Book Review / "Innocent Again" by Steven Decker

INNOCENT AGAIN: A LEGAL THRILLER by Steven Decker

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Becky is rich and beautiful. She doesn’t have to struggle with mortgage or student loan payments. She doesn’t even have to make a career, enjoying the benefits of well-off parents and a successful husband.

Becky would have been blissfully happy had an unsavoury discovery about her husband having an affair not spoiled her charmed existence. She would have probably lived with the bitterness scratching at the back of her mind and marring her marital eldorado a little for years. Still, since the spouse admitted his guilt and promised not to hurt her again, Becky’s perfect life wouldn’t have suffered from his mishap too dramatically.

Yet, something happens that pushes her husband’s infidelity not even to the background but outside the scope of things that matter. Something unbelievable. And, at first sight, irreversible.
Becky gets accused of murder. And if that isn’t outrageous enough, the jury issues a daunting verdict – guilty! – and the young woman, used to a privileged and mostly carefree life, finds herself locked in prison. Surrounded by people who can, want, and will hurt her – unless she is quick enough to outsmart them.

Truth to be told, Becky isn’t the most likeable of heroines. Still, I found myself admiring her nerve, gumption, and courage. Thrown into the hostile environment – and what environment can be more hostile than jail? – she doesn’t freeze with fear, curl up in a ball and sit in her cell waiting to be abused and molested. Far from it! Not waiting for something horrible to happen and not dwelling on the cruel blows fate has been too generous at dealing her, Becky seeks ways to, first, make her life in prison tolerable, and second, prove her innocence and find the real killer.

I’ve read other Steven Decker books, and although this is his first thriller, “Innocent Again” shares some of his trademark features I’ve grown to appreciate. The story is fast-paced and the pages turn themselves. The plot is packed with action, and every chapter brings a new revelation. You can’t stop reading before you find out how the book ends.

This author’s books are rich with details that make the narrative multi-dimensional and immersive. Whether you are getting ready to land on an unfamiliar planet or travel our beautiful Earth from the US to the ancient Great Wall of China and all the way to the distant shores of Australia or sit in the courtroom, listening to the lawyers and prosecutors deliver their speeches dotted with legal terms, you feel a part of the scene. The author makes you plunge into the story, and after reaching the end, you emerge as if disembarking the spaceship or exiting the grim gates of a correctional institution.

It might seem that fate was too cruel to Becky, putting her through too many hardships and making her suffer too many losses. But long after I finished reading the book, the thought that tough things either break us or make us better versions of ourselves kept lingering in my mind.



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INNOCENT AGAIN: A LEGAL THRILLER