In 1987, readers were introduced to Alejandro "Sandy" Stern in what has become Scott Turow's masterpiece, PRESUMED INNOCENT. We saw the slick defense attorney representing Rusty Sabich, the chief deputy prosecutor of Kindle County, Illinois, when he was accused of murdering the woman with whom he was having an affair. That case seemed unwinnable, and readers like myself tore through the pages of this groundbreaking novel, which has since resulted in a plethora of courtroom dramas.

However, outside of Turow’s contemporary, John Grisham, I cannot name another author who has consistently brought us top-notch legal thrillers that shatter the threshold of mere fiction. Modern-day classics such as PRESUMED INNOCENT belong among classic literary fiction like TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, JUDGMENT AT NUREMBERG and even Grisham's A TIME TO KILL. These are novels that reach through the pages and into the heart, mind and soul of the reader, asking you to stand beside the jurors and make your own moral judgment on all that you have witnessed.

We have seen Sandy Stern in a number of Turow's novels since his debut, but now THE LAST TRIAL finds us going along with Stern on one final ride. Now 85 years old with white hair, he has beaten cancer, is a two-time widower and has survived a near-fatal car accident less than a year before the events of this book. He walks with the assistance of a cane and at times makes slight mental slips during his courtroom presentation. But he is still just as sharp as he always was and may have one or two final tricks up his sleeve before he and his career descend into the sunset.

"[E]veryone wants to see Stern wrap up his career with a win --- but Turow has surprises and roadblocks up his literary sleeve that will make this very difficult. As a character, Stern really does go out with a bang."

The defendant in this case is Nobel Prize winner Kiril Pafko, the founder of Pafko Therapeutics (PT). Back in 2014, the FDA designated PT's g-Livia as a breakthrough therapy in the treatment of cancer. During the 18-month clinical trial, there were a handful of deaths that were not reported on the trial database. The FDA approved g-Livia, and it went to market. The drug helped cure many people of cancer, including Stern. Unfortunately, when people taking g-Livia started dying in agony, the truth about the clinical trial reporting data was made public, which means that Pafko could be found guilty of murder. To compound things, he reported to the press that he was unaware of any sudden deaths of g-Livia patients and promptly sold $20 million in PT stock. Therefore, he could be further indicted for fraud, insider trading and a number of other federal statutes.

Stern will definitely have his hands full as his opponent, prosecutor Moses Appleton, is committed to making Pafko pay. Moses is quite a religious man and firmly believes in an eye-for-an-eye brand of justice. Even though there is much mutual respect between them, Moses has no intention of taking it easy on Stern, even in his last trial. Pafko claims he knew nothing about falsifying the clinical trial data and blames a woman named Wendy Hoh, from the Taiwan-based third party company that oversaw the data, for doing this. Based on Wendy's testimony, the jury could be persuaded to look beyond the murder indictment, which is huge.

Even though Stern owes Pafko his life and wants to end his career with a big win, he cannot do it alone. The partner in his small firm is none other than his daughter, Marta. She takes second chair throughout the case and handles a good part of the witness testimony. The judge is Sonia “Sonny” Klonsky, who he has known for over 30 years. That being said, when Stern has a few mental slippages and blurts out improper statements, Sonny is quick to admonish him and even calls counsel into her chambers when he shares his personal experience with Pafko and g-Livia, which he had been warned not to do.

Pafko explains away the $20 million in stock as claiming he “sold” it to his grandchildren and, in essence, was not conducting any insider trading with the unsuspecting public. That will be a harder sell to the jury because it requires them to try and understand his frame of mind and intentions while handling the stock transaction. Aside from those few personal gaffes, the trial seems to be going along well, and the jury is quite responsive to Stern. The big problems will lie in the testimony of two people who are not on Pafko's side --- his son and colleague at PT, Lep, and his former lover and one-time PT CEO, Innis McVie. Another wild card is Pafko's long-suffering wife, Donatella, who adores Lep and had to have known about her husband's indiscretions.

THE LAST TRIAL plays out in highly suspenseful fashion as readers embark on a roller coaster ride that will see their support of Pafko waver with each passing chapter. Still, everyone wants to see Stern wrap up his career with a win --- but Turow has surprises and roadblocks up his literary sleeve that will make this very difficult. As a character, Stern really does go out with a bang. If he was a stage actor, a theater reviewer would have written about how he “commanded” the stage and kept the audience rapt in attention waiting for his next move. He is just that good!

In this weighty novel, Turow probably delves deeper into various areas of the law than we have ever seen him go before in prior books. As for me, the Sandy Stern in my head remains Raul Julia…and at a suave 85 years old, he is still bringing it.