The Pelican Brief

Rating:
Summary: Cliffhanger from the start
Review: Don't expect anything and you will be blown away. Even though Grisham partially relies on obscuring knowledge his characters already have to keep the suspense, there are enough (unknown) parties in the plot to keep you turning the pages. Read it like a movie, it should go really well with popcorn.

Rating:
Summary: my favorite
Review: This one is definately my favorite. It starts off with grip as an elderly supreme court justice is murdered in his own home along with the kindly nurse that watches him and the two guards that watch the house. Another man is strangled to death in a movie theater showing gay porn. Anyway, a bright young student by the name of Darby Shaw writes a report on this for her law class. Her teacher/boyfriend, Thomas Callahan, reads it and a day later is blown up in his car. She contacts an FBI agent who reads it and when planning to meet her in a park, is bludgened to death in his own hotel room. She then contacts a Washington Post reporter by the name of Grey Grantham and he follows her story eventually running into some exciting situations. This one's a classic and a must read.

Rating:
Summary: Suspenseful.
Review: Besides The King of Torts and The Runaway Jury, this is one of my favorite Grisham books. I just think that this one could have been a bit shorter. There was a lot of unnecessary information that could have been left out. It was a great book nonetheless. After three judges are murdered, a young female law student writes a short brief suggesting who committed the murders and why. The brief is passed around to too many people and now some of those people want her dead.

Rating:
Summary: One of Grisham's best
Review: This is one of Grisham's early books, and in my opinion, one of his best. As his writing has progressed, it has been very bad. This book, and a handful of his early books are good. The Pelican Brief is action packed and intense. It will have you guessing until the end! Marvelous Read!

Rating:
Summary: You'll Never Read Another Book Like It! Remarkable!
Review: This was such a cool book! (well, it's John Grisham, and of course it's cool!) See, I watched the movie, before I read the book, and I don't recommend that. always read the book first. But, the book was awesome! I'm a big John Grisham fan (who isn't?) and I loved this book! It's smart, funny-at times- suspenseful, and such a detailed & awesome story!

Rating:
Summary: Fast read, page turner.
Review: I picked this book up at the airport on my way home and read almost 200 pages that day. Within 5 days I had finished it because I read it at every free moment I had. It has a very interesting story line that has suspense and surprise. I realize that some parts to it seem far fetched, but it is nonetheless interesting. The storyline you can surmise from the other reviews. If you are a Girsham fan or into legal thrillers this is for you. This book can really find a way to occupy your time. Trust me, there's a reason that they sell it in every airport bookstore.

Rating:
Summary: wonderful
Review: I love most of Grisham's books and have several of them and this is one of my favorites. Another is THE CLIENT. Two Supreme Court justices are killed and the government is baffled as to who could have done it and a law student decides to figure out who was responsible and does, but then is on the run for her life. She can't trust anyone. It seems that everyone that reads the brief she has written is getting killed. There is a lot of manipulation in the government offices, from the White House, to the FBI, and to the CIA. The FBI gets hold of the brief, but doesn't really take it seriously and yet there is mention of the President in it, and since there is a personality clash between some of the FBI officials and the administration, decides to make the president think they are taking it seriously. Then events really get rolling. The book is fast paced and exciting all the way through.

Rating:
Summary: Another fun thriller by John Grisham
Review: The thing that I admire about John Grisham is that he has a way of explaining legal procedure to the reader that does not condesend and actually makes you feel intellegent afterwards. He did a great job of doing it in "The Firm" and now Grisham fans will be pleased by this installment as the thrills take you not only to the south but also to the steps of the White House. At the risk of not rehashing the premise and plot, I found some of Grisham's most colorful characters are in this one, namely the President and his Chief of Staff. Also a minor character in "The Firm" plays a much larger role. Both Tom Clancy and Anne Rice do this trick and I love it. Also his use of dialogue is amazing and you wind up going through a surprizing amount of pages in a short amount of time.

The only drawback is the while the premise is unique it is somewhat flimsy. And while there are plenty of nail biting chases, and varoius twists and turns, I did not find myself becoming emotionally drawn to the characters. I know Grisham is capable of doing it, just read "A Time to Kill." However the payoff is at the end. It really packs a punch and it made me want to read the book again. I have reshelved this one to make sure I do just that some time next year. While far from a modern classic, the book does what it's supposed to: Entertains you and makes want to pick up another one of his books. Good reading.

Rating:
Summary: The Pelican Brief
Review: Annotation: The Supreme Court justices are assinated with no know infomation, a Tulane law student finds an unlikley suspect. She has to run and hide because they want her dead, because she exposed the Pelican Brief.

Author Bio: The Pelican Brisf was written by John Grisham. Before he became an author he worked 60-70 hours a week at a law practice. His first hit was the firm and it was huge. john also writes law books. some other books that he has written was A Time to Kill and the Chamber.

Evaluation: The book the Pelican Brief was one of the best books i have ever read. I thought the book made you think, and try to figure out the next twist in the book. i never got lost durring the book which i normaly do, so the author did a great job to catch my attention. My favorite part of the book was the part when Thomas is blown up in his car and Darby was with the killer taht said he was a cop. that forces her to go on the run knowing that someone is out to kill her. the book was put together great and i would give it a 5 on a scale of 1 to 5. That is my evaluation of the Pelican Brief.

Rating:
Summary: Gripping, but that's about it.
Review: I think that an average customer rating of 3 1/2 stars is good for this book. It may not have been the best book I have ever read (thrid grade writing) or the worst I have ever read (try The Secret History or A Map of the World). I thought that the Pelican Brief was an enjoying, fast paced, and occasionally scary read. On a dark night in Washington D.C., a man disgusied as a jogger sneaks into an invalid's house and kills him, his nurse, and the cop guarding him. On the same night, within a porno house, another man is strangled to death. The next day America awakens to find that two key Supreme Court Justices have been assasinated. And in Harvard Law School, a beautiful young woman writes a legal brief...Darby Shaw was only guessing. She never meant what she wrote. Her guess at the murder was completely a joke. But all of a sudden she is witness to a car bomb and her boyfriend is dead- which was meant for her. This sends Darby into hiding from numerous assisins and she may only be saved by Gray Grantham, an aspiring newsreporter looking for his story. I did like The Pelican Brief, but I felt it was too easy to read. I also would have liked it more if Grisham had delved into Gray's character a little more. But it was much better than the pitiful The Firm, which restored my faith in John Grisham.