Identical by Scott Turow

Published by Grand Central Publishing on October 15, 2013

The identical twin crime novel has been done so often it's become a cliché, but Scott Turow knows that. Just when I thought I had it figured out and was disappointed that the story followed an obvious path, the plot twisted. Then it twisted again, becoming a different story altogether. Kudos to Turow for taking a familiar plot device and doing something new with it. Unlike some of Turow's other novels, Identical isn't a courtroom thriller. It is instead a novel about the intersection of politics and law. That's been done before too, but few writers do it better than Turow. Identical is set in the familiar legal terrain of Kindle County and features several secondary characters (including Sandy Stern) who are well known to Turow's fans.

Paul Gianis is a brand new attorney who, as the novel opens in 1982, will soon become a prosecutor in Kindle County. Paul is attending a picnic where several of the novel's principle characters are gathered, including Paul's twin brother Cass, his mother Lidia, his brother's caustic girlfriend Dita, and Dita's father, Zeus Kronen. After warning us that the day of the picnic will change Paul's life, Scott Turow jumps ahead to a 2008 parole hearing, where we meet Dita's brother, Hal Kronen, a wealthy real estate developer. Cass has nearly finished serving his sentence for Dita's murder. Also attending the hearing are Kronen's vice president for security, Evon Miller, and his private investigator, Tim Brodie. Paul, having departed the prosecutor's office for a lucrative personal injury practice, is now the majority leader in the state senate and a candidate for mayor. He isn't happy when Kronen publicly accuses him of playing a role in Dita's murder, an accusation that threatens to derail his campaign if Paul doesn't neutralize it.

Turow crams a lot of story into a few pages, and that's just the beginning. Turow sets up the central mystery, common to identical twin crime novels, early on: which twin did what? Occasional flashbacks to 1982 lead to an eventual answer. The answer is complicated by a present day plot twist (revealed about two-thirds in) that is relatively obvious, but Turow clearly intends the reader to guess some of what's happening. At roughly the same two-thirds point, Turow shocks the reader with several revelations that force Miller and Brodie (and the reader) to rethink the mystery.

The meat of the novel comes after Paul files a lawsuit for defamation against Kronen. Much of the story is about dirty politics and the ability of people with money to smear candidates they dislike. Turow adds a bit of drama to each character's life without sidetracking the main story, which contains enough family drama to drive a multigenerational saga.

Identical isn't quite as clever as Turow's best novels, but lesser Turow is still better than most writers of legal thrillers can manage. The story kept me guessing and my attention never wavered. Strong characters and a strong plot are enough to earn Identical a strong recommendation, even if it isn't my favorite Turow.

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