I remember the prequel to this book, entitled Presumed Innocent, which I read probably twenty years ago. In fact, one of the jokes from that first book revolved around the Italian surname of one of the main characters' legal adversaries. Instead of De Laguardia, the protagonist called him "Delay Guardia" due to his tendency to file motions for postponement of upcoming trials. Since that first book, we have often referred to one of our procrastinating children as "Miss (or Mr.) Delay Guardia." I liked the first book, I remember, though I am hazy on the plot details. So I wanted to like this sequel as well. But I didn't, so much. Some of the the characters were left over from the previous story and some were new, which made for a convoluted mix of old history and new personality sketches-confusing, I thought. And the story line is old: middle-aged man has an affair which changes his life, has far-reaching consequences for himself and those in his circle with much pain to go around. But of course he just plunges into the mess anyway . . .I guess it wouldn't sell too many books to have the same character make the choice to resist the temptation and do the right thing by his wife and children even if his personal happiness suffers. The best parts of the book revolve around the courtroom trial scene, with its twists and turns and legal maneuvering. There is a sort of surprise ending which is clever but it's not enough to rescue the overall effort of getting through this tome, in my opinion.