You cannot think of Scott Turow without thinking of his book Presumed Innocent and the movie starring Harrison Ford. Scott Turow is a master of the the legal procedural, by both making the law relevant and exposing its limitations. His novels raise interesting questions about law and justice, mercy and retribution, and the complicated relationships between those that enforce the law and those that defend people charged with breaking the law.

In Testimony, Turow explores international justice at The Hague where crimes against humanity are prosecuted. Even here, the themes of law and justice, mercy and retribution are relevant and exposes even more clearly the law’s limitations.

During the Bosnian war an entire refugee camp of four hundred Roma people disappeared. Now almost ten years later an eye witness claims that the Roma people were taken to a remote mine, packed into a cave and buried alive when explosives were used to cover the entry way with tons of dirt. These allegations have now been filed at the International Court of Justice at The Hague, who must investigate and bring to justice those who commit crimes against humanity.

Bill Ten Boom, a former prosecutor in Kindle County is recruited by a former classmate to become a prosecutor at The International Court of Justice at The Hague. Now fifty -five, newly divorced and having just resigned as a partner in a large law firm, Bill was wondering what might come next and is intrigued by this interesting possibility and is soon settling into his office at The Hague.

As Bill begins his investigations he realizes there are many possible suspects ranging from Bosnian paramilitary groups, organized crime and even the US military itself who had a base not too far from where the alleged massacre took place. The witness, Ferko Rincic, is not much help in trying to identify the soldiers who came to the refugee camp, and his lawyer, Esma Czarni, a barrister who represents Roma people, seems more interested in Bill than in helping to clear up contradictory statements Ferko has made. The US major general of the US base nearby who might be able to shed some light on these events, was Layton Merriwell, whose reputation and career are now in jeopardy after a messy public disclosure of his affair with a subordinate, giving him every incentive not to cooperate with this investigation. Additionally, Laza Kajevic, the leader of the brutal Bosnian Serb paramilitary, is known to have blamed the Roma for betraying his location to the US forces and sent him into hiding.

As the investigation progresses and Bill must be wary of contradicting evidence, the politics and pressure of a high profile case and the competing alliances and motives that seem to be threatening the investigation and his life.

This was such a pleasure to read! The characters were interesting, complicated and multi dimensional. The plot line was intriguing and unexpected and the pacing was superb! All in all a great read!

Brenda’s Rating: ****(4 Out of % Stars)

Recommend this book to: Marian, Keith and Sharon

Book Study Worthy? Yes

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