We Need to Talk About … Jacob

This book proved somewhat painful reading, but is well-plotted, well-written and packs quite an emotional wallop. Defending Jacob is half murder mystery and half courtroom drama, told from the standpoint of Jacob’s father, who is a first Assistant District Attorney at the start of the novel, and thus gets first dibs on one of the more sensational murders to hit his town, that of a 14-year-old boy found stabbed to death off a path in a popular park used by town kids to get to and from school, including the ADA’s own son Jacob. While Jacob’s dad focuses on a local child molester as the likely murderer, evidence quickly accrues that points to quiet unassuming Jacob, which his parents refuse to accept. After all, they’ve done everything right in raising their son, so how could he possibly be a murderer?

The dad is soon removed from the case, Jacob is charged with murder by his replacement as ADA, and the emotional roller-coaster begins. The dad begins his own private investigation, and soon enough learns from Jacob’s friends that his son has a dark side—he had a scary knife that matched the murder weapon, but which the dad found and destroyed early on. Jacob hung out in violent/porn/terror sites online, scared his friends with impulsive and occasionally violent behavior, and more. Jacob’s mom—more familiar with Jacob’s dark side than his dad—fears that he might be guilty, but Jacob’s dad refuses to go there.

Turns out Jacob’s dad comes from a long line of violent criminals, which he had kept secret from his family—and himself—until now, but feels obliged to reveal this truth to his family out of fear that the prosecution will use the “murder gene” or “bad seed” argument in court, however unscientific, to sway the jury toward a guilty verdict against his son. The parents’ relationship rapidly deteriorates, the town turns against the whole family, and the trial is launched while the reader awaits a near certain guilty verdict. But things don’t go as planned, and surprise twists come one upon the other in the final pages of the book, leaving the reader stunned.

Giving additional, if mysterious, depth to the story are the periodic chapters starting at the very beginning of the book that contain grand jury testimony by the father under interrogation by his despised replacement as ADA. It is deliberately unclear when this testimony is taking place, but it clearly foreshadows many of the developments to come in the novel, including the shocking conclusion while not giving away anything critical to the surprise ending(s). All in all, a very well-conceived and structured novel reminiscent of the highly-disturbing movie “We Need to Talk About Kevin.”