The Last Trial (Kindle County Legal Thriller #11)

\”The Last Trial\” is the eleventh book by Turow set in Kindle county, a fictitious county, somewhere in the US heartland. In reading the prior novels I have become a fan of the author and sat down prepared to enjoy several hours of similar feelings towards his latest. The announced plot was very attractive. Sandy Stern, a retired defense attorney is called upon by his lifelong friend Kiril Pafko charged with insider trading, fraud and murder to defend him. Stern feels that he is morally obligated to take the case and does so. Pafko is also a previous winner of the Nobel prize in medicine and considered by his peers in the field as beyond reproach. The novel is the story of the trial and that is both its strength and also its weak points. Turow touches on the thoughts, feelings and weaknesses of both men, the judge presiding, witnesses and people working on details on the sidelines. He allows us into both the current motivations of all concerned as well as describing the past that could be pertinent to present happenings. Taking part are also the families of the leading personnel. A major factor involved is that Pafko is accused of his crimes based on his presiding over a major study of a new cancer drug making it\’s way through the approval process of the FDA. (Food and Drug Administration). The path to finally marketing the new drug is based on obtaining the approval of that agency. The author does make the point that the FDA relies on the published findings of the company testing their own drug. The agency does not have the time nor the laboratory staff to do so on their own. The weakness of the book is it\’s almost tedious relying on talk, re flexion, and reaction by the participants. This method turned my attention away from the read several times, losing the thread of the action due to a lack of it. My opinion of Turow\’s latest is that I was disappointed at it\’s apparent lack of forward motion, just happy to finish it which was done only as an obligation but still awaiting his next novel in order to grab it up.

I have read every one of Scott Turow’s books. He is the absolute best writer of legal thrillers. I was eagerly awaiting the delivery of his latest. I am giving it 3 stars only because of the top notch prose. The story itself plods along, bogged down in details about drug trials, criminal procedure and scientific research. The defendant is not at all sympathetic. Red herrings are tossed around but never really catch hold. It is boring. And anti-climatic. There are pages of explanations about legal minutiae that do little to advance the story. And pages of character development that do little to explain anything. The only character with any life is Pinky, Sandy Stern’s undervalued granddaughter and paralegal. A real disappointment from Turow.

Getting through Scott Turow’s l‘The Last Trial’ was a chore. A great plot about a renowned doctor and scientist, Nobel Laureate, and potential billionaire charged with murder, fraud and insider trading during the early life of a miraculous cancer treatment that developed some serous, deadly side effects. All the elements of a genuine thriller UNTIL Mr Turow decides that this narrative should also be an exhaustive, boring tutorial on FDA drug approval requirements with endless descriptions of the Three Phase Clinical Trial process, New Drug Application requirements, PDUFA (don’t ask), Fast Track and Priority Review. In addition the sub plots and personality disorders of the principals, endlessly described, make the characters universally unlikable. At the end you are bound to ask ‘was it worth it’. Sadly it was not.

As a civil trial attorney over 85, I identified with Sandy Stern 85 the defense counsel in his last criminal trial before a jury defending of Nobel prize winner, who is charged with murder, fraud relating to cancer drug and insider trading. Verisimilitude in Turrow’s description of the trial, the life a lawyer, it’s pitfalls and attraction to a life devoted to the law and little else The book is gripping and obviously will become a streaming film. There are many red herrings which should keep the reader immersed in the plot until the final multiple endings. You will be guessing at the conclusions This is one of the author’s best books.

Scott Turow is one of my favorite authors and I usually give his books 5 stars. Sadly, I can\’t give this one 5 stars. The book is, of course, well written and the story well developed. It was interesting to see Sandy Stern as an old man arguing his last case. I loved the descriptions of his relationships with his two deceased wives, his children and his granddaughter. I also enjoyed his reflections on his career and the end of it. What I was less enthusiastic about is the extreme detail of the case itself, which at times I found myself skimming because it was too much in the weeds. Also, I read a lot of legal thrillers and have watched every episode of Law and Order – twice – so I know about the basic structure of trials and what all the terms mean. Turow also describes these things in minute detail so again, skimming. I missed the style of his older books where there was more of a story of the people involved as well as the legal story than was in this novel. With those qualifications, I would say it\’s a very good book and an interesting story with complex characters. There are some surprises as well.

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