The Last Trial (Kindle County Legal Thriller, #11)

by Scott Turow

but he is shocked by how drained he is after court. He’s done little more than watch today, but even so, the high-tension focus the courtroom requires, combined with the drama of yesterday, has sapped him. His synapses, neurons—wherever it is that thought forms—are too fatigued to function. He even feels a few feathery traces of the tachycardia that besets him now and then and concerns Al, his internist.

Although Stern would prefer not to admit it to Marta, there are moments when he is entirely befuddled, when his brain seems to be grinding without establishing a connection to the world beyond.

it always amazes Stern how frequently people talk past and over each other. Conversation, it turns

On cross, Stern prepares feverishly, scribbling notes, selecting exhibits, plotting an anticipated order to his questions, but then flies by instinct once he is on his feet.