John Grisham Books

This is my 3rd John Grisham book and is the best so far. I liked it so much, that I ordered 3 more of Mr. Grisham's books.

John Grisham always seems to present ideas in the most refreshing way. His descriptions of otherwise normal events leave you turning the pages expectantly as if reading a thriller (and this time it is more of a thriller). This novel has the same suspenseful anticipation, whether it is a court room proceeding or a mob hit-mans hunt for "the Client".

The young man involved, Mark, is a totally believable witness caught between the mob and the legal system. His ally in this adventure is Reggie Love (granted her name may be a little much), who has only been a lawyer a short time but who gives everything to "the Client".

Without giving anything away, if you love Grisham you will not be disappointed with this book. Of course, there is the usual legal wrangling and a lawyer as the hero, but the reliable Grisham style and wit also abound here. And he dabbles more in the excitement of a thriller than some of his other legalistic tomes.

Sam Hendricks, Author of "Fantasy Football Guidebook" and "Fantasy Football Almanac"

A Disney movie for adults, and I mean that in a good way. Written with intelligence, wit, and a healthy dose of contempt for authority figures that are too full of themselves. The protagonist is written as a smart character despite his tender years. He is alternately tough as tungsten and then vulnerable.

This is great summer reading.

Even though this has been made into a movie, and you may have seen it, read the book. Then you can be one of those people who can say, "I read the book."

I actually saw the movie version with Susan Sarandon before
reading the book but the book is a fun read about a boy
from New Orleans who witnesses a terrible crime.

What I love about John Grisham novels is that they are
appropriate to read anytime of the year. Some books are
only good in the wintertime and other books are only good
in the summer but Grisham doesn't have that problem. The
only problem with his work is that he's written so many
good books, it's hard to keep up. I've only read three
and they've all been excellent. Also, a good read for
knowledge about the law too.

After reading the bestselling paperback "The Firm," I fell into the habit of reading John Grisham's novels. Of the half dozen titles that I read, this is probably the best of the lot. I would rate it as being better than several of his other better known novels.

What made this book stand out in my opinion is the fact that the lead character is a minor. The legal system can be a bewildering labyrinth for most adults. How much more terrifying can it be for a preteen?

The youngster in this case had the misfortune to witness the suicide of a crooked criminal defense attorney. The drunken shyster spoke to the boy before his death and the unfortunate kid soon finds that he is a target for a team of Mafia killers. The dead man knew too much and the mobsters do not want to take the risk that the eleven year old may communicate any incriminating information from the mouthpiece's dying declaration to the authorities.

This is one of Grisham's better efforts. It is a good book filled with suspense. John Grisham is a former state legislator from Mississippi and an attorney, so he knows enough about the practice of law to provide the necessary details. Sometimes, I found it a trifle incredible that the Mafia has suddenly departed New York and New Jersey to set up sattelite offices in the rural South.

As an aside, I have to confess that I gradually tired of Grisham's writing. His approach became overly familiar and formulaic. Many of his books read as if the author was planning for an immediate movie adaptation of the current novel (the Stephen King Movie of the Week syndrome) while he was writing. As a consequence, I simply stopped reading his subsequent books. Grisham can produce page turning prose with the best of them, but after awhile the repetition became monotonous for me. After reading six of his books, I stopped cold.

It was not so much a case that Grisham was not entertaining, he was, but as a reader I had the sense of having been there and done that. Some gifted authors have a talent for writing books that always seem to be fresh and new, even when employing the same set of characters, while others seem to fall into a predictable, if profitable rut. Someday, I may check out another Grisham book to see if I was incorrect in my original assessment.

this is my 4th grisham book and i think this one is the best one so far. the story picks up very quickly and it keeps you interested the whole way through.

i really enjoyed how the story unravels. highly recommend this one!

In my opinion this is the best work Grisham has done since A Time To Kill. In fact, it might be even stronger in the plot development and climax. My only regret is he leaves you unsure of what actually happened in the end! It's almost like he's setting it up for a sequel. If I ever see him around Oxford again I'm going to have to ask his intentions in the final chapter. It's a must read for anyone who loves great mysteries.

