Personal Injuries

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating, compelling, moving - Turow is a master
Review: Scott Turow does not write John Grisham novels. Many of us who read Turow read him because he doesn't churn out the the lowbrow, predictable pablum of other popular genre writers. Personal Injuries is magnificent - filled with complex, multi-faceted characters who are never entirely good or evil but, like most of us, somewhere in-between. The character of Robbie Feaver kept surprising me and challenging my initial perceptions (kinda like some of the people in my own life, how 'bout that!). I found the plot involving corrupt judges to be absolutely compelling and helped immeasurably by Turow's obvious experience with similar circumstances. I finished the novel last night and couldn't help but weep while reading the final 20 pages. Not only did I find the conclusion moving but the novel and the challenges of its characters left me with questions about my own life to think about. Now, what more could I ask of a piece of fiction?

Rating:
Summary: A legal thriller based in reality
Review: Do you like legal thrillers, but are you somehow haunted by the belief that John Grisham doesn't really know what it's like to be a lawyer? Are you a patient reader? If the answer is yes to both questions, then this book is for you. The book, which involves a federal investigation into a corrupt judiciary scheme takes place in Turow's fictional Kindle County. We meet Robbie Feaver as he is coerced into cooperating with the investigation. The book takes off slowly and at the beginning, I confess I really did not like the book all that much. It was a little dry and sometimes had the look and feel of a legal memo (which are not that exciting, and if you've never read one, trust me on this). There was something that kept me reading and I am glad I did. I think it may have simply been the fact that the characters and what they do are truly realistic. As the book continues, Turow throws in some interesting, and yet still believable plot twists. His characters, at least the main ones are fairly multidimensional and the world they live in not all black and white, good and evil, but shades of grey. Robbie is not the most likable character, but is ultimately sympathetic. His choices, like those of the other characters, were not always good ones, but he is human. All in all this is an enjoyable novel if you have the patience to stick throught the first 100 pages or so.

Rating:
Summary: The Feds Will Get You Every Time
Review: Ambulance chasing attorney Robbie Feaver wears Amrani suits and drives a new Mercedes. He acts like he's got the world by the shorts, but in reality it's U.S. Attorney Stan Sennett who has Robbie's undies in his fists. Sennett has caught him hiding income from the IRS and that undeclared income has been buying and corrupting County judges. Robbie's looking at a trip up the river for tax evasion unless he turns into a snitch, wires his office and helps the Fed catch the culprits who have been paying him.

Not only is Robbie dropping a dime on the very people who made it possible for him to drive that Mercedes, but he's also putting himself in the spotlight. The man behind the judicial corruption, Presiding Judge Brendan Tuohey, is a powerful man with all the right connections. Robbie could be in real trouble.

But Robbie does have help, undercover FBI agent Evon Miller (not her real name). She's working in his office to guarantee that he stays with the program, and neither of them are to discourage the rumors that they're sleeping together. That Evon is having problems struggling with her own bisexuality doesn't seem to make her job any easier.

The strain of what he's doing, being a federal snitch, gradually removes most of Robbie's masks, but only in front of Evon, who also is forced to confront her own true self, hidden under layers of deception.

This book has great twists, great drama and great writing with wonderful character development, however I found Evon's identity crisis just a little annoying. Still I stayed with the book well into the night, reading away to see what happens next.

Rating:
Summary: True to Life
Review: I'm an insurance defense litigator, (basically, the James McManis character's area of specialty) and I have to say that Turow's book is absolutely dead-on in terms of the machinations of the civil justice system. He's not as flashy as Grisham, his books don't read as if they were written with the inevitable screenplay in mind, but Turow is the best of any of the current legal fiction writers at putting you, the reader, into the system as it currently exists in America. You're not going to get the Mafia or the FBI chasing an impossibly smart, impossibly perfect protagonist around the country, but you will get an accurate description of how the civil or criminal justice system works in this country.

But what's more, you will get an author who works the language of English better than any of his contemporaries, and who writes more fully developed, flawed, and ultimately REAL characters who act like people who actually exist than anyone else out there. "Personal Injuries" may be my favorite of all his works, despite the lack of a "satisfying" resolution. In that way, like the rest of his work, it is more like life as it actually happens, rather than what we have come to expect from Hollywood.

In short, if you want escapism from your legal fiction - buy Grisham, Martini, Baldacci, et. al. But if you want a finely crafted tale by a master at the top of his game that will transport you into a realm of real people facing real decisions about real cases - then read Scott Turow, and start with something as spot-on as "Personal Injuries."

Rating:
Summary: HATS OFF TO THE BAD GUY
Review: I hadn't read a Scott Turow book since the famed Presumed Innocent, so I didn't know what to expect. One thing Turow does in this book is to make you root for the lawbreaker -- in this case Robbie Feaver, who has been bribing judges in order to get favorable decisions. I usually hate this type of character but Turow has a way of making him so believable and almost justified in the way he goes about his legal business. There is also another side to Robbie Feaver. He is the loving, caring husband of Lorraine who is dying of ALS. Turow handles this aspect of the book with great care. Unfortunately, as in most books of this kind, Robbie gets caught. In this one, he goes undercover for the FBI to escape jail time in order to continue to care for his dying wife.

