A Time to Kill: Grisham's first book

A Time to Kill by John Grisham

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Grisham's first novel...quite an accomplishment and by some accounts, one of his best. I had a hard time putting it down--good vacation read!



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The Street Lawyer: Lawyer gives it all up to work for the homeless

The Street Lawyer by John Grisham

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I didn't start reading John Grisham until a handful of years ago...in fact, I remember a book group meeting when Mike made a dramatic dismissive statement about Grisham and perhaps offended one of the lawyer members of the group. When I picked up The Painted House, I was happily surprised. Most of the Grisham books I've read have been well plotted and written. I enjoyed his first novel, A Time to Kill, the most. Grisham is no Tom Clancy...in fact, he seems to be fairly liberal and progressive, judging by his plots and undertones. Whether they are issues of race, poverty, or the death penalty, Grisham seems sympathetic to progressive causes and beliefs.

The Street Lawyer is about a well-heeled, affluent lawyer in Washington DC who, after a sequence of events, leaves it all behind to become a lawyer for the homeless. It's not as suspenseful or action oriented as many of Grisham's novels, but it gave me a wake-up call about the plight of the homeless and needy in our society.



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The Rainmaker: Fighting for the underdog

The Rainmaker by John Grisham

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I like the way Grisham's books feature advocates for the underdog. Rudy Baylor is just finishing law school when he meets a couple whose son is dying from leukemia. In spite of purchasing health insurance, the insurance company repeatedly denied their claim for a bone marrow transplant for their son.

Rudy tackles this case and goes up against a powerhouse law firm with unlimited resources. This book has a lot of other things going on it, such as an eccentric landlady with blood-sucking relatives, associations with underworld characters, and a plot line about a battered woman.

It was compelling reading, but I do not think it's Grisham's best work. The characters are pretty thinly characterized. I found it hard to understand how Rudy "fell in love" with Kelly, a battered woman he met in a hospital cafeteria. He hardly knew her, but he was supposedly in love with her. I found that plot line difficult to grasp.

Overall, it had a "happy" ending...it was a solid book, but not a bright shining star. If you like reading about the law, it's worth a read.



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