by Scott Turow
First published 2020
Sandy Stern sits in his law office at eighty-five, his health declining but his mind still sharp. The celebrated criminal defense attorney plans to retire when his old friend Dr. Kiril Pafko calls desperately for help. Pafko, a Nobel Prize winner in Medicine, faces charges of insider trading, fraud, and murder that could destroy his reputation as a cancer researcher. Stern agrees to defend him in what will be his final trial. As the case unfolds in court, Stern discovers disturbing details about his friend's past. The evidence reveals a man different from the distinguished doctor Stern thought he knew. Pafko's life's work hangs in the balance, but so does Stern's faith in both friendship and justice. The veteran lawyer must decide how far he will go to save a client who may be guilty of terrible crimes. In the courtroom, Stern confronts the gap between legal truth and actual truth, testing his belief in the judicial system one last time.
Genres: mystery, crime, contemporary, legal-thriller
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: moral-dilemma, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Law Office
Period: Present Day
464 pages · Kindle Edition · Grand Central Publishing
Content warnings: medical-trauma