Rating: 4/5
Review:
Generally good, but has its flaws
I thought this was a generally well-written, readable and thoughtful book. It cuts between the stories of Daniel, a solicitor defending an 11-year-old accused of murdering a playmate and of Daniel's own troubled childhood which lends him empathy with the accused boy. There are many good things about it: the prose is readable, the structure which cuts between the present and Daniel's past works extremely well for much of the book and the courtroom scenes are convincing and very gripping.
I did think that the book had its flaws. At 450 pages it is too long. Lisa Ballantyne does a good job of creating the atmosphere of Daniel's childhood and of constructing his inner world but there is an awful lot of it and, as with the present-day story I found it dragged rather after a while, and toward the end as the trial becomes really gripping the flashbacks to Daniel's childhood which worked so well earlier become a serious intrusion. Ballantyne makes some good points about the law and the influence of the press on trials, but often through some terribly clunky dialogue and they could have been made more tellingly with a little more finesse. I also found that after I'd finished the book, I wasn't entirely convinced by the characters or the explanations of their actions, which somewhat undermined the publisher's claim that this is a "deeply psychological book" and the idea that it is a profound study of the nature of guilt.
Despite these reservations I thought this a pretty good book. I don't think it is as profound as it thinks it is, but overall is still recommendable as an often gripping and interesting read.
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