Late one spring afternoon, Alejandro 'Sandy' Stern, the most celebrated defence lawyer in the Midwestern city where he lives, comes home from a business trip to find that Clara, his wife of thirty years, has committed suicide. Readers of Presumed Innocent will remember Stern as the quixotic lawyer who masterminded the defence of Rusty Sabich. In his new book, Turow probes the character of this fascinating and complex man and his troubled family and relations.
Like many successful people, Stern has appeared preoccupied and remote even to those closest to him. He is overwhelmed by Clara's suicide, which forces him to confront all he does not understand about his life, including his children. Even in his mourning, Stern is drawn back to the law as the defender of Dixon Hartnell, who is the target of an increasingly complex investigation by a federal grand jury. Stern's connections to Dixon, an immensely rich owner of a commodities futures brokerage and a wily financial gamesman, are long and involved. Dixon, who both fascinates and repels Stern, is the husband of Stern's beloved sister Sylvia, and he has employed Stern to keep him one step ahead of the law for decades.
As Sandy seeks to unravel both the painful mystery of Clara's death and the tangled web of Dixon's financial wheeling and dealing, his whole world – marriage, family, career – is brought under the intense scrutiny that only a lawyer as persistent, perceptive, and honest as Stern can muster. The result is a novel of emotional resonance, high suspense, and devastating revelations. It confirms Scott Turow's place as one of our most compelling storytellers.