Book 654: Law and Addiction – Mike Papantonio

Unlike, Off the Grid, this book was worth saying yes to the publicist.* This book was engaging, a fast read, and had characters that were written well and believably realistic from the newly minted idealist lawyer Jake Rutledge to the West Virginia county chief prosecutor Eva Whistler, all of these characters felt real.

Law and Addiction is the story of Jake Rutledge and his battle against the opioid epidemic and big pharma after his twin brother dies of an opioid overdose. And, honestly, you couldn’t get more timely with a book release with all of the news stories about Purdue Pharma (Google News search) and the crackdowns in Boston after a corrections officer was attacked via Boston 25 News.

One of the strongest parts of this book was Papantonio’s description of the meth users, the stumbling, shuffling and dancing) and the more aggressive responses to other drugs. The area of Boston my bus goes to and that ends close to a major intersection near our house is called both zombieland (a la Jake’s West Virginia hometown) and meth(adone) mile.

I was surprised I enjoyed the legal aspect as much as I did, very little of this takes place outside of the case. You would think talk about MDLs (multidistrict litigations), appeals, and distribution numbers would be incredibly boring, but Papantonio’s writing kept me engaged through those, which is is good because it was a lot more of the book than I thought it would be. There is one part that takes place away from the legal case, and it was so intense/troublesome that it actually gave me disturbing dreams the night after I read it.

I was glad to see Papantonio shine a light, if ever so briefly, on some of the problems with the American healthcare system from sketchy nursing homes to the billion dollar “rehab” industry that not only isn’t very successful, but actively over-bills “clients”/patients insurance companies driving up their own costs even more all while ostensibly curing people who many times have to go to rehab multiple times.

“At Eva’s urging, Danny was also branching out from skilled nursing facilities by setting up drug rehab treatment programs all over West Virginia. These facilities were often erected on the same sites Danny had purchased at condemnation auctions. Vast sums of individual, state, and federal money were being spent on expensive doses of Suboxone, Naltrexone, and methadone, and Danny’s staff knew just how to maximize their billing. You were perceived as a good guy, and all the while you were making barrels of money.” (106)

The pacing worked really well with this book and Papantonio found a great balance of making the opioid epidemic personal and statistically relevant to readers (and the fictional court).

“Being aware of the opioid epidemic was one thing; digesting the frightening statistics associated with it was quite another. But maybe that was the problem. In the courtroom, as in life, large numbers were difficult to envision. Deke was only too aware of the saying that the death of one person is a tragedy, while the death of thousands is a statistic.” (63)

He also did a great job, through the cross examination of former government officials, through Eva Whistler’s story, and through  speculation and later data released about salaries and pill distributions, showed that things like this (as I truly believe is the case currently) are greater institutional problems because of our incredibly porous political systems at all levels and the role of quick money and political donors. UGH.

Every time I read a story about a politician leaving office early, or even leaving at the end of their appointed/elected time in office, I get a little miffed that they sometimes go on to work for large corporations that they either fought to regulate or actively opposed while in office. And don’t even get me started on the current administrations putting people who actively oppose climate, education, equal access to housing in charge of those various departments.

I actually looked into my local libraries to see if the have Papantonio’s other two books (Law and Disorder and Law and Vengeance) because they seem to be loosely connected (like most romance series, a character mentioned here and there star in the next book or a main character appears as a supporting character in a later book). Unfortunately, they didn’t have them, but I’ll be keeping an eye out at the various used book stores I visit on a regular basis.

Recommendation: Definitely worth the read, this book does so much more than it set out to do. Sure, you have the opioid epidemic and Jake’s triple personal stake in it by the end of the novel, but you have issues such as corporate oversight, corporate interference in government work, corrupt government and law enforcement officials, and then all the personal stories on top of that!

Opening Line: “Blake snuck a glance over his right shoulder, trying to see into the darkness.”

Closing Line: “‘What are you doing for the rest of your life?’ asked Jake.” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)

*I received a copy of Law and Addiction in return for my honest opinion. No money or goods were exchanged.