Reversible Errors - Softcover

Scott Turow

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0330411535 ISBN 13: 9780330411530

Publisher: Pan Macmillan, 2003

Synopsis

Rommy "Squirrel" Gandloph is an inmate on death row for a 1991 triple murder. His slow progress toward execution is nearing completion when Arthur Raven, a corporate lawyer and Rommy's reluctant representative, receives word of new evidence that will exonerate Gandolph. Arthur's opponent is the formidable prosecuting attorney Muriel Wynn. Together with Larry Starczek, the original detective on the case, she is determined to see Rommy's fate sealed. Meanwhile the judge who originally found him guilty is just out of prison herself. Scott Turow's compelling, multi-dimensional characters take the reader into Kindle County's parallel yet intersecting worlds of weary police, small-time crooks and ambitious lawyers. No other writer offers such a convincing picture of how the law and life interact - or such a profound understanding of what is at stake when the state holds the power to end a man's life.

About this title

Review

Arthur Raven, more versed in corporate law than criminal defense, is not eager to accept the court-appointed task of handling death-row inmate "Squirrel" Gandolph's last-minute appeal of his murder conviction. Fast approaching middle age, Arthur has come to terms with the burdens and disappointments of his life, among which are a schizophrenic sister for whom he is responsible and the realization that he will probably never make an enduring connection with a woman. But when evidence surfaces that might exonerate his client, he rises to the occasion with a quiet determination to see justice done. Facing a formidable prosecuting attorney and her former lover, the policeman whose testimony convinced Judge Gillian Sullivan to find Squirrel guilty, Arthur's persistence not only wins his client a temporary reprieve from execution but also endears him to Sullivan, who has fallen on hard times since Squirrel's trial--fresh out of prison herself for taking bribes, she is a most unlikely candidate for Arthur's affections. Scott Turow's masterful characterization of complex and multidimensional people catalyzed by events into searching reexamination of their own motives and ambitions is matched by the intricacies of his plot, which itself is well served by his insider's knowledge of the criminal justice system and his extraordinary understanding of the vagaries of the human heart. The prose is luminescent, the narrative compelling, and the moral implications of Arthur's personal and professional choices beautifully articulated. This is a tour de force for a novelist writing at the top of his game. --Jane Adams

About the Author

Scott Turow's five previous novels - Presumed Innocent. The Burden of Proof, Pleading Guilty, The Laws of our Fathers and Personal Injuries - have all been major bestsellers. America's most distinguished writer about the law is also a leading lawyer in his native Chicago.

Edition details

• Publisher: Pan Macmillan
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0330411535
• ISBN 13: 9780330411530
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 400