Salem Falls (Jodi Picoult)

Salem Falls is by an author who's known for doing "issues" books. I've read My Sister's Keeper, which is about children who are born to help a sibling with a genetic illness, and it was decent, and gripping, if not particularly brilliant and reasonably trashy (which I'm using in the sense of a very overly emotional and cliche ridden work).

Salem Falls is similarly over-dramatic, especially the court scenes in the last half of the book. But it is a gripping story (I almost missed my train station), and I wasn't expecting the twist on the last page (although I'm sure many other discerning readers have spotted it - it's not exactly masterfully hidden, but I was reading greedily). The issue of Salem Falls is rape, and it's done fairly well - fictional representations of rape trials always fascinate me. It's a fun, absorbing read, for the beach or the train, but by no means is it particularly wonderful fiction. 3 out of 5.