The Rainmaker

Rating:
Summary: Exciting but unrealistic
Review: Having read most of Grisham's work and having undergone a life-saving bone marrow transplant in 1993, I was more than eager to read the Rainmaker. As far as medical accuracy and the emotions that family members and those afflicted with life-threatening illnesses face (and the daily battles with Health Maintenace Organizations to ensure adequate treatment and Insurance coverage), I thought that Grisham did a fantastic job capturing real-life. However, Grisham's story line with respect to the Courtroom was not as convincing. I found myself smiling too much and feeling all "warm and fuzzy" with the incredible success that the young (and inexperienced) attorney Rudy Baylor had at every level of his legal battle (from discovery to the Courtroom). It seemed that everyone from the judge to the Jury to the expert witnesses had an affection for Rudy and after a while it no longer seemed believable. Additionally, while I enjoyed the real David and Golliath motiff, I was disappointed to see Grisham treat Golliath like a bumbling idiot destined for predictable failure. Nonetheless, in typical Grisham style, the book is again a page-turner which pulls you in and hooks you like an illicit drug. In this respect, it is well worth the 500 plus page read but if you are looking for reality, you are much better off reading A Time to Kill or The Client.

Rating:
Summary: The Rainmaker
Review: I found this novel by John Grisham very entertaining. I had a hard time putting it down until I was done reading it. It kept me guessing about what was going to happen next and I would often guess wrong Also having never read a book about lawyers before I learned a lot of new things that I would have never known out otherwise. If you like stories about underdogs you will truely love this book. Rudy is a true underdog in this story. He is a just starting out lawyer whose first case is fighting a huge insurance company for 10 million dollars. Not your typical first day on the job. This book moves at a fast pace and my only complaint is that sometimes its hard to keep up. But overall go get this book and it will not dissapoint.

Rating:
Summary: Humorous, engaging, and realistic
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed Rainmaker. It was on the few Grisham novels that I had yet to read and after the disappointing Summons I wasn't excited about reading another Grisham novel. However, once I began I just could NOT put it down. I went everywhere with the book as I was reading it. I just couldn't get away from it for more than a few of my waking hours. Why? Well, I'm glad you asked. First of all, the most pleasantly surprising thing about the book is its humor. It's a mix of sarcasm and wit. I just loved his characterization of the Defense and their actions. In one courtroom scene all eyes turn toward one of the corporate baddies after a wrenching testimony places blame on them. Grisham paints his reaction along the lines of "Suddenly, his shoelaces became the center of his life." I couldn't stop laughing after reading that. The book is full of these quips.

Secondly, the book won me over in how Rudy is portrayed. I felt really really sorry for the kid. All the things that could of gone wrong, did after Law School. However, he was a moral, bright, and hard working kid that was fortunate enough to come across the Black case. I loved his character arc.

Finally, the coutroom drama was riveting. The legalese was palatable and believable and it showed Grisham's amount of research into the material. I loved the fact that he didn't make it too easy for Rudy. Drummond did have some minor wins with the jury.

Overall I'd give this film a 5/5. I can't say there weren't any negatives(insufficient explanation of the fire/death, unrealistic assistance by the Judge) but they didn't take away from what is one of Grisham's top two novels.

Rating:
Summary: A refreshing twist on Grisham's stale formulaic template
Review: John Grisham's first popular novel, The Firm, was an excellent book that revitalized the tired genre of law thrillers. Unfortunately, Grisham's novels quickly became formulaic to the point of being boring ... there was always the innocent protagonist being hunted/persecuted/stalked by the sinister underworld/corporate entity bent on keeping some kind of secret.

In The Rainmaker, Grisham still loosely adheres to the same formula, but manages to craft an immersive plot around Rudy Baylor, a down-and-out law student who prosecutes a case against, you guessed it, a corrupt insurance company.

One of the elements, however, that Grisham uses to freshen the stale formula is that of romance, namely between our hero and domestic-abuse victim Kelly. Usually the protagonist is too busy defending his/her life and protecting/revealing incriminating evidence against the bad guys to be much interested in sex or any semblance thereof, but Grisham's Rudy manages to cultivate a pretty decent relationship with Kelly in between court appearances.

I suppose that, if I stuck to my guns, I could write this off as more Grisham schlock but, to tell the truth, I rather enjoyed the interplay between Rudy and the various other characters in the novel such as Miss Birdie, Deck and especially Kelly.

Perhaps Grisham simply spent more time developing the characters in this novel. Whatever the reason, The Rainmaker stands out as one of the few books in my Grisham collection worth reading more than once.

Rating:
Summary: A sound Grisham novel
Review: Summers are hot in Memphis, and the sweat is sticking to Rudy Baylor's shirt. His creditors are biting at his heels and the future's not looking too good. Once he had ideas of breezing his way through law school and jumping on the dollar train to anywhere. Now he doesn't even have a job. He's grasping at straws, and one of them is a smoking-related insurance dispute. The family are poor and Rudy Baylor struggles to file the lawsuit. In a novel heavy with suspense and legal shinnanekins, Rudy eventually gets to court and finds himself against a heavyweight corporate defense team. That's when he discovers he's in way over his head, facing a nightmare of lies and legal maneuverings. What started as a small insurance claim explodes into a million-dollar war of nerves that could even cost the young lawyer his life. Rainmaker is not Grisham's finest book, but it's certainly not his worst. At his worst, Grisham can pick up three stars from anyone. At his best, ten stars is not enough. This novel fits easily into the five star category. On the final page, it leaves a satisfied reader and an author who has met his commitment to deliver the goods.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointed with ending
Review: This book has a superb plot and very interesting characters that are colorfully described by the author. It is fast moving and keeps the reader interested at all times until the ending. Frankly, it fell flat there. However, it is worth the read and I recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: This is a laugh riot first, a legal thriller second
Review: This is truly a fantastic book. I dont want to go thru the plot, coz to tell you the truth, this book is less abt a plot, its about humourous narative power unleased by Mr grisham, that will keep you in splits throughtout. Some may think me to be nuts, but really the court room thriller is just a canvas on which I think Mr Grisham wanted to try his hand at humour. And it comes of beautifully.

you dont want to read this book,

* If you dont like first person perpective in present tense.
* If you want 50 % dialogues which get you through big fat fiction books in one evening.(This book is purely narrative power, only abt 10 % in dailogue).
*If you dont like books where there is no shift in perspective. This book is completely through the eyes and ears of Rudy Baylor the main protagonist page 1 to page last.
*You are looking for big conspiracies and huge climatic endings like the firm.
*You really dont have a sense of humour and infact hate laughing,smirking,smiling,giggling while reading.(I did all of these while reading)

For everyone else this book is a joy

Humour highlights

*The mulch planting section with Miss Birdie.
*The U section in the courtroom (this is the cream)
*Rudy's odd shaped colleague, Deck always waiting for tragedies and disasters so they can make some money representing them for insurance claims. I coud not believe this, lawyers actually waiting in hospital cafeterials wishing and hoiping for bandaged and mummied up patients to be taken up as cleints. The better the car accident the more the claim.
*Dont miss this ..The stupid letter as the bomb in the courtroom scene.
*The pretentious Mr Drummond episodes from the "Trent and Brent" firm with his collection of 4 other pretentious souls like him who all the time keep scribbling on their legal pads god knows what and bill at obscene hourly rates.

Lots lots more.. just read it

PS:Also dont read this in crowded places..people will take you for some dumb guy who keeps breaking into sudden smiles and chuckles.