Defending Jacob is an American crime drama novel written by novelist William Landay. The book was published in January 2012 by Random House. It tells the story of a father dealing with the accusation that his 14-year-old son is a murderer.

Is the movie Defending Jacob based on a book?

While based on William Landay's 2012 novel of the same name, Defending Jacob is not entirely based on a true story. In fact, Landay told HuffPost a few years ago that while he does "borrow" things from real life, he ultimately ties to avoid using "real cases" in his novels.

Did Defending Jacob end like the book?

The ending of the series is much more ambiguous than the book — in William Landay's 2012 novel, the girl Jacob meets on vacation turns up dead, confirming Laurie's worst suspicions. Jacob dies instantly in the car crash. But in the series, everything's still up in the air.