Defending Jacob by William Landay is basically a crime television show in book format. When a fourteen-year-old boy is murdered in the small, quiet town of Newton, Massachusetts, assistant district attorney Andy Barber is assigned to the case. He is shaken because his own son, Jacob, was the same age and grade as the victim. That could’ve been my own child, Andy thinks. Then, in a shocking twist, the police charge Jacob Barber, Andy’s son, with the murder of his classmate. Jacob insists that he is innocent and Andy unwaveringly believes him, until new evidence and information come to light. Seeds of doubt are planted in Andy’s mind, and he is conflicted with the primal instinct to protect his son while also attempting to look at the evidence