Law and Addiction

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Law and Addiction is my third Papantonio novel. I raved about the first two, and this one is both compelling and timely. It’s a story about the ravages of the opioid epidemic. Normally, I dislike stories about twins, but this is not a typical story about twins being mistaken for one another. Rather, it’s a story about two men who have grown up as best friends. When Jake leaves to go to college and law school, his twin brother Blake stayed behind, and then got swept up by the evil of Oxy. Given the pervasive nature of the opioid problem, their hometown of Oakley, West Virginia has become known as “Zombieland.” As a rookie lawyer who really has no hope of a good job in a big firm, Jake opens his own office in Oakley and then naively takes on Big Pharma in an attempt to avenge his brother’s death. He knows he cannot possible take on Big Pharma on his own, so he enlists the help of the super successful Deke Deketonis, the hero of Papantonio’s second novel. The fight is on. Once again the author makes great use of character development to flesh out his story. This is a very real human drama.

From the standpoint of suspense, this book did not quite measure up to the first two novels, but the storyline is compelling and incredibly timely. I am a doctor who treats patients who are trying to deal with their addictions, and the author’s descriptions of such battles are very real. It’s clear that he has done his homework and that he has written an important story. It was only the week before I wrote this review that Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, and their principal owners, the Sackler family, settled a related lawsuit for $270 million. I remain a fan of Mike Papantonio and look forward to his next novel. Law and Addiction is scheduled for release on 5/7/19.