Andy Barber has been an assistant district attorney in his suburban Massachusetts county for more than 20 years. He is well-respected in his community, tenacious in the courtroom and happy at home with his wife, Laurie, and son, Jacob. But when a shocking crime shatters their New England town, Andy is blindsided by what happens next: His 14-year-old son is charged with the murder of a fellow student.

Every parental instinct Andy has rallies to protect his boy. Jacob insists that he is innocent, and Andy believes him. Andy must. He’s his father. But damning facts and shocking revelations begin to surface, as a marriage threatens to crumble and the trial intensifies. As the crisis reveals how little a father knows about his son, Andy will face a trial of his own—between loyalty and justice, between truth and allegation, between a past he’s tried to bury and a future he cannot conceive.

Award-winning author William Landay’s Defending Jacob is the consummate tale of an embattled family in crisis—a suspenseful, character-driven mystery that is also a spellbinding tale of guilt, betrayal and the terrifying speed at which our lives can spin out of control.