The Suspect

George Mason is the presiding judge on a three member appellate review panel, the case in question of particular social significance, rape with racial...See more » George Mason is the presiding judge on a three member appellate review panel, the case in question of particular social significance, rape with racial implications. At issue is an argument on the statute of limitations, the pivotal factor in deciding the case. Also at issue is a video tape made by the perpetrators, four young men who have graduated high school and gone on to college, the instigator occasionally showing the video for the edification of his fraternity brothers. It is this indiscretion that ultimately lands him and the others in the courtroom. Both the victim's age and state of mind are important considerations in a case that is threatening to disrupt the social harmony of a nearby city, Glen Brae, the citizens reluctant to reveal the ugly scars of such a degrading crime by their brightest young men. Confronted on both the professional and personal areas of his life, Mason faces a thorny decision, as well as a recent series of threats of physical harm sent through his email, both in the office and at home, a well as text messages through his cell phone. Mason is in the last year of a ten-year term, undecided about whether to run again when his wife is diagnosed with cancer. Now his refuge in the court is disturbed, Mason frequently distracted between his wife's treatment and the increasing threats, not to mention the resolution of the case in a timely manner. Particularly vulnerable, Mason's only concession is to Court Security, in the person of the formidable Marina Giornale, a woman determined to protect the judge from anyone who means to do harm to Mason or his family. Written originally as a "Sunday Serial" in the New York Times Magazine, this story bears the usual earmarks of a Turow novel, albeit somewhat truncated and lacking the depth of his longer fiction. Limitations is an extended appellate brief for those who enjoy the argumentative nature of legal thrillers, the characters vehicles for exposition, Turow exercising his mettle on Mason's conundrum. For anyone who enjoys the workings of the author's legal mind, this shorter work has the same appeal and subtle balance of politics, the judicial system and the tricky moral dilemmas that plague mankind in today's world of ethical quagmires. Luan Gaines/2006. Comment | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)See less »