Personal Injuries
(Libby/OverDrive eAudiobook)

In his latest effort, Turow, known for his suspenseful courtroom dramas, such as Presumed Innocent (1987) and Burden of Proof (1990), is a little off his game. Kindle County Superior Court is rumored to be corrupt until personal-injury lawyer Robbie Feaver gets caught with his hand in the proverbial cookie jar by U.S. Attorney Stan Sennett. In exchange for a reduced sentence, assurance his law partner will not be prosecuted, and extra time to care for his dying wife, Robbie agrees to help expose the corruption that leads all the way up the legal ladder to Chief Judge Brendan Tuohey, who just happens to be uncle to Robbie's law partner. What follows are elaborate plans to secure evidence against judges, lawyers, and bagmen. To that end, Sennett brings in the FBI, and undercover agent Evon Miller poses as Robbie's paralegal to keep tabs on him. What is set up as a possible situational romance never makes it past lukewarm friendship due to Evon's sexual identity crisis. And that leads to the basic flaw with this novel--there isn't a main character really worthy of empathy, though Turow comes closest with Robbie. Stan Sennett's quest for justice crosses over the line from passion to egotistical self-righteousness, Evon's identity crisis is distracting, and Robbie, though likable, isn't very credible as a cocky, lying, cheating, womanizing lawyer who is also supposedly so devoted to his dying wife, sick mother, and clueless law partner that he risks his life to help bring down Tuohey. Turow has a great command of plot and suspense, and the ending makes the read worthwhile; however, it is the lack of strong, believable characters that keeps this novel from being great. --Carolyn Kubisz

Unlike most of his fellow lawyer-novelists, Turow has always been more interested in character than plot, and in Robbie Feaver, a lawyer on the make who ends up fighting for his life, he has created his richest and most compelling figure yet. For years, Robbie has been paying off judges and squirreling away part of the riches he earns as a highly successful trial lawyer. When the IRS happens upon the money trail, and a top prosecutor leans on him to turn state's evidence and finger some of the corrupt justices, Robbie calls on George Mason, veteran Kindle County lawyer, to represent him and win the best deal he can. A complicating element in the case is Evon Miller, Mormon-born FBI agent in deep undercover, who is assigned to watch Feaver and finds herself, against her better inclinations, drawn to himÄfor Feaver is a character of almost Shakespearean contradictions. A charming, brash womanizer who nevertheless shows superhuman reserves of love and patience to his dying wife at home, he is always several jumps ahead of the prosecutors, the FBI and the reader, winning sympathy, even admiration, where there should be none. This patient account is fascinatingly detailed in the ways of the law and the justice system, of how Robbie zeroes in on the biggest target of all, only to be trumped at the last moment. It is also a deeply understanding look, in its portrait of Evon, of the motives that drive a solitary woman into police work (Thomas Harris's Clarice seems shallow by comparison). There are some remarkable narrative strategiesÄTurow deftly alternates a first-person and omniscient-author point of view, for exampleÄbut readers will not be concerned with technical details, only with the rare revelation of a paradoxical personality so compelling he makes the very adroit plot almost superfluous. 750,000 first printing; $500,000 ad/promo; first serial to Playboy; BOMC main selection; QPB selection; 9-city author tour; paperback rights to Warner; simultaneous Random House audio. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

First published in 1999, Turow's (Identical) intricate story probes corruption on one side and duplicity all around. U.S. Attorney Stan Sennett enlists personal injury lawyer Robbie Feaver-going to prison for tax evasion being the alternative-as an informant in an FBI sting operation targeting Kindle County judges on the take, including the uncle of Feaver's law partner. Intervening years have rendered the surveillance technology less compelling, but other "Project Petros" elements-bogus legal firm, fabricated lawsuits, Feaver's undercover paralegal-contribute layers of intrigue and suspense. Though Turow initially sets the stage at a leisurely pace, Mark Bramhall's versatile, adept narration propels this twisty narrative-dramatic, if not outright thrilling-onward to a memorable finale. Verdict Recommended for fans of character-driven legal fiction. ["Densely packed and tightly constructed, this tangle of human relationships and legal machinations will have Turow fans burning the midnight oil," read the review of the Farrar hc, LJ 8/99.]-Linda Sappenfield, Round Rock P.L., TX (c) Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

