Shreve, author of the 1999 Oprah's Book Club® selection The Pilot's Wife and Resistance , which was adapted into a 2003 movie of the same name, begins her latest novel with a sex scandal at an elite New England boarding school. While a few of the characters are flat, listeners will enjoy the performances of the 14 talented readers, among them Ellen Archer, Kevin T. Collins, and Stephanie Wolfe. A fine example of how audio can transcend print; for public libraries. [Audio clip available through library.booksontape.com ; the Little, Brown hc received a starred review, LJ 8/08.-Ed.]
A sex scandal at a Massachusetts prep school seen through the eyes of students, teachers, parents and anyone else of even peripheral relevance. Shreve (Body Surfing, 2007, etc.) offers snapshot sketches within a framing device involving a researcher's interviews. Although the scandal-three of the school's basketball stars caught on tape being sexually serviced by a freshman girl-is almost tame by current real-life scandal standards, it is understandably life-shaking to those involved. Headmaster Mike Bordwin's attempts to contain the situation backfire when the girl's outraged parents call the police. His hard-won career disintegrates, as does his already shaky marriage. Those losses are nothing compared to his private sense of guilt; Bordwin knows Silas, a gifted scholarship student, was part of the filmed party only because he was very drunk, and he was drunk because he'd caught his mother in bed with Bordwin that morning. A sensitive moral innocent, Silas is horrified at his own behavior. Unable to face his girlfriend, he spends a cold New England night outside writing an apology and freezes to death. Naturally his mother, a devout Catholic, blames herself and her adulterous affair for the loss of her beloved only child. The other boys' mothers have their own guilt. Ellen sent Rob to boarding school to protect him from the very temptations to which he succumbed. Expelled, Rob now loses his early admission to Brown. Michelle, who has long sensed dark tendencies in James, now wishes she had been a stronger parent. James, who calls himself J.Dot, is a shallow unrepentant party animal. He blames the girl. As does Shreve, who paints "Sienna" as a 14-year-old vixen with no qualms aboutpretending she's the victim, although she purposefully set out to seduce the boys, particularly J.Dot. Afterward she moves on to a new school and, one suspects, new victims. Thoughtful Rob is the only one with a genuinely positive outlook on his future. Slick but lacking depth. Agent: Jennifer Rudolph Walsh/William Morris Agency
"A tale that is mesmerizing, hypnotic, and compulsive. No one walks away unscathed, and that includes the reader."—Bette-Lee Fox , Library Journal Sherryl Connelly , New York Daily News Joanna Powell , People Jennifer Roolf Laster , Houston Chronicle Carmela Ciuraru , Hallmark
This is at once a thriller, a story of middle-aged angst, an exposition of international law and an exploration of an intensely serious and very nasty episode in recent history...admirable and important.
New York Times Book Review
TESTIMONY shows the great human toll when an entire section of the world descends into chaos...this novel is a legal thriller on a grand stage...Turow's descriptions of the causes and aftermath of the Bosnian war are both substantive and compassionate...sheds an unwavering light on the devastating human toll and the still-reverberating political aftershocks.
The real pleasure of the new novel lies not so much in solving the mystery of the massacre as in watching Turow knock down assumption after assumption made by Boom—and the reader. In fact, I can't think of another novel in which so many givens end up being exposed as either honest mistakes or outright lies. TESTIMONY is a tour de force of collapsing perceptions.
Follows twists and turns, shifting alliances, and a near-fatal confrontation... [TESTIMONY] is exciting and consistent with Turow's prior novels.
A compelling story, told with Turow's usual ease, authority and understated humor.
TESTIMONY is an absolutely crackerjack read, and again leaves us wishing that Turow would haul out his typewriter a tad more often.
Raises important questions of responsibility, patriotism, corruption and the role of military power. And even as it confronts these weighty issues, it keeps the reader engaged in a page-turning thriller...Turow is back on his game in TESTIMONY.
Not your average legal thriller. Brilliant? Yes. Compelling? Yes. Complex? Yes. Fraught with misperceptions, twists and turns? Yes. Most of the time spent in a courtroom? Not even close...the setting and circumstances made me feel as if I have seen a glimpse of what it was like in Bosnia during the war.
Scott Turow has done the impossible: Making the International Criminal Court in The Hague interesting. ..in TESTIMONY it is a hotbed of intrigue and infighting involving a massacre of Roma people in former Yugoslavia and the travails of an American prosecutor.
"Our Favorite Summer Reads" Bloomberg.com
Scott Turow writes with zest and authority about the inner workings of the law...TESTIMONY unfolds in highly descriptive prose and is sprinkled with colorful characters.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Fast-paced...Scott Turow is first and foremost a storyteller, and that's what propels the action, that and trying to figure out the truth...another fine book by this very fine writer.
A thriller yarn with many twists and turns.
Turow's lively prose and terrific cast of supporting characters make TESTIMONYPresumed Innocent (30 years ago!).
[A] smart, demanding thriller.
"17 Thrillers and Mysteries Worth Toting to the Be Washington Post
The master of the courtroom drama, Scott Turow's latest legal thriller goes international and is a page turner not to be missed!
#1 New York Times bestselling author of The Black Daniel Silva
TESTIMONY is Scott Turow's most ambitious and complex work-which takes us from the gritty familiarity of his beloved Kindle County into a mysterious world of international intrigue. It's the best kind of thriller, which stimulates the mind as well as thrilling the heart.
New York Times bestselling author of American Heir Jeffrey Toobin
PRAISE FOR TESTIMONY :
Joanne Wilkinson - Booklist (starred review)
"Gripping....Shreve sets us down in a swirling drama that ruins lives, ends one, all stemming from a night of drunken abandon at a prep school."
"Gripping. . . . TESTIMONY will break your heart even as you race on to the next page."
" Contrasting the sweetness of young love with the primal recklessness of lust, Shreve paints a chilling portrait of how bad decisions in brief moments can ruin lives."
"Haunting....Paced like a thriller, TESTIMONY sustains its intensity to the end."
Haunting....Paced like a thriller, TESTIMONY sustains its intensity to the end.Hallmark
Gripping. . . . TESTIMONY will break your heart even as you race on to the next page.Houston Chronicle
Gripping....Shreve sets us down in a swirling drama that ruins lives, ends one, all stemming from a night of drunken abandon at a prep school.New York Daily News
A tale that is mesmerizing, hypnotic, and compulsive. No one walks away unscathed, and that includes the reader.Library Journal
A shocking video of amateur porn plunges a prep school into turmoil, leaving faculty, families, and the tape’s student stars struggling to come to grips with its creation and aftermath. A full cast presents each chapter from the point of view of one person involved in the events of that night, either directly or by association. Every voice actor turns in a stellar performance, with exactly the right vocal tones for his or her age and perspective. A hotshot ball player betrays the barest hint of vulnerability, while his socialite mother struggles to balance remorse and resourcefulness. A local farmer fights crushing grief, while his wife gives in to guilt. A headmaster with his head in the clouds weaves all the points of view together into a story haunted by hindsight, insight, and sadness. R.L.L. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine
