The Abduction
Theodore Boone #3
by John Grisham
read by Richard Thomas
My rating: 4.5 / 5
Genre: Middle grade fiction
When thirteen-year-old Theodore Boone begins to be harassed by an unknown person, he becomes a suspect in a crime himself.
The first thing I want to say is that, by this point, Theo’s uncle Ike Boone should really not still be described the way he is—as a somewhat sad, pathetic divorcee ex-con that Theo just visits out of obligation. He’s been such a help to Theo in all three books so far—someone that Theo can come to when his parents are too busy (which seems to be always), instrumental in both of the previous books in different ways. I’ve really come to like him, though I don’t envy some of the decisions he had to make in this book, so it’s kind of jarring for the author to still treat him as less than.
That being said, this was probably my favorite book in the series so far, though I’ve liked them all quite a bit. Theo gets a chance to find out what “innocent until proven guilty” is really supposed to mean, and what happens when the general public convicts a suspect before the trial. It’s an interesting parallel to what’s going on with the murder suspect first introduced in the first book, who is involved in this book a little bit too. I actually kept expecting Grisham to bring that up, for one of the adults in Theo’s life to point this out to him, but either he was keeping it subtle or it wasn’t an intentional parallel.
Richard Thomas continues to do a great job with the narration. At this point, it’s still probably not super important to read the books in order, though I do think it would be helpful to have at least read the first book in the series, since there are connections back to it in this book. Overall, I’d say whether or not a teenager or pre-teen will be interested in this book will depend on what kind of fiction they like—if fast-paced action is important, this probably won’t suit them. If they’re interested in realistic fiction about crime and law and trials, this could be fascinating for them.
Find out more about The Accused
If you’ve read this book, or read it in the future, feel free to let me know what you think!
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