Rating: 
Summary: Grishman should be sued by his readers for malpractice
Review: I'm willing to suspend disbelief for a good read, but this book had me pulling my hair out. I realize this is the kind of book one reads for pleasure, not education, but nonetheless it should have come with a warning label: "This book grossly misrepresents how class action law suits work -- in fact, it bears no resemblance whatsoever to anything that actually happens in class action litigation." Even putting aside the glaring legal flaws (which is not an easy task), the characters were thin and forgettable, and the plot was non-existent. Is Grisham so creatively spent that he can't come up with a credible story line anymore? Has he become so disinterested in what his readers think that he doesn't even have to try to write something that rings true? Does he think we're all a bunch of morons? This wasn't a legal thriller. It was an illegal bore, and it's the last Grishman book I'm going to waste my time on. I thought Patricia Cornwell had taken the prize for Fastest Decline in Fiction Writing Skills, but it seems we have a new winner. Peee-yew. What a stinker.
Rating: 
Summary: Hard not to enjoy
Review: Grisham's latest is, of course, a page turner. I must say that I enjoyed this book far more then any of his recent law related novels. The characterization was above par, the plot was thick, and the kicker, the main character was sympathetic.
Grisham loves to write novels about how the law creates a system that sours men's souls. The King of Torts is no exception. What makes this book that much more enjoyable is the almost happy go lucky, rags to riches, undeniably charming leading man.
There are some downsides of course. The plot is a tad bit predictable and the reader is presented with Grisham's constant need to sneer at everything. At times it seems as if Grisham hates all things America; southern, mid-western rich, inner-city, suburban.
So to take Oracle Grisham to the extreme, in order to be morally correct one needs to educated but not suburban, not poor, not wealthy, not too fat or thin. It is not clear who would actually fit into that demographic, maybe not even Grisham himself.
Regardless, this book is worth the read, and would be a good shot as the next movie adaptation.
Rating:
Summary: This is not Grisham !
Review: I'm really a big Grisham fan and have read all of his books. I really can't believe that he has written "King of Torts" by himself. It's so different from his former writings; he must have hired a ghostwriter !
Rating: 
Summary: Where's the climax?
Review: I started reading this book and liked it very much. Then it ended. With all the build up and the foreshadowing I thought that the climax of the book would be great, but it just wasn't there. The writing is good and the characters are good, but when I was finished with the book I wondered why I had wasted my time on the story.
Rating: 
Summary: Grisham's latest is a return to form
Review: John Grisham's latest, THE KING OF TORTS, marks a
return to form for the prolific author of novels about the legal
profession . . . his previous book, THE SUMMONS, was only
somewhat readable; the one before that, SKIPPING CHRISTMAS,
was terrible.But TORTS sucks you in from the very beginning . . . it is
a real page-turner about a public defender who stumbles on
a conspiracy that helps make him rich . . . there are both
interesting characters and cases, and you get a real feel why many lawyers get the bad rap that they do. Only the ending was disappointing . . . Grisham
seemed to pull together the whole story a bit too abruptly . . . yet that said, I'd still recommend it. There were several memorable passages; among them:
* Clay laid the receiver down for a moment and summarized his
defense. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, my client shot Mr.
Pumphrey (who was unarmed) five or six times at point-blank
range in a dirty alley with a stolen gun for two reasons; first, he recognized him, and second, they had a playground shoving match about eight years ago. May not sound like much, ladies and gentlemen, but all of us know that in Washington, DC, those two reasons are as good as any. * The gaze from the frosty hostess told him, I know you are not a member, but I'll take you to your table anyway. "Follow me," she said the slight makings of a fake smile. Clay said nothing. He swallowed hard, looked straight ahead, and tried to ignore the heavy knot in his stomach. How was he supposed to enjoy a meal in such surroundings? He and Rebecca had eaten there twice--once with Mr. and Mrs. Van Horn, once without. The food was expensive and quite good, but then Clay lived on processed turkey so his standards were low and he knew it. * "Where will you be in ten years?" "I don't think like that. I don't believe in calendars and schedules and lists of things to do. Setting goals is such a stupid American habit. Not for me. I try to get through today, maybe give a thought or two to tomorrow, and that's it. Plotting the future is damned ridiculous." "Sorry I asked." "Live for the moment, Clay. Tomorrow will take care of itself. You've got your hands full right now, seems to me." "The money should keep me occupied." "Don't blow it, son. I know that looks impossible, but you'll be surprised. New friends are about to pop up all over the place. Women will drop from the sky." "When?" "Just wait. I read a book once--FOOL'S GOLD, or something like
that. One story after another about great fortunes that had been lost by the idiots who had them. Fascinating reading. Get a copy." "I think I'll pass."