I would have to say that John Grisham is a pretty good good auther I love his work. Litterly when I read THE PARTNER I couldent put it down, I mean I actualy wanted to read.
My favoritee part in the book was when patrick tells his story to his lawyer Sandy. I mean how did he do it it was amasing, the faking his death, wathing his burial from a tree, and most of all the steeling of ninty million bucks.
Although this is the first book I've read of yours, I know I will read many others that you have wrote because they are shure to be just as good as the PARTNER was!!

I am an avid reader of Grisham's gripping legal thrillers, and I must say that The Partner is one of his best, along with A Time to Kill and The Firm.

From the heart pumping introduction to the dramatic climax, The Partner will have you up all night wishing you could just finish before you fell asleep. However, I felt that the ending needed an epilogue, because I was crestfallen with the final twist. I would recommend this book to all fiction readers and fans of Grisham. This read is top-notch.

I am someone who typically has trouble finding time to read a book..especially finish one. This was my first Grisham book and I couldn't stop reading it. I kept fitting a few pages in on my breaks and little bits of spare time I had....a great book!

Though I normally don't read many detective mysteries, I read this one by my friend, law professor Jack Dobbyn. The action moves, the humor is wry, and the book is well plotted and well written. Set in Boston, it offers fascinating information on the tongs that terrorize chinatowns in many American cities. A great read.

First Sentence: Suppose you were to wake up one Monday morning to a promising, amber sun rising out of Boston Harbor.

Michael Knight is a young attorney in a very prestigious Boston law firm. Lex Devlin is a legendary attorney whose career was nearly ruined by rumor that he bought a juror. Now the two are working together to defend, and prove innocent, the son of an important Judge. The young man is accused of shooting a revered elderly man in Chinatown. In the investigation, Michael, with his college friend Harry, sees sides of Chinatown he didn't know existed and he may not survive the experience.

Gripping, exciting, suspenseful--over the top at times but boy, did it keep me turning the pages. There was good development of the main characters, wonderful wry humor and a chance to visit my favorite city of Boston and the drive to Canada. I can't ensure the accuracy of the legal scenes, but considering Dobbyn was a practicing lawyer and now a professor of law, I have to assume they are correct. They certainly aren't dull, as is nothing in this book. If you are looking for an exciting weekend read, this is it. I'll also admit I also loved that his inside cover picture is him, his wife and their dog.

My awesome sister-in-law TOOK the picture that is now the cover of this book! Also, she named her picture "neon dragon" BEFORE the book was ever written....HOW COOL IS THAT!!!!
Yes - she's very talented!!!!! Just thought I would share! Thought some of you might find this info interesting!

In Boston Michael Knight works as a third year associate attorney at Bilson, Dawes, Leftbridge & Sykes law firm. Thus he is shocked when African-American judge Amos Bradley, expected to be named to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court soon, asks him to represent his son Anthony, who is accused of killing sexagenarian Mr. Chen An-Young during a New Year's parade. The shooting has angered the Chinese-American community as Mr. Chen was a well respected grandfather.

Knight visits the incarcerated Anthony at the Suffolk County prison where he finds his client articulate and grateful. Anthony insists he is guilty of only agreeing to go with his friend Terry Blocher to attend the Chinese New Year gala. At the office, attorney Alexis "Lex" Devlin offers to help Michael with the case; Alexis was the top gun until a decade ago when a jury-tampering charge forced Lex into "hiding". The case looks hopeless on the surface, but with Knight following clues that take him into nasty neighborhoods, he believes he can prove his client's innocence that is if he stays alive long enough.

The protagonist knew nothing about government corruption or Chinese organized gangs in spite of being in the prosecutor's office for four years before he joined his current firm and grew up in the city. Knight is a terrific protagonist who, with his mentor, makes for a delightful Bostonian joy ride. The story line is fast-paced and includes some fun references to Beantown literary sleuths. However, it is the courtroom that makes this a fine legal thriller as fans of the sub-genre will enjoy the teaming of Michael and Lex.

