Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining as usual
Review: John Grisham's "The King of Torts" is a fast paced pop novel.It is what one has come to expect from Mr. Grisham. A young, idealistic lawyer who is tempted and ultimately corrupted by untold riches...followed by a quick attempt at redemption. Clay Carter (the central character) is well developed, as are many of the supporting characters. A couple are somewhat cartoonish. Most are interesting, and a few are very important to moving the plot along It is somewhat of a morality tale a/o parable in part. The different paths Clay and the three associates who received the largesse that came with moving from the Public Defender's office to private practice is telling. As with many of his novels, the conclusion is less than fulfilling. However, it is a marvelous ride, and the journey trumps the destination; making for a most entertaining read. It is not deep and ponderous; it is simply good escapist enjoyment.
Rating: 
Summary: Terrible
Review: By the time you get to the middle of the book your wondering what is the whole point. I eagerly kept reading waiting for it to get better and it never did. "I want my money back"
Rating:
Summary: BOTH READER AND AUTHOR ARE WINNERS
Review: Talented actor Michael Beck has much experience giving voice to the works of John Grisham - The Rainmaker, A Time To Kill, The Runaway Jury, and The Summons. His readings, always aptly nuanced and compelling, become even more competent with each recording. Beck's rendering of The King Of Torts is, once again, A-one. Grisham, who also gets better and better, grabs today's headlines for the premise in his latest. Public defender Clay Carter is down and almost out. His days are spent in the Washington D.C. courts with cases no one else will touch; his office is dismal, tiny. Professionally, he's going nowhere but down. His girlfriend, Rebecca, seems to think this is the way it will always be so she takes off. Enter salvation in the form of Max Pace. In legal jargon Max is known as a "fireman"; he helps large corporations douse fires that might bring these behemoths to their knees. Right now, Max is in the employ of a pharmaceutical firm that carelessly released a noxious drug that resulted in deaths. Max's offer to Clay is simple: get to the families of the victims and arrange quiet, private settlements. For this, the barely solvent public defender will receive a hefty fee. Clay bites, and within a few short weeks has $15,000,000 in his bank account. This is more than enough for him to open a high-priced law office, and buy TV ads. In no time his firm is taking on multitudes of cases, and raking in really big bucks. Also in no time Clay has it all: cars, plans, gorgeous girl, private island, every accouterment of excess. But, can he keep it? - Gail Cooke
Rating:
Summary: Another Gem in Grisham's Crown!
Review: Grisham is probably best known for his legal thrillers. And when he wrote A Painted House and Skipping Christmas, some of his legal thrillers' fans thought he was losing his touch. The Summons was a very welcome change, but it didn't seem to be up to the standards of The Client, The Firm, The Pelican Brief or The Runaway Jury. Just when some thought the Grisham boom might finally be over, there rose to the the throne, The King of Torts! What a wonderful book! What a unique aspect of the law! How well written! Grisham's play on words, his ability to describe places in such beautiful detail that you can imagine the location, the scenario, and even feel as if you're part of it, are at their peak. Having lived in DC, I could picture each scene vividly. Who would have thought that a story that begins at the obscure OPD would end up so dramatically?! If you love Grisham, then you'll love this book!
Rating: 
Summary: Waiting for the bubble to burst
Review: This is a rather unique Grisham book. At first, it seems like everything is going the protagonist's way. But beneath it all is the palpable sense that Clay's bubble is doomed to burst. It just keeps swelling larger and larger until the reader is almost cringing. How far will he fall? How bad will it get? From which direction will it come? Clay is an everyman upon whom enormous wealth and power is thrust virtually overnight. Suddenly he's the biggest shot in law in Washington D.C. His smiling face is in Time and the New York Times. While Clay enjoys his sudden lucre, what tickles him more is to realize that the nouveau riche parents of his ex-girlfriend (who thought he was a loser in a dead-end job) must be hating his launch into high society. Readers can see that his upswing has to come to an end. They will shudder at the way he bleeds money, wasting it on frivolous things like, oh, a private jet and a house in the tropics for his trophy girlfriend. This is risky stuff for Grisham. Having the main character's story arc suddenly plummet near the end may not be to every reader's liking. But Grisham is writing about truth -- about hubris and pride and being blinded by sudden fame. It's easy to step back and say "I wouldn't behave that way," but [millions of] dollars can do strange things to anyone! Watching the crash is sort of like watching a car accident. It's horrible, but you can't look away. This is powerful writing and a refreshing change of pace for Grisham. I enjoyed every moment of it -- though it had my nevers on edge the whole way through.
Rating: 
Summary: Greed Tragedy
Review: Grisham's latest is less a thriller as advertised but more simply an old-fashioned fable about the allure and dangers of money, luxury and myopic power. Although it started well by involving the novel's protagionist, Clay Carter in a murder case with mysterious circumstances, the novel quickly escalated into a story of the rapid ascent and predictable descent of this character. The book is appealing in describing how tort lawyers manipulate the legal system to achieve ridiculous fees often at the expense of individual clients and defendant companies. Nonetheless, I soon found myself losing interest in the book's storyline and its characters as their fate became increasingly obvious. Moreover, it becomes hard to be sympathetic to Carter as he continues to fall deeper and deeper into the abyss of greed. Rarely, does he exhibit any conscience or intelligence as avarice obscures all reason on his part. All in all, not one of Grisham's best. What happened to books like The Firm, Time To Kill and The Partner?
Rating: 
Summary: Formulaic Disapointment
Review: It's too good to be true. The King of Torts is being set up from the beginning. He has an escapist ride to the top of the heap, but crashes and burns one set of values and has another set ready for the inevitable end. Too much like "The Firm." To Grisham's credit it is quickly paced so you can finish this dog and find something with more substance.
Rating:
Summary: Not as Good as Other Grisham Tales
Review: This one stalled out in the middle for me but picked up toward the end. I enjoyed the book but feel he could have twisted it bit more.
Rating:
Summary: The Cost of Greed
Review: This is a "rags to riches" story centered around Clay Carter an attorney in the Washington D.C. Office of Public Defender (OPD) who seemingly has no bright future as a lawyer. Suddenly, and almost unrealistically (but this is just a fictional story) he is established with his own law firm in first class offices and given, for starters, one extremely profitable case. This is a case in which a drug company has put a drug on the market with a very dangerous side effect in some instances, which impacts not only the person for which the drug is prescribed. As the story proceeds we are exposed to the process of accomplishing settlements of potential class-action lawsuits with large attorney fees and sometimes less than fair treatment of plaintiffs. We also find that at least in fictional characters there is a great deal of greed lurking in the law profession. Clay is romantically involved from the beginning with Rebecca, daughter of wealthy social climbing parents in D.C. Of course the parents aren't pleased with the OPD career of the potential son-in-law, and this helps the romance to go sour. I found this to be one of the most interesting of the author's novels.
Rating:
Summary: What's the point -- this book is a waste of time
Review: I read through this whole book waiting for it to get good... it never did! I thought there was going to be some twist that made all of the foolishness worthwhile -- there wasn't! Obviously this was a cheap grab by the publisher and author to cash in before the Grisham franchise goes away completely. Bah!
| 
