Normally I like to read the book before watching the series but this time I did it backwards. I watched the show prior to reading this so I’m sure that that is influencing my thoughts on this book.

Honestly though, I think I preferred the show over the book this time but that’s not to say that this wasn’t still an enjoyable read. I picked up the books because I didn’t want to wait for the next season of the show, I wanted to know what happened next ASAP. Much to my chagrin, they’re <b>incredibly different</b> from one another. I found myself enjoying the rendition of the show a bit more. I will say that I appreciated the Rusty in this book seeming a bit more level-headed than the Rusty in the series. But I missed the extra characters and the twists that the series adapted.

It’s extremely difficult to review this without comparing the two. The pacing and structure was very different. The show focused more on the courtroom proceedings whereas the book focused more on the investigation leading up to the courtroom. I really enjoyed seeing the courtroom scenes in the series so for me that was deeply missed in this book.

I was also surprised that the actual murderer was completely different between these two renditions as well. I once again found the show’s choice of murderer more compelling than the book choice. The book choice felt more predictable to me and was less jarring. Had I read this book prior to watching the show, I know I probably would’ve appreciated it more. I still think this was a great book and I’ll continue to read on in the series, but the show adaptation just did it a little bit better in my eyes.