Harriet Klausner

As a long time fan of Dobbyn's short stories in Ellery Queen, Hitchcock, et al,I read his first full length novel with eager anticipation.Neon Dragon did not disapppoint & in fact was a great read!
Fast paced with well placed sarcasm & wry humor, the story & characters pull one in & make it difficult to put down ala Patterson & Grisham.However, Dobbyn has a style uniquely his own. His scenes in & about Boston bring back images that I as a former Bostonian can really appreciate.
I look forward to his next novel.

C.F.DiSilva

The demise of The Oxford American magazine is a tragedy! Thank goodness a person can still sample its pages in this wonderful compilation of fiction, essays and reviews. Tony Earley's essay, Letter from Sister: What We Learned at the P.O., which concerns Eudora Welty's great short story, is probably the best thing in the book. It doesn't stop there however; there is a sample of John T. Edge's great writing on southern food, Hal Crowther's review of Erskine Caldwell, Donna Tartt's thoughts on Willie Morris and so much more. This book, like the old Oxford American itself, is pure bliss.

UPDATE: Spring 2005. "The Oxford American" is back!! I suggest that everyone with an interest in the American South spend some quality time with an issue!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The only element lacking in this collection are re-issues of the prized "Southern Music" CDs which appeared with the annual "Music Issue" of the Oxford American. Otherwise, for those who have not archived each issue of the magazine, this is an excellent selection.

Sadly, the Oxford American's precarious financial situation perpetually places it in the southern `lost cause' cliché. Would that some subscribers of other moribund New York-based `literary' magazines, which perpetually lurch around the elite graveyard of memory for its existence, abandon the shell and support the living, and the future. Intelligent readers will both want to own this volume, and subscribe to the Oxford American.

The idea of "the best of the Oxford American" brings out a lot of expectations. This magazine has been the home for a lot of special writing. This book provides some of those moments. I especially enjoyed the narrative of the small town photographer burdened by the unwelcome insights of his coworkers and the blank misunderstandings of his Disney World roadtripping friends. I think that the criticism by Tony Earley would have made just as good an introduction to this book as did Rick Bragg's more metaphorical observation that this writing is "heavy on the salt."
I would recommend this book for anyone that wants to read about the South as it actually is -- unique, history-addled, and genuinely "salty".

This collection of works--fiction, nonfiction, poetry, reportage--by the biggest names writing in or about the South is a real treasure. For those already familiar with "the New Yorker of the South" it will remind those what have made the magazine so special for so many years, and for those who have not discovered the magazine, BOA will be a great introduction to the best in Southern belles lettres. The book, like the magazine itself, is a little trad and not good on commenting on the lives of blacks, gays/lesbians, and immigrants to the South, but there is much for everyone to enjoy here.

Fasinating stuff. During some of the time covered in this book, I was a Mississippi lawyer, and I gotta say that this is a well researched piece of work. And it is reader friendly too. A helluva of job. A+ in my opinion.

Fabulous and balanced walk through the political scenery of Mississippi. Nash and Taggart should give lessons to current politicos on how to have different perspectives and still get something done!

Nash and Taggart are two insiders from opposing sides, and so it follows that their story of Mississippi politics records the men, mostly, who fought one another for the benefits of power in the state of magnolia, and also that they do it without creating one dimensional characters. Here is the clash of races and of regions and the clanging of gavels and of gaming houses.

Looking at the state through a left and a right lens Nash and Taggart tell a story too about local power structures broken and dissolved and reconstituted amid the larger national movements.

In the lives and deaths of some of the actors this binocular vision reveals an unexpected pathos - in the stories of Jon Hinson and Aaron Henry and, of all people, James Eastland.

For my money, having lived here through those same 30 years, there were plenty of pure scoundrels, so I acknowledge and recommend their superior version.

The authors have exhaustively mined existing non-book sources (oral histories, theses and dissertations, inter alia) as well as conducted their own interviews to present, in very readable form, this 30 year report of Mississippi politics. I highly recommend it.

John Quincy Adams
Emeritus Professor of Political Science
Millsaps College
Jackson, Mississippi

This first biography of John Grisham reads like a mystery. It describes the mystique of Mississippi and gives historic tidbits of each town where Grisham grew up to whet the reader's appetite. For hopeful writers, it tells how Grisham evolved as a writer. A good, quick, informative read!

