kind of investigator
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot?
Legal Thriller Yes
Legal Plotlets
descript. of violence and chases - 20 %
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30 %
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40 %
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10 %
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status:
Age: - 40's-50's
Ethnicity/Race

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status:
The antagonists are: - government bureaucracy
How sensitive is this character?
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters

Setting
United States Yes
The US: - Midwest
City? Yes
City: - Dirty, dangerous (like New York)

Writing Style
Accounts of torture and death? - very gorey references to deaths/dead bodies and torture
Explicit sex in book? Yes
What kind of sex: - vague references - descript of kissing - touching of anatomy - licking - actual description of sex - descript. of breasts - descript. of other female areas - descript. of male nudity - rape (yeech!)
Unusual forms of death - rough sex
Unusual form of death? Yes
Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript
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