To this reader, Personal Injuries was almost as good as Presumed Innocent. Replete with considerable legal action, ingenious maneuvers and characters with many secrets to explore, Turow leads you to a climax that will have you shaking your head and punching the wall.

Rating:
Summary: And a half Stars, Well Written
Review: This book is written by someone that can master bringing characters to life and allow them to fill the page staying true to life. The dialogue is exceptional, the settings and action believable and yet not predictable. The story unfolded in such a way that I was sure that both I and the author would end up lost, but I was wrong for the most part.

I won't give away any secrets or endings, but they weren't cookie cutter or generic, and in today's market, that's saying a lot. The characters were flawed but likable and their actions made sense and not only that, they behaved in ways that never made me think "yeahhh righhhht". That's saying a lot too.

Now, the reasons for being just under 5 stars: Turow writes hard core, sometimes he just has too much fun, which I'm sure is great for him, but for the reader, well, I was often saying "get on with the story!" The characters were great, but he fleshes out them out too much at times and I often had trouble remembering who was who and who did what and why it mattered. The page turning action sometimes seemed to be missing totally, and at other times it just took too long to get there.

Is it worth it? Absolutely. When I got near the end I couldn't put it down and it read like any other high concept action thriller, the work getting there was totally paid off and then some. Any one looking for an easy fast-paced read should keep looking, but if you're looking for a real slice of life in a legal/FBI/corruption thriller/mystery with a touch of romance, you'll really enjoy this book.

Rating:
Summary: Exhausting, but superior writing
Review: This book is terrific and better than Turow's more recent book, Reversible Errors. It is exceptionally well detailed and the characterizations are far deeper than the vast majority of genre fiction. Turow is a wonderful and moving writer. The characters are flawed but not easy to forget. The story twists and turns (with a whopper of a climax) but it never seems forced. The is long, 512 pages, and at times it seems a bit endless. Still, a work far above most who work in this field.

Rating:
Summary: Another convoluted legal thriller from Scott Turow
Review: Personal Injuries introduces us to Robbie Feaver, a successful and slightly shady personal injury lawyer who is dying. The Feds come down on him for money laundering, and he agrees to wear a wire to bring down the bigger guys in the deals: judges. There's a lady FBI agent assigned to supervise Robbie, and she's got secrets, too. Read the book to watch the intricate way Turow pulls their two dances into a beautiful pas de deux of flawed but heroic humanity.
Not his best, but very good.

Rating:
Summary: A brilliant, masterful work of art.
Review: To say that Scott Turow is a great legal mystery writer is to shortchange him. He is a great writer period--in any genre.

How disappointing to read some of the less-than-favorable reviews of this book. Perhaps mystery fans who crave a "quick fix" didn't find one here.

In Personal Injuries, Mr. Turow gives us Robbie Feaver--one of the most complex, alternately likable and detestable characters ever imagined. For Robbie, the acts of manipulating and genuinely trying to connect with people are blurred. His take on life, and his relationships with his ailing wife and mother, his colleagues, and especially with FBI agent Evon Miller are deeply interesting and leave you eagerly awaiting what Robbie's next "play" will be.

With respect to the story itself, I cannot remember a book that has moved me as much as Personal Injuries. In contrast to those who found the ending less than satisfying, I found it stunning. And in contrast to those who found the Evon Miller character lacking, I found her interest in self-discovery, her superior athleticism, and her skill as an FBI agent to be riveting.

Do yourself a favor: read this book. Don't expect beach-blanket pablum. Rather, expect truly exceptional writing, richly drawn characters, and a plot that will move you deeply and keep you reflecting on the story for a long time to come. Thank you Mr. Turow!

Rating:
Summary: Odd undercover novel
Review: Scott Turow has been writing lawyerly novels for some years now, suspenseful in their way, with twisting plots and interesting characters. This, his fifth book, is a wonderful turn on the world of personal injury lawsuits. The narrator, George Mason, is representing another lawyer, Robbie Feaver. Robbie's been working as a personal injury lawyer for twenty years, winning many cases, with a dirty little secret he's never told anyone before: he bribes judges to get the decisions he wanted. Now he's been discovered, and his only way to stay out of prison is to cooperate. The U.S. Attorney wants him to wear a wire, and incriminate as many of the judges and other actors as he can.

From there, the novel takes a predictable course, though the plot itself has several surprises that you don't see coming, and some wonderful characters. Though Mason is the narrator, much of the action takes place out of his sight (a device used by more and more authors) and is very entertaining. Robbie Feaver, the main character, is a wonderfully drawn contradiction, a born salesman/actor who can lie to everyone repeatedly and still have them, at some level, liking him. The story is told with artful prose and a reasonable pace, and doesn't drag that much in the middle.

I enjoyed this book and would recommend it.