Rating: 
Summary: "The Summons" Retread
Review: The Summons - burned out lawyer has immense wealth dumped on him unexpectedly, indulges his greedy desires, goes one step too far and loses the money, and is now a better man for having gone through it (oh, and he bought himself an airplane).The King of Torts - burned out lawyer has immense wealth dumped on him unexpectedly, indluges his greedy desires, goes one step too far and loses the money, and is now a better man for having gone through it (oh, and he bought himself an airplane). It seems that Grisham called up his manuscript for The Summons, made a few changes to the plot (how the lawyer acquires the money, the setting, etc.), performed a "Find and Replace" with the names of the characters, and voilla, a new book for 2003. I enjoyed The Summons a great deal, and thought Grisham was back to his old form after some disappointing efforts. I read The Summons a second time, but didn't realize it until I was almost all the way through it because it was cleverly disguised as "The King of Torts." This would have been a good and enjoyable read if it weren't a retread.
Rating:
Summary: King of torts
Review: Among his most recent disappointments King of Torts is quite reasonable but in no way near the quality of books which John Grisham has written in the distant past. The start of the book is good but the end is abrupt. I suspected halfway in the book that what if the hero gets beaten up badly buy a grieved client and the book ends. And exactly that happened. I wonder what has happen to this talented and used to be entertaining writer. I am glad that I did not pay for this book, got it as a gift.
Rating: 
Summary: Pure [doo-doo]
Review: Not only is the plot stupid (a shady character tips a lawyer off who proceeds to roll the dice and hopes his mega-suits settle) but the main character completely violates the main rule of fiction - he is so greedy and evil that you hope he goes down in flames. By virtue of the fact that he's the main character, and therefore ought to be sympathetic, his final come-uppance is deeply flawed. He doesn't pay for his crimes and his redeeming vlues are so meager you can't help but feel that the time spent reading this has been wholly wasted. It's time to send Grisham to Iraq.
Rating: 
Summary: Check It Out At The Library
Review: I never bought a Grisham book. Would always check them out at the library. And I really like his writings and always look forward to them coming out each year. This time I purchased the hardback, and I was really dissapointed that I spent all that money.
Rating: 
Summary: SOLID GRISHAM
Review: I always look forward to John Grisham's new novels. Sometimes I'm disappointed, sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised. I really enjoyed this book. Reading Grisham you try to figure out how it's going to go at the end. I'm still getting over the last page of THE PARTNER. I enjoyed this book and I liked the ending. I breezed through this novel in two days. That's how into it I was. Not his best work, but solid work.
Rating:
Summary: Yawn. No suspense. None.
Review: Could this book be any more boring? Okay, possibly there's some mildly interesting information about mass tort litigation in the United States, but that's about it. There was no suspense about what was going to happen in the end. We all knew Clay Carter's greed and profligate spending would bear a hefty price tag at the end. It did. We knew he'd get the girl. He did. I'm a fan of Grisham's earlier works ("Skipping Christmas" excepted, of course), but this book comes nowhere close to the level of the others. I kept waiting for something interesting or unexpected to change the course of the story, but it never did.
Rating:
Summary: Grisham at his worst
Review: John Grisham past the peak of his writing with the Rainmaker and now continues to publisher a book every March, whether he has written anything worthwhile or not. He has the potential to write great popular fiction, but quite obviously didn't devote much time to character or story line development in this sad effort. Perhaps Mr Grisham should disregard any contractural agreements and leave the story writing until he feels creative. How much longer can his novels wear the title "bestseller" merely based on his old reputation as a great fiction writer.
Rating:
Summary: Cautionary Tale of Corruption and Greed
Review: Medicines that have some nasty side-effects are put on the market and lawyers, like ambulance chasers, file class action suits to make a killing on other people's misery. This book personalizes this scenario to make it real for the reader. I'm not sure what negative reviewers were expecting as this is pretty much like other Grisham novels. It's a topical story about the legal profession. Not great writing, but a good story well told.
Rating: 
Summary: Grisham is back!
Review: Along with Britt Gillette's CONQUEST OF PARADISE, this is my favorite book of the year. The title of this one from Grisham is quite unusual as compared to his other books and the story is also quite unusual. In THE KING OF TORTS, Grisham shows what happens behind the scenes and beautifully writes about the meteoric rise of a lawyer from nothing to a star and his equally fast downfall. Compelling and enjoyable and a good departure from his last so-so novel, THE SUMMONS. Grisham is back! Highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: A morality tale about greedy and unscrupulous lawyers.
Review: In his latest novel, "The King of Torts," John Grisham explores a topic that he has dealt with many times in the past. Can an individual be a successful lawyer and a moral individual? Or are the words "honest lawyer" paradoxical? Clay Carter is a bright young public defender in Washington, D. C., where he has worked for five years. He is thirty-one, burned out, underpaid and frustrated. Clay's girlfriend, Rebecca, loves him but her snooty parents loathe both Clay and the career path that he has chosen. They want Rebecca to dump Clay and find a better matrimonial prospect. Suddenly, Clay's career takes a weird turn. A murder case falls into his lap, and there are aspects of this investigation that simply do not add up. Soon, a mysterious stranger appears and convinces Clay that it would be in his best interests to quit the Public Defender's office and become a mass tort lawyer. His main job would be to collect the names of individuals who were harmed by pharmaceutical companies, sign these people up, and file class action suits on their behalf. Clay is seduced by the promise of fame and fortune, and he soon becomes "The King of Torts." Can Clay keep his wits about him after he tastes the high life of private planes, yachts, beautiful women, and fancy real estate? Or is he selling his soul in the process of becoming wealthy and successful? Grisham's breezy writing style is pleasant and easy to take. The book moves forward at a fast pace and its theme about the downside of greed is certainly a timely one. However, the plot is a bit far-out and the ending is both heavy-handed and predictable. Unfortunately, "The King of Torts" is more a morality tale than it is a novel.
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