The undisputed dean of legal intrigue (The Laws of Our Fathers, 1996, etc.) burrows deep into the muck surrounding the attempt to turn a dirty lawyer into an informant against the judges he's been bribing. Now that the feds have discovered the secret bank account he's been using to pay off some of the Kindle County judges who've been ruling on his cases, Robbie Fearer is ready to roll over on Their Honors. He'll wear a wire to his meetings with their bagmen, hoping to get enough evidence to persuade at least four judges--party hack Barnett Skolnick, alcoholic Gillian Sullivan, scholarly Silvio Malatesta, and aggressive black ex-athlete Sherm Crowthers--to testify against the big fish the Feebs arc really after: Brendan Tuobey, Presiding Judge of the county superior court's common law claims division and uncle of Robbie's benighted partner, Mort Dinnerstein. And while he's waiting for the chance to get the goods on his former co-conspirators, Robbie will accept the constant companionship of FBI agent Even Miller, disguised as one of the paralegals he can't stop chasing even as his beloved wife Rainey is descending into the excruciating final stages of Leu Gehrig's disease. It all sounds simple, and in the hands of a lesser storyteller the pivots of suspense would be utterly predictable: Will Robbie get found out? Will the bugging equipment actually work? Will the little fish he lands agree to turn on the big fish? All these problems come up here, all right, but, as usual, Turow is less interested in creating dangers for his hero than in exploring the ethical dilemmas of ambiguous legal situations--in particular, the morality of undercover work, whether the undercover ops are FBI agents or bogus lawyers the government can't make parties to defrauding innocent clients, and whether it involves lying about your political debts, your sexual preferences, or your personal loyalties. The result is a revelation--a subtle, densely textured legal thriller stuffed with every kind of surprise except the ones you expect. Turow is well on his way to making Kindle County the Yoknapatawpha of American law. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

In his latest effort, Turow, known for his suspenseful courtroom dramas, such as Presumed Innocent (1987) and Burden of Proof (1990), is a little off his game. Kindle County Superior Court is rumored to be corrupt until personal-injury lawyer Robbie Feaver gets caught with his hand in the proverbial cookie jar by U.S. Attorney Stan Sennett. In exchange for a reduced sentence, assurance his law partner will not be prosecuted, and extra time to care for his dying wife, Robbie agrees to help expose the corruption that leads all the way up the legal ladder to Chief Judge Brendan Tuohey, who just happens to be uncle to Robbie's law partner. What follows are elaborate plans to secure evidence against judges, lawyers, and bagmen. To that end, Sennett brings in the FBI, and undercover agent Evon Miller poses as Robbie's paralegal to keep tabs on him. What is set up as a possible situational romance never makes it past lukewarm friendship due to Evon's sexual identity crisis. And that leads to the basic flaw with this novel--there isn't a main character really worthy of empathy, though Turow comes closest with Robbie. Stan Sennett's quest for justice crosses over the line from passion to egotistical self-righteousness, Evon's identity crisis is distracting, and Robbie, though likable, isn't very credible as a cocky, lying, cheating, womanizing lawyer who is also supposedly so devoted to his dying wife, sick mother, and clueless law partner that he risks his life to help bring down Tuohey. Turow has a great command of plot and suspense, and the ending makes the read worthwhile; however, it is the lack of strong, believable characters that keeps this novel from being great. ((Reviewed July 1999)) Copyright 2000 Booklist Reviews

Returning once again to Kindle County, Turow (The Laws of Our Fathers) offers his fifth meticulously plotted volume of contemporary legal intrigue. U.S. Attorney Stan Sennett has set his sights on a powerful group of corrupt judges, vowing to prosecute them at any cost. With the help of the FBI, he devises a set of legal traps designed to produce the evidence he needs to convict. The centerpiece of this subversion is Robbie Feaver, a Kindle County personal injury lawyer nabbed for tax evasion by Sennett. Turow constructs a maelstrom of dramatic confrontations abetted by the latest technology at the FBI's disposal and also manages to follow the disintegration of Feaver's personal life with a sympathetic eye. Densely packed and tightly constructed, this tangle of human relationships and legal machinations will have Turow fans burning the midnight oil. Recommended for all public libraries. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 7/99.]ANancy McNicol, Hagaman Memorial Lib., East Haven, CT Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Unlike most of his fellow lawyer-novelists, Turow has always been more interested in character than plot, and in Robbie Feaver, a lawyer on the make who ends up fighting for his life, he has created his richest and most compelling figure yet. For years, Robbie has been paying off judges and squirreling away part of the riches he earns as a highly successful trial lawyer. When the IRS happens upon the money trail, and a top prosecutor leans on him to turn state's evidence and finger some of the corrupt justices, Robbie calls on George Mason, veteran Kindle County lawyer, to represent him and win the best deal he can. A complicating element in the case is Evon Miller, Mormon-born FBI agent in deep undercover, who is assigned to watch Feaver and finds herself, against her better inclinations, drawn to him for Feaver is a character of almost Shakespearean contradictions. A charming, brash womanizer who nevertheless shows superhuman reserves of love and patience to his dying wife at home, he is always several jumps ahead of the prosecutors, the FBI and the reader, winning sympathy, even admiration, where there should be none. This patient account is fascinatingly detailed in the ways of the law and the justice system, of how Robbie zeroes in on the biggest target of all, only to be trumped at the last moment. It is also a deeply understanding look, in its portrait of Evon, of the motives that drive a solitary woman into police work (Thomas Harris's Clarice seems shallow by comparison). There are some remarkable narrative strategies Turow deftly alternates a first-person and omniscient-author point of view, for example but readers will not be concerned with technical details, only with the rare revelation of a paradoxical personality so compelling he makes the very adroit plot almost superfluous. 750,000 first printing; $500,000 ad/promo; first serial to Playboy; BOMC main selection; QPB selection; 9-city author tour; paperback rights to Warner; simultaneous Random House audio. (Oct.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.