In the end, it is the end. That is my only hint as to the outcome of what has become an extremely popular legal thriller. Scott Turow, whose success pre-dates that of John Grisham, has been putting out well-written and often engaging fiction and slightly fictionalized reality for some time. His first, One L, was given to me by my father as a bad joke after my first semester in law school. The bad joke was that the book was about Turow's first year at Harvard Law School. His account was so realistic that it immediately recalled the tension and pressure and, indeed, the nausea related to the exams I had just taken.

Personal Injuries follows The Laws of Our Fathers, which Turow completed in 1996. His latest novel is set in the fictional Kindle County, which has much of the atmosphere and many attributes of Chicago, the city in which Turow and his wife practice law.

The IRS has located a bank account into which large amounts of money have been deposited by those associated with a small law firm. The account appears to be a device to hide income, and the IRS immediately puts the pressure on Robbie Feaver, one of the two partners in the firm. The real problem for Feaver began when the IRS agents opened his front door to let in U.S. Attorney Stan Sennett, who had an entirely different goal than tax recovery on his mind. That is when George Mason got involved. Mason was an attorney who had an office in the same building where Feaver's firm had its offices. Mason becomes the voice of the novel as Feaver's attorney for the defense of the tax fraud charges. The story is told largely from his point of view as he attempts to help Feaver through what becomes a complicated hodgepodge of personal relationships, schemes, double-dealing, subterfuge and, ultimately, death.

It seems the U.S. Attorney is interested in leveraging the potential tax charges against Feaver to force Feaver's cooperation in a sting operation. The target of the sting is Feaver's law partner's uncle, the chief judge of the local court. U.S. Attorney Sennett believes there is widespread corruption in the courts. Feaver confirms that he has been involved in a system by which he can influence the outcome of cases favorably. The system involves giving money to various people who work for different judges, and the belief is that some of the money in each case makes its way to the chief judge.

The FBI becomes involved in the sting, and Feaver is required to file dummy cases, is wired for sound and given money to fix the dummy cases. A female undercover agent, called Evon Miller for the sting project, is assigned to Feaver, who, although married, is a well-known womanizer. He immediately attempts to involve Miller in his romantic life. When he fails, he involves her in his personal situation in dealing with his wife, Lorraine, who is dying rapidly from a disease that progressively debilitates her.

Feaver winds through a maze of moves meant to bring down the framework of judicial corruption, but the novel involves more. The development of the person who is Feaver and that of the remaining major characters is at the heart of the book. Certainly you will see something of yourself in one or more of the characters. Feaver is despicable in many ways, but there are redeeming qualities. While not despicable, Miller's behavior and thought process raise issues clouded by the fact that she is playing a role for the sting. The interaction between the characters is fascinating and drives the story from beginning to end.

Along the way people get hurt emotionally and physically. Feaver and his partner handle personal injury cases for the plaintiff, but the mental and emotional pain inflicted by the characters on each other as they attempt to carry out their roles in the sting is comparable to the pain suffered by Feaver's clients. Of course, the result of a successful sting will be to inflict pain on those involved in the corrupt judicial system by putting the offenders behind bars.

The combination of action on emotional, mental and physical levels produces a curious result for the reader. While you are reading along at one level, it dawns on you that action is occurring on another level as well, so reading the novel is like running down at least two tracks, sometimes in different directions, at the same time. Even if you attempt to simply follow the action on the literal level, the plot will keep you involved. It is not always fast-paced, but it is intriguing and often suspenseful.

In the end, there is almost nothing but personal injury to the characters in one way or another. For several, there is the ultimate consequence of a personal injury—death. You will be surprised, perhaps, by the ending, but even if not, you will be satisfied that you have not wasted your time. There is a sense of loss, but it results from being caught up in a well-designed, well-written novel. Whether taken as pure entertainment or as a literary endeavor, Personal Injuries will result in no damages to those who take the time for it. You will be fully compensated.