This crime novel is pretty good in that it's a good story and also raises the question of behavorial genetics. The day will come when people might be genetically mapped for their propensity for violence. This is sometimes called the "murder gene." Are some people genetically predisposed to violence? What should be done when this can be predicted?
A 14-yr. boy is murdered---stabbed---on his way to school in a park. A 14-yr. schoolmate is indicted for the crime. The boy charged with murder is the son of the assistant DA. The father refuses to consider that his son might be guilty. The mother slowly comes to think that maybe her son did commit this murder. The father, who is the son of a father spending life in prison for murder and who wonders if his patrimony includes a gene predicting violence in hhis offspring, is convinced that a local man named Patz committed the crime. The case goes to trial. The trial is halted and the son declared innocent when Patz commits suicide and leaves a suicide note admiting his guilt. But that is not the end of the story as the conclusiion is unexpected and dramatic.
Good story---thought provking--fun read.
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