Book Review: The Litigators by John Grisham

"The Litigators"

by:  John Grisham

About the Book:

"The Litigators is Grisham's latest legal thriller, released to the public on October 25. The Litigators is about the partners of Finley & Figg and how their boutique law firm takes on a really big case that seems too good to be true. The Litigators is a tremendously entertaining romp, filled with the kind of courtroom strategies, theatrics, and suspense that have made John Grisham America's favorite storyteller. What's different about the book is its wryly humorous tone."

About the Author:

"After graduating from law school at Ole Miss in 1981, he went on to practice law for nearly a decade in Southaven, specializing in criminal defense and personal injury litigation. One day at the DeSoto County courthouse, Grisham overheard the harrowing testimony of a twelve-year-old rape victim and was inspired to start a novel exploring what would have happened if the girl's father had murdered her assailants. Getting up at 5 a.m. every day to get in several hours of writing time before heading off to work, Grisham spent three years on A Time to Kill and finished it in 1987. Initially rejected by many publishers, it was eventually bought by Wynwood Press, who gave it a modest 5,000 copy printing and published it in June 1988.That might have put an end to Grishams hobby. However, he had already begun his next book, and it would quickly turn that hobby into a new full-time career. When he sold the film rights to The Firm to Paramount Pictures for $600,000, Grisham suddenly became a hot property among publishers, and book rights were bought by Doubleday. Spending 47 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list, The Firm became the bestselling novel of 1991.The successes of The Pelican Brief, which hit number one on the New York Times bestseller list, and The Client, which debuted at number one, confirmed Grisham's reputation as the master of the legal thriller. Grisham's success even renewed interest in A Time to Kill, which was republished in hardcover by Doubleday and then in paperback by Dell. This time around, it was a bestseller. Since first publishing A Time to Kill in 1988, Grisham has written one novel a year (his other books are The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, The Chamber, The Rainmaker, The Runaway Jury, The Partner, The Street Lawyer, The Testament, The Brethren, A Painted House, Skipping Christmas, The Summons, The King of Torts, Bleachers, The Last Juror, The Broker, Playing for Pizza, and The Appeal) and all of them have become international bestsellers. There are currently over 225 million John Grisham books in print worldwide, which have been translated into 29 languages. Nine of his novels have been turned into films (The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, A Time to Kill, The Rainmaker, The Chamber, A Painted House, The Runaway Jury, and Skipping Christmas), as was an original screenplay, The Gingerbread Man."

My Review:

I am a John Grisham fan and have been for a long time so I was so excited to get an advanced copy of The Litigators via BzzAgent.  I have to say that although I enjoyed the book it isn't one of my favorites.  It took me a little longer than normal to read.  It just seemed to take a while for it to get good and it does.  It is a great story about the legal drama of mass tort, greed and one mans quest for happiness and what's super cool is the humor that Grisham has thrown in.  There were parts that made me laugh and a few that I had to laugh out loud to.  There is an assortment of characters that you really love to hate and some you really love, but overall worth the read. 

You can GO HERE to John Grisham's Official site and check out the first 2 chapters of The Litigators for yourself.

*I received a complimentary copy of The Litigators via BzzAgent for purposes of this review, however all opinions are my own.