This is as much a family drama, love story, and social inquisition* as it is a legal thriller. If you can engage with the narrator, whose reliability or unreliability is a puzzle to piece together, you will be satisfied with this warm yet dark story of a community and family changed by a violent crime.

    The author is a former defense attorney* who is skilled at informing the reader about the law and procedures without telegraphing it. The narrative is even, polished and intelligently observant* of a community in shock, a family shattered.

    It is an upscale community of educated professionals, whose children go on to Ivy League colleges. A 14-year-old boy stabbed* to death in the park is incomprehensible* to this well-heeled population.

    Jacob, the 14-year-old son of First District Attorney Andy Barber, is accused of murdering his classmate, Ben Rifkin. In Massachusetts, 14-year-olds charged with first-degree murder are tried as adults.

    Barber tells the story with depth and dread*, exposing some family secrets along the way, which could impact the case, and creates increasing trauma* for his wife, Laurie. Their marriage has always been an ongoing love story; they met in college and have loved each other unfailingly through the years. This event gives them heavy exposure to the media, placing them under a public microscope.

    The book raises the question: How far would you go to protect your family?

    It is available in both English and Chinese translation at amazon.cn.

    (SD-Agencies)