Has anybody read the book "Defending Jacob" by William Landay?

muttmeister

Well-Known Member
Very interesting and I suspect some of us here might have some insights.

It's about a 14 year old kid who may or may not have committed at least one murder (don't want to give away the story if you plan to read it because it has several twists and turns).

It brings to mind issues like "Why would a kid do something like that? (This kid was bullied) "Can you blame actions on disorders?" (This kid is eventually diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder and reactive attachment disorder) Is it genetic? (Discussion of something they dramatically call the Murder Gene) How do parents respond when their kid is accused of something awful? I thought of that when my own kids were younger. Thank God I did not have to deal with it but probably our basic instinct, in the light of any irrefutable evidence is to think, "My kid would never do that." This kid's parents are a DA and a teacher..people who tried to be (and were) "good" parents. It raises a lot of interesting questions and I think some of you might be interested.
 

Josie

Active Member
I really liked this book. I suggested my husband read it and it hit a little to close to home for him. I never had those concerns and I am surprised that he did. Still, I think as a parent on this board, I read it with a different perspective than someone with "perfect" children. Even without that, the book had several surprises though.
 

Snoopy

New Member
These sorts of books/movies are quite disturbing to me but I find myself extremely drawn to them (even before adopting my daughter). Several years ago, I never could have read a book like this but since my daughter (diagnosed with Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) and PTSD/DTD) is attached now...and doing very well...I feel more free to read books on the subject. I've been contemplating going to see the movie We Need To Talk About Kevin (adapted from the book) which is about a similar situation. in my humble opinion, I definitely think these cases are due to damage done in-utero and are also due to environmental factors. Not sure I buy into the genetic factor. And the good news is that the brain is extremely plastic so healing can occur with the right interventions. Thanks for sharing the name of this book. I hadn't heard of it.
 

lmf64

New Member
I haven't read it yet, but it is now the next book on my list. I recently finished reading "We Need To Talk About Kevin". It was a fascinating read. I too am drawn to this kind of book.
 
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