The limits of the law

A grand master of the legal thriller, Scott Turow returns to the courtroom with an intriguing plot. Another ticket to the top of the bestseller lists, a place the author frequents assiduously. In The Edge of the Law, Turow revisits two of his most charismatic characters: George Mason, from Personal Offenses, and Rusty Sabich, from Above Suspicion. Back in Kindle County, we find George Mason, now a respected Court of Appeals judge for almost a decade. At 59, his days as a criminal lawyer are long gone. But a disturbing rape case makes him question the very essence of the law, as well as the role of a judge. And brings him into contact with prosecutor Rusty Sabich. From the beginning, what's most impressive in The Edge of the Law isn't the suspects. Turow doesn't dedicate his efforts as a novelist to uncovering the criminals. It's the "why" behind the criminals that hooks the reader. And the humanity and plausibility of this motivation is what sustains the plot. What so unsettles George Mason? Is it the strange and threatening emails he begins receiving? What is it about the horrific sexual assault case that makes him question his own ability to judge him? The judge is also deeply shaken by his wife's recent diagnosis of illness. Turrow masterfully weaves legal terms into the plot without ever losing his rhythm. *The Limits of the Law* shows that only a courtroom expert like the author can portray, with such perfection and sophistication, the way law and real life interact.