Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner
Personal Injuries
Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Scott Turow
Class/Genre: Mystery Thriller Legal Setting Hard Boiled Police Procedural
Farrar, Strauss, Giroux; 1999; $27.00; 403 pp.
Holding a subpoena, three agents of the IRS Criminal Intelligence Division visit personal injury attorney Robbie Feaver. They inform Robbie that they have evidence that he and his legal partner Mort Dinnerstein have been depositing money from cases in a secret account at the River National Bank without paying taxes. US Attorney Stan Sennett offers Robbie a deal to turn rat against the judges who fixes cases for the lawyer for a fee. With an ailing mother and his spouse dying from Lou Gehrig’s disease to take care of, Robbie needs a lawyer. He turns to George Mason, the Kindle County attorney recommended by Sennett for legal assistance.
Robbie agrees to wear a wire that will bring in evidence against five judges. He also accepts FBI undercover agent Evon Miller as a paralegal whose assignment is to watch that Robbie does not pull a double cross.
PERSONAL INJURIES may be Scott Turow’s finest legal thriller to date because the awesome author goes into depth to provide authentic motives which drive the key characters. The novel is at its best when the story line focuses on the conflict between the legal right and criminal wrong vs the ethical right and wrong that undercover work can cause. Though the inner workings of the minds of the characters seem to occasionally reach boring intense details, the overall effect is an insider’s look at the uncertain moral aspects of the legal system.
Harriet Klausner
Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner
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