Rating:
Summary: Save Your Time (and Money)
Review: This book was extremely disappointing. You keep waiting for something interesting to happen, but you're left waiting... There are way too many events that seem to happen because the author had to fill the pages with something. The characters and the plot are very weak. This is definitely one of Grisham's poorer outputs.
Rating:
Summary: What Happened?
Review: What ever happened to the writer that wrote a legal thriller that 1. Made Sense, 2. Was Believable 3. Made Your Heart Pound to the end (hint hint The Firm , A Time to Kill), and 4. Made you want to see a movie about it. Grisham's latest novels have followed a narrow path downward to mediocre writing. I bought King of Torts as soon as it hit shelves, i even had it signed by him because i am still a huge fan, but its honestly like he doesnt care about his writing anymore. His books will always hit #1, and there is nothing he has to do. Torts is a story about a average every day lawyer who just one day meets this guy who we never find much about and one thing leads to another and well all the sudden our everyday lawyer gets in the big time. Then the grisham effect happens and well you'll have to read to find out. The ONLY COOL THING about this book is the return of Tort lawyer Patton French from the last book The Summons. Im not sure, but i think this is the first time that he has ever brought back a character to a novel. All in all, its a good read, a long ways from his glory days, but still good. There is not intrigue, so you wont want to read it again, i promise you that. This book lacks any mystery, and the payoff..is..well..rather 11th hour type writing. Come prepared..
Rating:
Summary: Might be Grisham's worst novel
Review: Sometimes you read a non-fiction book that's so good that you're tempted to say it reads like a novel. This, unfortunately, is a novel that reads like a non-fiction book: One of the ones you had to plow through in your freshman year and promptly forgot after final exams.
The putative protagonist in this book is Clay Carter; unfortunately Clay is not particularly likeable or even memorable. Clay is a lawyer stuck in a dead-end job when he meets a mysterious stranger who offers him riches beyond his wildest dreams. Carter goes from being a public defender to a flashy mass-tort lawyer in a matter of months, making an enormous fortune and spending it like he can't get rid of it fast enough. This is the part of the book that reads more like a textbook on how to become a successful tort lawyer; I was about two-thirds of the way through the book when I realized that I had not yet encountered a discernible plot.
If the plot line was thin to non-existent, the characters were worse. Most Grisham novels glisten with quirky, sinister, or vibrantly memorable secondary characters. This one had none. There was not one character in King of Torts that was memorable in any way, with the possible exception of the loathsome tort attorney Patton French who takes Clay under his wing.
Ultimately, the inevitable crash comes and Clay's tort empire collapses even faster than it erupted. The book becomes a morality play warning against the dangers of greed and excess. Grisham has written some memorable books in the past. The Testament is one of my favorite books, period, and such tomes as The Firm and The Rainmaker are well worth the price of purchase. But The King of Torts is definitely a book to take a pass on, at least until it shows up in the used bookstores as a half-price paperback.
Rating:
Summary: Ended Badly
Review: Was John Grisham in a hurry to finish this book? It started off great and seemed to develop the characters in much detail but then towards the end John Grisham must have had his deadline approaching and wanted to finish it in a rush. I was really looking forward to this book but was dispointed by it. Easy to read but not his best book by a long shot.
Rating:
Summary: Good Read
Review: This is a standard Grisham book, where the reader gets some insight into what (according to Grisham) drives lawyers and how the rich and famous lives, interesting characters, and greedy villains (not just lawyers). There are as such no surprises, but if you like Grisham, this will definately not disappoint you.
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