Rating: 
Summary: Deep Secrets of the Heart
Review: I grew up in the adventurous lap of thriller writers such as Robert Ludlum and Alistair MacLean, and later progressed into the thoughtful arms of John LeCarre and Graham Greene. Both styles of writing had their place. And so does Scott Turow. In Personal Injuries, he elevates the legal thriller to something more...a glance into human nature and motivations, a study of friendship, loyalty, and honesty. He does for this genre what John LeCarre did for the espionage thriller. No,he didn't keep me turning the pages at the same speed as John Grisham. He didn't have to. I found myself wanting to spend time with these characters, to understand the factors pushing them to the book's conclusion. Although, the intermittent first-person point of view was distracting and unnecessary, Turow manages to dance through relational and emotional minefields without a misstep. These characters live and breathe. Robbie Feaver, the defense lawyer caught in the sites of the FBI, leads the reader and the federal agents on a twisting path of deceit. He's been paying off judges to rule in his favor on certain cases, and he knows the buck doesn't stop there...Someone else has his finger on the pulse of every crooked judge, and that someone else is padding his pockets as well. The FBI offers Feaver leniency in exchange for his help to bring down the judges and the crafty, squeaky-clean man at the top. Along the way, Feaver's conniving ways give way to a sympathetic side, a human heart beating beneath his deceptive exterior. Can Evon Miller, his female FBI tag-a-long playing the part of a girlfriend, trust him to gather the necessary evidence to convict the judges? Can she trust the deep secrets of her heart to Feaver even as she lives in deep cover? The answers to these questions will ultimately determine the outcome of the operation. And not everyone will walk away a winner. Except, of course, for the reader who's willing to become personally involved in the lives of Robbie and Evon. Even lawyers experience Personal Injuries. This was my first Turow book. Yes, I'll be one of the first to read Grisham's newest in February, but I'll look forward to a meatier diet with Turow's next offering.
Rating: 
Summary: DO NOT READ!
Review: I struggled to get through this book. Being one who needs to know what happens, I had to finish the book. It was one of the worst books that I have ever read. The author seemed to babble on about unimportant information. I strongly suggest that you do not waste your time reading this.
Rating:
Summary: A STRUGGLE TO FINISH
Review: This book took me a really long time to finish because I just couldn't bear to read more than a few pages at a time. I was determined to finish, however, because I am stubborn and because I wanted to see how it all ended. I shouldn't have wasted my time. This was a suprisingly bad book and one that I'll bet would never have been published if it didn't have the name "Scott Turow" attached to it. (Truthfully, the only book by Turow that I really enjoyed was "One L." Probably because I was just starting law school when I read it.) One of the reasons I think the book was so bad was the technique of having it narrated by "George Mason" - a totally uninteresting character. We never care a whit about him, and he fails to make us care about Feavor or Evon or anyone else. (Oh, and those names! "Favor" and "Even" - give me a break - it was driving me crazy throughout the whole book). Turow should not use this technique again. Then again, I don't really care because I doubt I will ever again read another one of his books.
Rating:
Summary: Personal Injuries
Review: I gave up. I read 97 pages and have found nothing to m ake me want to read any further. I don't know how someone could write Presumed Innocent and write something this bad. I kept tninking something would make me want to finish it. No such luck.
Rating: 
Summary: The Truth Outs
Review: Finally someone in a position to know writes a semi-plausible scenario explaining why, at times, there is no justice in the justice system. The book does not rise to the occasion completely, as much of the plot is implausible in the real world of legal practice. The best parts of the book are found in the situations where it is not clear whether the judges are taking bribes or if the bribing attorney just thinks they are. This is razor's edge drama until Turrow allows the scales to tilt anticlimactically. A bit lazy, like the plot that a personal injury attorney can rake in the dough for a decade without a jealous insurance defense attorney picking up the phone to discover that the rich PI attorney doesn't even have a law license. Come on, Turrow. Let truth power your fiction. And sneak in a tale or two about the camaraderie of judges and insurance defense attorneys . . .
Rating: 
Summary: phenomenal
Review: I may be biased since I'm a personal injury lawyer.But as one, I can say that the book hit home.I'm sure others like me,know a Robbie Feaver in some way. Turow is a great story teller.His best since Presumed Innocent.
Rating: 
Summary: Personal Injuries
Review: While it is an interesting read, I found the surprise ending and the wrapping up of the characters' lives at the conclusion to be depressing and ultimately unsatisfying. In addition, I think that the hidden truth about Robbie Feaver's longtime practice of law without a license is a totally unrealistic fictional device. No lawyer can survive without a valid attorney ID number. For me, that particular gimmick invalidates the narrator's description of the work as a "lawyer's story." Considering all the time and effort Turow put into this project, and his obvious talent, I am sorry he couldn't have thought up a more believable plot twist.
Rating:
Summary: Was it the reader or the author?
Review: I was particularly looking forward to hearing this book by Scott Turow since Robbie Feaver's wife has ALS as does my husband. I thought, "ALS brought to the public's attention and a terrific story and a great author." The first and thing I noticed was the drone of Ken Howard's reading. He makes very little distiction between characters which made the whole complicated tale all the more complicated! I respect him as an actor. But, authors, please do NOT hire Ken to read your books! Ouch! I almost stopped listening a couple of times, but got through it eventually. Then it took me a while to figure out that the story was narrated by a relatively minor character instead of the protagonist. Hmm. Protagonist doesn't exactly fit Robbie either. His character seemed to fluxuate between a solid huxter/criminal and a loving(?)/caring spouse. I wished he'd stopped trying to be Evan's best friend. I'm wondering if I now need to read the book to figure out the real problem. At this point, I've read some of the reviews of the book which seemed a bit luke-warm so now I hesitate to spend the money on the book. I do not often do written reviews such as this, but the poor quality of the audio version moved me to put my feelings before the reading public on Amazon.com. I've listened to many many books on tape, but have seldom found myself so frustrated. The ending had a nice/if sad twist, and I cried a bit at the assisted suicide. (Understandably so considering my personal association with ALS.) But the narration done by Robbie's lawyer - odd - and the poor reader quality left me wanting.
Rating:
Summary: Liked it
Review: If you're a typical Grisham-loving reader who prefers shallow movie-treatments being passed off as novels, then you will be disappointed by this book (and with most of Turow's work). However, if you enjoy characters possessing more than two dimensions and storylines which might actually make you think about something other than turning the next page, you'll find this book interesting, falling somewhere in between Pleading Guilty and Presumed Innocent. Turow seems to alternate his very dense, probing novels (Burden of Proof, Laws of our Fathers) with the more commercial attempts such as those mentioned above. Personal Injuries, apparently, attempts to get back to the Presumed Innocent model. As interesting as it is, the main difference is that the narrative trick employed here (giving George Mason pseudo-omniscient storytelling capabilities) weakens the story in comparison to the strong first-person voice of Presumed Innocent. But if you're willing to grant Turow this liberty, the ride is worth it. Still, I wonder whether it might have worked better told entirely first person from Feaver's POV, or even Evon's.
Rating:
Summary: personal injuries
Review: an overhyped, overdrawn, and ultimately ponderous read. what little plot there is is drawn out and repeated ad naseum. Fevors is a worthy and complex character but the handwriting eats away the wall and we know what's coming all the way. The judges are like furniture wheeled out and put away while our anti-hero flirts endlessly with FBI agent Even, closet lesbian, olympic athlete who is totally opaque and uninteresting. What more can I say, except a disappointing yawner.
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