Rating: 
Summary: The Cost of Greed
Review: This is a "rags to riches" story centered around Clay Carter an attorney in the Washington D.C. Office of Public Defender (OPD) who seemingly has no bright future as a lawyer. Suddenly, and almost unrealistically (but this is just a fictional story) he is established with his own law firm in first class offices and given, for starters, one extremely profitable case. This is a case in which a drug company has put a drug on the market with a very dangerous side effect in some instances, which impacts not only the person for which the drug is prescribed. As the story proceeds we are exposed to the process of accomplishing settlements of potential class-action lawsuits with large attorney fees and sometimes less than fair treatment of plaintiffs. We also find that at least in fictional characters there is a great deal of greed lurking in the law profession. Clay is romantically involved from the beginning with Rebecca, daughter of wealthy social climbing parents in D.C. Of course the parents aren't pleased with the OPD career of the potential son-in-law, and this helps the romance to go sour. I found this to be one of the most interesting of the author's novels.
Rating: 
Summary: What's the point -- this book is a waste of time
Review: I read through this whole book waiting for it to get good... it never did! I thought there was going to be some twist that made all of the foolishness worthwhile -- there wasn't! Obviously this was a cheap grab by the publisher and author to cash in before the Grisham franchise goes away completely. Bah!
Rating: 
Summary: Not as interesting as his first works
Review: John Grisham used to be one of my favorite authors, but his last few books have been disappointing, especially this last one. H.G
Rating:
Summary: John How Could You?
Review: Please tell me that you did not write this piece of dreck! This book was about a subtle as someone hitting a fly with a sledge hammer. A young underpaid public defender gets a murder case my supreme misfortune and unable to farm it out to someone else in the PDA's office suddenly and mysteriously finds himself introduced to the murky world of mass tort litigation.
A mysterious benefactor gives him inside information for this first tort case. Soon other cases and inside information follow and our young hero, now crowned "the king of torts", who is at first repulsed by the conspicuious consomption of other mass tort lawyers begins to wonder if he should by a jet or just lease one. Bottom line, dangle enough money in front of someone and watch their moral compass go completely off kilter. I kept waiting for something unexpected to happen but to no avail. In the end our young lawyer finally regains most of his senses just in time to loose almost everything while crashing and burning in spectacular fashion. Moral, too much money and power corrupt. Big Surprise! As I listened to this book, the only thought going through my mind was, these are hours of my life I am not getting back! What a waste! I have been a loyal Grisham fan since his first book A Time To Kill. I have even liked his non-legal books, but lately he has been slipping BADLY. To think I was so excited when I ordered this I could not wait for it to come, I should have waited. The next book Grisham puts out I am going to to borrow from the library.
Rating:
Summary: Good but...
Review: ...while I really enjoy John Grisham's legal thrillers, they all have the same formula. Good guy gets into a bad situation, learns his lesson in life, and some how gets himself out of it. This story follows the formula - Clay is a lawyer with the OPD defending the criminals. He likes his job, has a long-time girl friend who wants him to take on another job that pays more but he refuses and they break up. After the break-up, Clay is contacted by a mysterious man who has an 'offer to good to be true' and Clay decides to take the offer (similar to the Firm and other Grisham books). In the beginning Clay is overwhelmed by his good fortune - however begins to realize the greed and guilt associated with this new lifestyle is too much to handle. I am still compelled to read Grisham's books - and truly enjoy reading them, BUT they are getting almost too familar. If this is your first Grisham book - you will really enjoy it. Grisham is a great writer and story teller - he just needs a new story to tell.
Rating:
Summary: Going downhill
Review: I think that Grisham needs to take some time off and get back to what made his earlier books so good: an interesting and believable main character and a storyline that holds the reader's attention. I found myself skimming after the first chapter; once the main character set up his office and started spending money, the book was over for me. From there on out, is was a list of the stuff he bought, with a little tort action thrown in. Seems like Grisham has gone the way of the last few Cornwell books -- let's just crank them out to make money.
Rating:
Summary: BORING
Review: I have been a fan of Mr. Grisham since his first novel. But this one was not worth reading. The characters are one dimensional (not even good enough to be called two dimensional) the story in flat and uninspired. There is VERY little dialog beween the characters, rather most of the story is written in the third person. I was surprised that the price had a...discount sticker on it when I bought it. Now, I know why and it was overpriced even with the discount!!
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining but predictable
Review: Being a fellow Mississippian, I am a fan of Grisholm's and actually like the real life portrayal of the law industry that Grishom always gives his readers. If nothing else, this book makes you think about the real life issues of tort and of all the reasons you hear about industry, pharmaceutical companies,and businesses yelling for tort reform. Tort Reform has been a HOT issue in Mississippi during the past couple of legislative sessions. With this and John Grishom's imaginative way with words, I think this one is a best seller and a great one for a movie!
Rating:
Summary: same ole same ole thing
Review: This book is a "typical" book and there aren't any surprises even the ending is expected and been written before in many of his books. I am disappointed in his last three books. I keep hoping for "Time to Kill" and "The Firm" quality....but now it just seems he is writing more for the money.
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Summary: Ackerman => Forest
Review: Just a quick scribble. None of the prior reviews seems to have noticed this. (Or maybe you all did, and thought it too obvious to comment.) One of the fictional medical companies is Ackerman Labs. As in Forest Ackerman, a science fiction author and actor (Amazon Women on the Moon, for example). Because in real life, there is a medical company called Forest Labs. Not that there is any actual connection between the man and the company. But Grisham left this Easter egg for us.
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