Rating:  Summary: More predictable than his other works Review: The King of Torts starts out with a compelling story about a lawyer who is determined to be his own man, but quickly falls into a predictable tale of compromising your ethics to make a fast buck. The last 200 or so pages predictably depict the rise and fall of a greedy personal injury lawyer on a mass scale. I kept reading waiting for the twist that Grisham often puts in his novels, but was left wanting in the end. I really enjoyed his earlier works, including the non-legal ones, and hope that Grisham once again takes a chance in his writing with twists and turns to keep the reader interested.
Rating:  Summary: Grisham - The king of the great start Review: Grisham's novels always start out great, but end up leaving me vaguely dissatisfied. The King of Torts was no exception. The first half of this book is some of his best writing yet, the second half isn't even worth reading. It's as if the author just gave up half way through. I do not recommend this book.
Rating:  Summary: The King of Torts Review: The Grisham formula has become too predictable. This book follows the familiar lawyer is tempted by something too good to be true, rises to fame and falls to failure within the pages. The characters aren't very endearing and the ending is weak. This book can be a "beach book" since it doesn't require a lot of concentration or involvement to read.
Rating:  Summary: Greed, Envy.. What a Great Book Review: After waiting a few months to get my hands on a copy of this book, I was not disappointed in the least. The last John Grisham book I read was The Runaway Jury and there were parts in The King of Torts that reminded me of that book. The book begins with Clay Carter, a lawyer working in the Office of the Public Defender (OPD). He is quickly assigned a case to provide legal counsel to a murderer. He tries to pawn the case off on another lawyer, but he's unsucessful in doing so. He soon gets a call from Max Pace, who seems to have the perfect case but all he needs is a good lawyer. Clay takes on the case and makes millions. Max happens to have more and more cases, each guaranteeing millions, but a what cost? After living in the lap of luxury, Clay realizes that it has all be at the expense of his clients. This book was such a fast paced read. Whether you're a John Grisham fan or not, any suspense fan would love this book.
Rating:  Summary: THE KING OF TORTS Review: John Grisham is loosing interest in his writing; it shows in his skill and recent style of writing. This book goes down with his other bomb, "The Brethren!" I have fourteen of his books resting in my book-case and I just don't feel that his desire is writing legal suspense stories any longer. The first half of The King Of Torts is a page-turner as he develops the characters. I read it quickly while on the plane from Los Angeles to Lima Peru. A trip I made by the way because of an interest in South America that was stirred up by his earlier book, "The Testament." The next half of the book was very preachy like reading an editorial from the Sunday newspaper. There was no excitement. I was sitting poolside in Palm Springs, soaking sun and enjoying the people watching much more than The King Of Torts. Although, it was a good conversation starter when other Grisham fans came over to me to discuss if I like his new book. I finished the last few chapters while serving my civic duty sitting waiting to be picked for a panel on Jury duty. I don't know what was worse, just sitting there bored, or reading the ending to this book. If you like legal thrillers don't look to this book this year. Pick up "First Degree" by David Rosenfelt. Here is a fresh new author who will have you tearing through the pages not believing your eyes as the suspense of the story "FIRST DEGREE" unfolds.
Rating:  Summary: HORRIBLE!!! Review: This was the first John Grisham novel I read and I expected more from what I have heard about John Grisham. The plot was horrible and it just dragged on to the predictable and rushed end. Do not even bother with this piece of trash that got accidentally published. I wish I could give this novel zero stars but I cannot. Blah!!! I will use this book for starting a fire in my fireplace. Awful. Disgusting. Horrible. What was Doubleday thinking? So much for "commercial publishers only publish good novels!" FILTH!!!
Rating:  Summary: Worked the first time... Review: This is more a moral fable than a thriller... Easy to read, you finish it very fast but not 'cause of the fast pace but because the plot is very very easy. In fact the book has three episodes very similar one to the other: once you've read the first one, the other ones are variations on the same topic, making the terrain ready for the big and very predictable crash of the main character since the tenth page. At the end, you don't have the sensation of having pass through a great and creative plot, but a soft ride in some park: just above plain boring, enough to be finished and take another novel without a second thought about this one. "The firm" or "The client" or "The jury" are very far away now.
Rating:  Summary: Rather Well done Review: As a movie producer I'm always looking for good thrillers and of course I need to read Grisham. Yes, he uses the same formula over and over, but it does seem to work for the most part. He must have helpers, though. Nobody can churn out the words as he does. Still it is well done. Also recommend ...FOR YOUR PENANCE....
Rating:  Summary: Grisham can do better. Review: I have read all of John Grisham's novels so picking up this one was natural for me. I wish I hadn't.The story really never goes anywhere. Clay, A poor lawyer, gets rich, and then it appears that he is getting in trouble with the FBI, but that goes nowhere. Then he loses all of his money. That is pretty much the entire story line. Sprinkeled into this is Clay's desire to rekindle his old relationship with his now ex Rebecca and his hatred for her parents. She shows up about 30 pages from the end of the book and they are back together. This does nothing to add to the plot. I found myself hoping that Clay would get tied up in a court battle for his insider trading which would have set up a good courtroom drama for Grisham to write to. I don't know if Grisham has lost it, or his editors tore his original apart and ended up with this sorry novel. Regardless, I will hesitate with Grisham's next effort appears on the bookstore shelf.
Rating:  Summary: Classless Actions Review: The King of Torts is a modern fairy tale seemingly based on Jack and the Beanstalk. I use that reference because I could see no other reason for employing this story's absurd structure. The book came across to me like it was a writing exercise based on that fairy tale that was not intended to be read by anyone. Mr. Grisham is a fine writer, and has shown he can do much better than this in developing his character, his plots and his resolutions. Hapless public defender Clay Carter is handed the equivalent of some magic beans when he uncovers a pharmaceutical company conspiracy while defending an indigent client and decides to settle the case for a big fee. Using the same source of the magic beans (an illegal fixer), he's soon off pursuing another class action suit. That brings him into the land of the giants where he meets the other class action tort attorneys. He learns their ways (but not too well) and soon has his clients and defendants chasing him down the beanstalk. He chops down the beanstalk (his mass tort practice), and manages to survive the experience. Like Jack, he's better off for the experience even though he did a lot of misdeeds along the way. Why would anyone want to read this book? Basically, it will appeal to those who want to know about how mass tort law practices operate. These are the modern version of the classic lawyer who chases ambulances to get clients . . . except these lawyers chase as many ambulances as possible and pile the results of those chases into one law suit representing the interests of millions. It's now the biggest way of making money by practicing law. Most of what is revealed here comes pretty close to the truth, with some exaggeration for humor. Is the public interest served by these practices? You'll be in a better position to decide after reading this book. The King of Torts is not Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, however, so it won't become the basis for widespread revulsion against these class action practices. If tales about greed and excess don't turn you on, avoid this book. You won't like it. After you finish reading the book (if you decide to do so), ask yourself when providing financial incentives is a good thing . . . and when too much of a good thing becomes a bad thing for us all. Certainly, the many recent cases of corporate misdeeds related to fraudulent accounting fit.
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