Rating: 
Summary: Worth the Read
Review: The path of this story is truly an exciting one, and it is one of his more interesting novels, but it's not detailed enough. I appreciated the fact that he moved out of the normal line his stories take, making it just as interesting as any other novel of his. The characters are well designed and round, especially Patton French, and it's clear that greed takes over our main character. Even with the blows taken at torts and the change in his persona, I can't help but root for the main man looking to become the King of Torts. It has a little action, a little romance, and is definitely a great legal thriller. I can't wait for his next book.
Rating: 
Summary: A fine read, but a disappointing ending.
Review: John Grisham's stories can never be described as boring. I began reading King of Torts in the same vein as some of his better novels - speeding through the book, always eager to see what the next page held. The book was indeed enthralling. Sadly, the ending of the book was significantly poor, and really disappointed me. Grisham has been guilty in the past of wrapping up the endings of his books neatly and in an attempt to break from this tradition, he simply has very little ending at all. It almost seems as though Grisham was rushing to meet a deadline over the last 20 pages. The book leaves a lot of loose ends and as I closed King of Torts, I was struck with a feeling of...incompleteness. But, minus the ending, the book is a great read and a classic Grisham lawyer yarn.
Rating:
Summary: A real Eye-Opener
Review: We all hear about ambulance chasers but this is written in an eye-opening way and exposes Insurance fraud. Many a lawyer will be quaking in his 'proverbial boots' after reading this one. Grisham lays it out in black and white and does it with finess and in his own style. One of his best works.
Rating: 
Summary: Political Message
Review: I thought this book was poorly written. It is simple literature with a political message. The message? Lawyers are evil and only out for the big money. Those who are "ethical and moral" need to avoid such law suits, etc.
Rating:
Summary: Lawyer = "Bad" Rich Lawyer = "Really Bad"
Review: Young lawyer mechanically slaves away at his daily task as a public defender. His days, pay scale and reaction to everything are predictable because nothing ever changes. He is just the middleman for a legal system that processes a continual string of guilty clients. And then one day, fate steps in and hands him the golden ticket for a ride out of this predictable drudgery. It's a trip to the promised land, where there is all the money, comfort and easy life a man could possibly enjoy. Or is it? Watch as Grisham illustrates how human nature is the great equalizer in the game of wealth. Everybody wants to be rich and everybody who is not wants a piece of it. Poor, young, upstart lawyer goes from defending a client to defending himself when the world notices his wealth and success. Nobody loves a rich guy, after all. For every great book, there is a set of characters with whom dear reader falls in love. The audience somehow identifies and sympathizes with the plight of the character or characters and reading about them draws on an emotional bank. It is tough to find any one character in this story for whom one may be fond. A downtrodden worker bee discovers his magic trick into a better future, but worker bee continually compounds his greed and the greed of the company he keeps. It is a story where one wishes for all of the characters to fail. This is one of the lesser of entertaining stories for which Grisham is so famous. Maybe his self-assurance has gotten the better of him and he too must revert to the days before his fame in order to come up with an entertaining yarn?
Rating:
Summary: Morality tale for the new millenium
Review: This book in many ways reminded me of THE GREAT GATSBY. Now of course Grisham is not the writer Fitzgerald is, and the ending is no where near as satisfying as that classic's heartbreaking finale. But Clay is much like Gatsby, a man who does whatever it takes to win the love and respect of his dream girl -- a girl who clearly represents more than she actually is. Gatsby did business with gangsters and bootleggers, Clay goes into mass torts to make his fast buck. Gatsby had Meyer Wolfsheim to show him the ropes, Clay has Patton French. Both men gain their fortunes and lose their souls. And that is a classic American story and when it's told well -- or at least entertainingly, as it is here -- it never gets old. Like many reviewers on this board, I was pretty appalled at the way Tequila Watson is tossed aside here. I hope that Grisham's cynicism is not a real reflection of today's America.
Rating:
Summary: Fast Moving
Review: Grisham is one of the best, and this book is another fast-
moving, page-turning, interesting one.
The story is about a young, frustrated, underpaid lawyer
in the D.C. public defender's office, barely dreaming of
a better life and career, who suddenly has a fabulous
case dropped in his lap by a mysterious stranger.
Yes, that is quite a stretch in our imagination, but strange
things do happen,and this author can make it very
believeable and fascinating.
The kid's new case, involving medical malpractice where he
manages, with advice, to enlist hundreds of sufferers,
thrusts him into the limelight and the forefront of his
profession, and he is quickly being touted as the new
"King of Torts," the master of the mass-tort field.
The first 2/3 of the book goes like wildfire, with ever-
increasing tension and action.
Unhappily, about that time, the author telegraphs his ending,
and then the tension melts away, and the book is not quite
so demanding or interesting. The ending is a foregone conclusion, so that ending is a bit
of a let-down, and we can't quite maintain our high level of
interest through the length of the book.
But it is a very good read nonetheless, and readers of a good
story won't want to miss it.
Rating:
Summary: Crime does Pay
Review: What a lousy book with lousy, amoral characters that you dont care about at all. It was a fast read and engaged you but disapointing in the end. You would think that the character would learn from his evil ways but in the end what does he learn? Nothing. Therefore, whats the point?
Rating:
Summary: Quick Read
Review: The King of Torts by John Grisham moves much quicker than his other books. The pace is almost too fast at times, but allows the reader to feel some of the excitement and anxiety that Clay is feeling with his new found fame. This book also opened my eyes to all those commercials I see on tv and hear on the radio concerning damages done by a certain drug or product.
Rating:
Summary: A TIME AND MONEY-WASTER
Review: Thin premise, weak plot line, poor character development, and a lousy ending. Young and gullible lawyer trades his ethics for big bucks but eventually sees the light. Boy leaves girl and goes through trials, then boy gets the same girl he didn't want in the first place. Ho-hum. Don't waste your time. It's clear to me, considering "King of Torts" and the boredom of his "Skipping Christmas," that Grisham has written himself out. (Why didn't I give it a '1', you might ask. Because I did read it all the way through, and because I did learn something about the modern practice of class action law. Were the learnings worth my time? In my opinion, no.)
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