Defending Jacob: A Novel (Hardcover)

Defending Jacob directly confronts the issue of whether character traits are predetermined by nature or molded by nurture. The jury is still out on the issue, but the consensus is that it is a combination of both. Jacob's father, Andy Barber is the local D.A. He is successful in his chosen field. The community in which the Barber's live and work is Newton, Mass, a safe affluent and highly educated community. When Ben Rifkin one of Jacob's classmates is found murdered in the park, the town is shocked. Jacob is identified as the prime suspect after others are ruled out. Andy Barber has never revealed to his wife his checkered family background. His father is in jail for murder. His grandfather was also convicted of murder. He is concerned that there is a murder gene and that he has passed it on to Jacob. His wife is angry that he chose to conceal these facts. The trial and the strains it puts on this family are the heart of the novel. How does a family survive the isolation, financial burdens and fear that a murder trial produces. Their only child, Jacob is the accused. Andy is put on paid leave because of the potential for a conflict of interest. Thus, he has no work to occupy his time. The people who were once close family friends such as Duffy, the police inspector assigned to the D.A.'s office, suddenly must distance themselves from the family. Alone and frightened Laurie Barber, Andy Barber, and Jacob Barber face this tumultuous experience

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A psychiatrist is contacted for consultation. Her job is to identify whether or not Jacob has any inherited traits that might make him more likely to engage in criminal activity. She does identify some of those traits and she then begins to construct evidence of mitigation should Jacob be convicted. The traits she identifies include lack of empathy, an inability to form normal parental attachments as an infant and impulsivity. For lack of a better description, these could be called "murder genes." Jacob has a sketchy history of cruelty to small animals. He also has a history of "rough" or physically violent behavior with other small children his own age. Andy and Laurie believe that they have successfully dealt with his tendency to be "rough" with other small children and that the trait disappeared by the time Jacob was 5. Both his mother and father avoid characterizing his behavior as anything but ordinary growing pains. Parents can identify with Andy and Laurie Barber and the daily horror they must face as the court case moves along. Andy correctly articulates the problems they are facing. Even if Jacob is adjudicated as not guilty, that does not mean he is innocent. It merely means that the evidence does not prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

 I do not want to create a spoiler here. Spoiler alert: However, someone else confesses to the crime and commits suicide. There is some indication to Andy that it is a false confession. Andy, Laurie, and Jacob flushed with relief take a much needed family vacation to Jamaica. They stay at a luxurious beach resort. Jacob meets and befriends a teen girl who is also a guest at the resort. Andy and Laurie are thrilled that Jacob is returning to the normal activities engaged in by 14 year old boys. Then the girl Jacob has befriended disappears. She is discovered seven weeks later when her body washes ashore. She has drowned, but her windpipe has also been crushed as if she were strangled. The Jamaican police cannot clearly call her a victim of homicide. However, Laurie now knows that in spite of the confession her son is a murderer, and he has killed twice. What happens next is the twist in the tale.

Defending Jacob is a fast paced legal thriller. Men as well as women will be entertained by the story. I had trouble identifying with the mother. The characters were somewhat well drawn, but the mother especially was not drawn with much depth. I found it hard to believe that in spite of the fact that her family was willing to sit with her at trial she chose to suffer further by sitting alone. This story will make a better movie than it has a book.