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Description edit
Andy Barber has been an assistant district attorney in his suburban Massachusetts county for more than twenty years. He is respected in his community, tenacious in the courtroom, and happy at home with his wife, Laurie, and son, Jacob. But when a shocking crime shatters their New England town,... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Summary edit
Legal Thriller. For 20 years, Andy Barber has been happy with his law career as a prosecutor and his home life in suburban Massachusetts. All that changes, however, when his son is accused of murdering a fellow middle-schooler. Throwing his all into the investigation and -- for the first time... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)
Characters/People edit
- Andy Barber: Assistant DA in Newton, MA. Father of Jacob Barber
- Jacob Barber: Andy's son who goes to school with a boy named Ben who is murdered.
- Ben Rifkin: Fourteen-year-old who is murdered in a park while walking to school.
- Laurie Barber: Andy's wife, Jacob's mother.
- Dan Rifkin: Ben's father.
- Joan Rifkin: Ben's mother
- Lynn Canavan: Middlesex District Attorney and Andy's boss.
- Paula Giannetto: Jogger who found Ben's body
- Sarah Groehl: Student at Ben and Jacob's school
- Wendy Seligman: Friend of Andy and Laurie's and a parent of a child at Ben and Jacob's school
- Toby Lanzman: Friend of Andy and Laurie and a parent of a child at the school.
- Neal Logiudice: A Middlesex Assistant Diistrict Attorney who is very ambitious, prosecutor for Jacob's case.
- Jonathan Klein: Jacob's defense attorney whom Andy admires for his calm demeanor even in tough situations.
- Rusty Barber: Andy's war hero grandfather
- Judge Lourdes Rivera: Judge at Jacob's arraignment.
- Derek Yoo: A student at Ben's school. He knows Ben and Jacob and may have knowledge of the events of Jacob's murder He was Jacob's best friend since kindergarten.
- Leonard Patz: A sex offender living in the area near the crime scene.
- Burton French: Judge for Jacob's trial.
- Hope Connors: A girl the family met during a holiday.
- Matthew Magrath: A teenager who said he was molested by Patz.
- Susan Frank: Parent of a student at McCormick School.
- Dr. Elizabeth Vogel: The Doctor employed by Jonathon to complete an evaluation on Jacob Barber.
- James Burkett: AKA James Burkett. Andy's great-grandfather.
- Dylan Feldman: A classmate of Ben and Jacob's at Mccormick School.
- Nils Peterson: A Newton Detective.
- Payton: Victim of an attempted murderer in 1916.
- Ellen Curtice: Associate in Jonathan Klein's law firm.
- David Yoo: Derek's father.
- Karen Rakowski: Criminalist and expert witness for the prosecution.
- Paul Duffy: Andy's friend and godfather of Jacob Barber. A CPAC officer.
- Sam Studnitzer: Witness for the prosecution.
- Kristin: Girlfriend of Matthew McGrath.
- Marvin Glasscock: Jacob's Facebook pseudonym.
- Mary McQuade: Judge French's clerk.
- Ernie Zinelli: A 60 year old court officer
- Billy Barber: Andy Barber's father.
- James O'Leary: AKA Father O'Leary. An agony gangster known for being a "fixer."
- Judge French: The presiding judge during the trial.
- Roy Scheider: Murder takes place in Newton, MA.
Quotes edit
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“When we hold a trial, we are saying a mass. We are praying together to do what is right and to be protected from danger, and that is worth doing whether or not our prayers are actually heard.”
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“He lived in the lawyer's binary world, guilty or not guilty, and he was determined to keep me pinned there.”
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“The real surprise is the frequency of false positives, the innocent men found guilty. That error rate we do not acknowledge--do not even think about--because it calls so much into question. The fact is, what we call proof is as fallible as the witnesses who produce it, human beings all.”
-
“Treat a man like an anvil and he will long to hit back.”
Andy Barber -
“Lieutenant Detective Nils Peterson joined the force in Newton just a few years before I started at the DA's office, fresh out of law school. Which is to say, I had known Nils since 1984 - when Neal Logiudice was in high school struggling to maintain a busy schedule of A.P. classes, band, and compulsive masturbation. (I am speculating. I cannot say for sure that he was in the band.)”
Andy Barber
Setting & Locations edit
- Meriden, CT: Where Andy grew up
- Lowell, Massachusetts: Part of the action takes place there.
- Middlesex County Courthouse: Where Jacob's trial commences.
- The Waves Resort in Jamaica
- Cold Spring Park
- Newton
- Buenos Aires
- New York
- Cambridge
- Argentina
Organizations edit
- Middlesex District Attorney's Office: Investigates the death of Ben Rifkin.
- McCormick School: School where Ben and Jacob attend.
First Sentence edit
In April 2008, Neal Logiudice finally subpoenaed me to appear before the grand jury.
Table of Contents edit
1. In the Grand Jury
2. Our Crowd
3. Back to School
4. Mindfuck
5. Everyone Knows You Did It
6. Descent
7. Denial
8. The End
9. Arraignment
10. Leopards
11. Running
12. Confessions
13. 179 Days
14. Questioning
15. Playing Detective
16. Witness
17. Nothing's Wrong With Me!
18. The Murder Gene, Redux
19. The Cutting Room
20. One Son Was Here, the Other Was Gone.
21. Beware the Fury of a Patient Man
22. A Heart Two Sizes Too Small
23. Him
24. It's Different for Mothers
25. The Schoolteacher, Glasses Girl, the Fat Somerville Guy, Urkel, the Recording Studio Guy, the Housewife, Braces woman and Other Oracles of Truth
26. Someone is Watching
27. Openings
28. A Verdict
29. The Burning Monk
30. The Third Rail
31. Hanging Up
32. The absence of evidence.
33. Father O'Leary
34. Jacob was mad
35. Argentina
36. Helluva Show
37. After-Life
38. The Policeman's Delemma
39. Paradise
40. No Way Out
Series & Lists edit
This book is in 2012 Published Books. (community list)
This is book 5 of 10 in Amazon.com Best Books of February (2012). (authoritative list)
Authors & Contributors edit
- William Landay (Author)
First Edition edit
Original Language: English
Publisher: Delacoute Press
Country: U.S.A.
Publication Date: 01-31-2012
ISBN: 9780385344227
Page Count: 421
Publisher: Delacoute Press
Country: U.S.A.
Publication Date: 01-31-2012
ISBN: 9780385344227
Page Count: 421
Classification edit
- Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
- Dewey: 813.6
Subjects edit
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