Narayan of Rebeccasreads highly recommends THE JOHN GRISHAM STORY as a biography of his writing life. There are no family trees, no attempt to trace out genealogy or any of the frills & hoopla commonly associated with biographies. What we find inside is a simple tale, narrated in simple words, about the life & times of one of the most widely read & popular authors of the present times.

Through the words of many of his friends, teachers & close-relatives we find out the real man behind the stunning works of THE FIRM & A TIME TO KILL, etc. It mainly focuses on three aspects of Grisham's life: the first of a lawyer & a politician; the second that of a writer extraordinaire, the king of legal thrillers, & the third about Grisham's dream of becoming a baseball star.

Two out of three's good going!

Do catch our interview with Libby Hughes.

Wow,truely incredible, I couldnt put it down.
Steve Murphy has the abillity to captivate for hours on end.
Truely a must read for the legal fiction lover.

"what if holden caufield went to law school" is a delightful and at the same time substantive read. To purchase the book is kind of like getting a two-fer--that is, great and captivating legal fiction, and a spate of interviews with some of the real stars of the world of legal fiction. Murphy's fiction stories are tight, well-written, and insightful, both in regard to character development and the world of practicing law. The writer interviews

are really satisfying--Murphy's questions to the writers are spot on in that they probe precisely the issues I would have wanted to explore. For anyone who loves legal fiction, or just great writing in general, I highly recommend this book.

Al igual que en las novelas anteriores de John Grisham, ésta nos mantiene al borde de la primera a la última página y además trata de un tema causa mucha controversia en la actualidad.

Una viuda, cuyo marido muere a causa de cáncer de pulmón, demanda a una tabacalera por el homicidio de éste, pues fumó 30 cigarrillos al día durante 30 años.

Por un lado, la parte acusadora sostiene que no es justo que una persona muera por usar un producto correctamente, además de que el tabaco crea adicción y la publicidad va dirigida a la juventud. Por otro lado, la defensa afirma que cada quien fuma por que quiere y que es posible dejarlo.

A lo largo del libro se uno se enterar de cosas muy interesantes como que las tabacaleras le agregan nicotina adicional al tabaco para lograr más adicciones y que sea más difícil dejar de fumar. También nos enteramos de todo el juego sucio que se desarrolla antes y durante un juicio importante en los Estados Unidos. Las tabacaleras, enormes negocios que ganan mucho dinero, quebrarían si perdieran el juicio, por lo que tienen que hacer todo lo que puedan para ganarlo, desde sobornar jurados hasta asustarlos.

Es muy interesante conocer todo el proceso del juicio, desde la selección de los jurados, la manera como los abogados estudian a los posibles candidatos para aprobarlos o rechazarlos. El trato que tienen con el juez y el procedimiento que siguen para ponerse de acuerdo y votar. Se encuentran varios personajes típicos norteamericanos fielmente retratados. Además de que se retratan las virtudes y defectos propios de las personas comunes, como la ambición pero también la honradez. También es importante notar lo influenciables que podemos ser.

Al fin y al cabo, es una novela de lo más interesante y la recomiendo mucho a todos los lectores que disfrutan de las novelas de acción.

Como siempre J Grisham asombra con su ingenio y su genial forma de transportarnos a lugares y escenas muy entretenidas.

Running away, escaping. That's what this book is about. Contrary to his regular way of writing, this book starts at the end: the main character, Patrick Flanigan, his being caught after four years in hiding.

A lawyer, Flanigan had planned everything: he faked his death, had facial surgery. He left with around 90 millions and fled for Brazil. Of course, the money wasn't his, and after four years, his old "socios" catch up with him... Now troubles begin.

I can not tell you the end, but one thing for sure: Grisham brings a new twist to this story that is a refreshment from his classic work. In this book Grisham reminds me more of Ludlum than of Grisham: No emotion. Action. Mystery. Twists and turns.

A really good book: I stayed up all night to finish it. And the translation in Spanish is not bad, either.