Identical by Scott Turow

Scott Turow gained notoriety in the early 1990's for his first work of fiction, Presumed Innocent which was later made into a movie starring Harrison Ford.  Turow has attempted to repeat that success several times since but has never quite written the novel that could measure up to that first mega hit. Identical is his latest attempt.

Paul and Cass Gianis are twins who grew up in a Greek neighborhood in Turow’s favorite mythical setting, Kindle County. The twins are identical in appearance but very different in character and personality.  Paul is the dutiful and ambitious son headed for law school whereas Cass is the carefree prodigal son.  In his early 20’s Cass falls in love with Dita, the beautiful but spoiled daughter of Zeus Kronon, a millionaire bad-boy with Greek mob connections.  Dita is murdered in her bedroom and Cass ends up pleading guilty to the crime.  He serves a 25 year sentence in a nearby minimum security correctional facility.  Paul faithfully visits his brother throughout his incarceration while finishing law school, becoming a Kindle County prosecutor and entering a life of politics.  At the time of Cass’s release, Paul is running for mayor.  Dita’s brother, Hal Kronon has never forgiven Cass and runs negative ads accusing candidate Paul of being involved in the murder of Dita.  Hal is now the CEO of the conglomerate his father founded.  With his company’s resources behind him, Hal assigns his chief security officer and ex-FBI agent, Evon Miller along with a retired cop, Tim Brodie to resume investigation of the 25 year old case.  Together they uncover new evidence that points the finger of guilt in a direction Hal never intended.

On the surface, Identical has all the ingredients of great fiction but the plot never seems to find traction.  The premise of identical twins and their relationship has promise of interest and intrigue but instead comes off as creepy.  The twists and turns of the plot were predictable and uninspiring in comparison to what we know is within the bounds of this author’s capability.  His first work, Presumed Innocent set the standard for bait and switch legal thrillers.  His latest work is in no way “identical” to that first effort… not even close.