I read this in April of 2008 after Justice Nehring (of the Utah Supreme Court) told me he was listening to it on CD during his commute each day. Three quarters of my way through it, he told me it was not worth finishing. He was right. However, Mr. Grisham (not for the first time) seems intent on preaching his message which this time around is that if state laws call for elections of justices (rather than appointed) then inevitably, large corrupt organizations will buy influence and ultimately lead to massive miscarriages of justice. While I understand and even appreciate the author’s point, the way he expresses it in the form of this novel makes for a horrible reading experience. Indeed, the reader is the true victim of this novel. They call themselves the Brethren: three disgraced former judges doing time in a Florida federal prison. One was sent up for tax evasion. Another, for skimming bingo profits. The third for a career-ending drunken joyride. Meeting daily in the prison law library, taking exercise walks in their boxer shorts, these judges-turned-felons can reminisce about old court cases, dispense a little jailhouse justice, and contemplate where their lives went wrong. Or they can use their time in prison to get very rich—very fast. From legendary legal thriller author John Grisham comes a unique collection of stories connected by the life and crimes of Ford County. For most of the last hundred years, Biloxi was known for its beaches, resorts, and seafood industry. But it had a darker side. It was also notorious for corruption and vice, everything from gambling, prostitution, bootleg liquor, and drugs to contract killings. The vice was controlled by small cabal of mobsters, many of them rumored to be members of the Dixie Mafia.

Summary and reviews of The Appeal by John Grisham - BookBrowse Summary and reviews of The Appeal by John Grisham - BookBrowse

As tensions mount, Hailey hires the inexperienced Jake Brigance to defend him. It's the kind of case that could make a young lawyer's career. Grisham is a two-time winner of the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction and was honored with the Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for Fiction.Suspicions are easy enough, but proof seems impossible. The man is brilliant, patient, and always one step ahead of law enforcement. He is the most cunning of all serial killers. He knows forensics, police procedure, and most important: he knows the law. Jared Kurtin continued his methodical scribbling. His routine was to never look at the faces of the jurors when they returned with a verdict. After a hundred trials he knew they were impossible to read. And why bother? Their decision would be announced in a matter of seconds anyway. His team had strict instructions to ignore the jurors and show no reaction whatsoever to the verdict. But then...WHAM! I honestly can’t think of another book I’ve ever read that pissed me off so much at the end. A nice compelling build-up was well-written and fairly absorbing and to be honest I learned a lot about state Supreme Courts and how the appellate process works. That can be a dry subject but Grisham’s style makes it a more enjoyable reading and learning experience. Question number five: ‘Do you find, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the actions of Krane Chemical Corporation were either intentional or so grossly negligent as to justify the imposition of punitive damages?’ Answer: ‘Yes.’ ”

The Appeal by John Grisham | Goodreads The Appeal by John Grisham | Goodreads

Jeannette Baker began to slide out of her chair. She was caught by both of her lawyers, who pulled her up, wrapped arms around her frail shoulders, and whispered to her. She was sobbing, out of control. If you are any kind of political junkie (the "Karl Rove" character running the campaign for the judge's race is uncannily true-to-life), this is a "must read." It says as much about political campaigns as it does about jurisprudence. If you've ever invested years of your life and portions of your possessions (or all of them) in what others tell you is throwing your life away on a hopeless cause, this is a "must read." Fascinating…filled with deadly accurate characterizations by and author who knows both the law and politics from the inside.”– Los Angeles Times A novel that could become its own era–defining classic. John Grisham holds up that same mirror to our age as Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities.”— The Boston Globe Ford County. The heart of the American deep South. A place of harsh beauty, of broken dreams and final wishes.His debut novel, A Time to Kill, was published in 1989, while his second novel, The Firm (1991), was received well, selling more than seven million copies. This isn't his best novel. I tend to rate them according to those I have already read, if that makes sense: a sort of Grisham rating. This novel had the odd bit of bad language and some blasphemy but it wasn't extensive. There wasn't any graphic violence that I recall and no sexual content although some suggestive behaviour. Of course, you want the bad guy to get his due here. Maybe he does and maybe he doesn't. But Grisham leaves the reader feeling uncomfortable and perhaps a little guilty for playing into the game of big political campaign spending...naively believing everything one hears on t.v. about a candidate and his or her record based on a thirty-second commercial that takes sound bites completely out of the context in which they were meant to be be heard. He even makes one a bit uncomfortable with the idea the a judiciary is elected and that a judge would feel beholden to those who paid for his or her election. And in the end, I liked that he gave me something to think about. The jurors stood and filed out as Uncle Joe held the door and nodded with approval. He would later tell his wife that he had predicted such a verdict, though she had no memory of it. He claimed he hadn’t missed a verdict in the many decades he had worked as a bailiff. When the jurors were gone, Jared Kurtin stood and, with perfect composure, rattled off the usual post-verdict inquiries, which Judge Harrison took with great compassion now that the blood was on the floor. Mary Grace had no response. Mary Grace didn’t care. She had what she wanted.

John Grisham Books in Order (Complete Series List) John Grisham Books in Order (Complete Series List)

Born in Jonesboro, Arkansas, Grisham holds a J.D. degree from the University of Mississippi, School of Law, one which he acquired in 1981. Bruce Cable owns a popular bookstore in the sleepy resort town of Santa Rosa on Camino Island in Florida. He makes his real money, though, as a prominent dealer in rare books. Very few people know that he occasionally dabbles in unsavory ventures.I've been thinking I wanted to read a good court-room drama for a while now and I remembered that John Grisham had written a few pretty good ones...so I gave this one a shot. Unfortunately there was very little of that here but still, an interesting plot was starting to develop and even though there didn't seem to be any central main character in this novel, the various points of view on the plot by the host of minor characters was working for a while. Could it really be over? After they had waited for an eternity, could it end so suddenly? So abruptly? With just a phone call? In suburban Georgetown, a killer’s Reeboks whisper on the floor of a posh home. In a seedy D.C. porno house, a patron is swiftly garroted to death. The next day America learns that two of its Supreme Court justices have been assassinated. And in New Orleans, a young law student prepares a legal brief.