Rating: 
Summary: My First Grisham...And What a Read!
Review: This was my first Grisham. I am an avid reader, but I usually gravitate toward nonfiction (particularly history and politics). However, while housesitting for friends the other week, I picked up a copy of this book. In short, I really enjoyed it. Here are three reasons:1. Grisham's talent for clarity is impressive. Fine detail throughout, as well as believable dialogue, kept the story moving and relatively easy to follow. This was a challenge, too, considering the intricate storyline in The Runaway Jury. 2. This topic was fascinating. Anyone with an interest in jury deliberations will like the unique twists and turns in the story. The characters are unique, each one mysterious enough to get the reader thinking and speculating. 3. Finally, I really admire the ending. Of course, I don't want to commit the reviewer's sin of giving anything away, so enough said! Sure, there are some weaknesses, as with any book. Some minor storylines disappear, while some do not push the plot along. There are a few passages that dragged a little. But all in all, a great read. I can't compare this to Grisham's other works, but will say that I am now a fan.
Rating: 
Summary: Middle-of-the-line Grisham
Review: My distinct impression after finishing this novel was, "Meh". Overall, the premise of this is worthwhile, I think, and certainly explores the little guy vs. the corporation theme developed earlier in The Rainmaker (a far, far superior novel) in greater detail. Here, we are treated with the actions and thoughts of a jury which has to decide whether a cigarette manufacturer is responsible for the death of a woman's husband, who died of lung cancer. There is corruption, deceit, moral questioning, and a few twists along the way, and you'll begin to wonder, as I did, whether Nicolas Easter is a little bit too smart to be who he says he is. While I did find this premise interesting, and I did learn a little bit about the industry and smoking in general (although, unfortunately, these facts are present, by and large, in boring courtroom fashion), I found this novel lacking in the more pivotal areas: 1) There are no really sympathetic characters. Nicholas Easter is certainly the central character, but he's only an enigma, whose past and present are presented to us mainly through the personal digging of the cigarette manufacturer's lawyers. He's not as easy to relate to as Rudy Bayloy or Mitchell McDeere. His motivations are a mystery until the end, rather the propulsion for the story, which I think they should be. 2) The victim, unfortunately, is never a part of the story. No victims are. Where as the kid dying of leukemia was very easy to relate to in the Rainmaker, we see nobody suffering from tobacco-related illnesses within the action story here; we just hear about it. That's all right for an essay, but if you're trying to make a point with a novel, with a story, I sort of expect to have an opportunity to become emotionally attached to the situation. I'm sorry, but I wasn't. 3) Sadly, the story takes place largely in a courtroom, moreso than any other Grisham I've read. This may work for some people; it didn't for me. There are very few side stories or breaks, or personal matters, or external character development. It's very much to do with an attack on the tobacco industry, and little more. 4) There is an unfortunate lacking of quirky characters. There isn't the snippy judge from The Client, or the homoerotic Senator from The Pelican Brief, or the aspiring-Governor lawyer from A Time To Kill. I guess there is the agnostic nude juror who objects to the church service - but that's about it. I find it interesting - and it's not even a critisism - that the last two Grisham novels I've read, A Time To Kill and this one, I've actually disagreed with. The point, as it were, the resolution between the moral and legal conflicts - well, I would have gone the other way. But I commend Mr. Grisham for making me think about these things. It's something not a lot of novels can do. Still, I'd recommend picking up The Rainmaker or The Client rather than this one. Matty J
Rating: 
Summary: One of the better ones
Review: I've read several Grisham books, some I really like and some get a little slow. I'm working my way through all of his books and this one was one of the better ones, in my opinion. The story of Easter and Marlee keep you interested throughout the book and this one has a good ending where many of his books don't, again that's just my opinion.
Rating:
Summary: The Verdict is In
Review: The Runaway Jury by John Grisham is a very well written courtroom drama about a fictitious tobacco litigation case with an interesting plot twist with the plots of Nicholas Easter and Marlee. I won't go more into it so as not to spoil the fun of reading this plot for those who have not read the book as of yet. The thing I liked most about the plot is that no one seemed to be a "good guy" in all of this despite the fact that on the bad guy side there were the tobacco companies. Because of the way the characters were set, no one came off as a good guy and everyone came off kind of scummy. This is an interesting way for an author to approach a story and one that makes a reader more captivated than they otherwise would be in my opinion. Characters on the whole were well developed, though he seemed to come right out and say what the characteristics of the characters were rather than inferring their nature through conversations and actions. However, it seemed that Grisham was aiming for a straight forward, easy read so in that respect he accomplished what he was going for. Overall, there may have been too many characters that made it a little hard to follow at times, but given the nature of the plot, a large cast of characters was necessary. Overall, I felt that this story was fairly well told and is one of the better books put out there by Grisham having read some of his others. The language of the book is clear and concise with very little unnecessary embellishment of his prose to provide for a quick read. At the same time, some issues could have been improved in the same area because it seemed a little too clear cut.
Rating: 
Summary: A light meringue of a book- no substance
Review: A substanceless book with little to recommend it. Grisham seems to be writing a made for cable movie here. He certainly knows how to write a storyline that moves the reader along. Maybe its all the shifts between narratives of the various plot thread- it almost feels like a TV show. The bad news is that there is almost nothing here beyond a smart premise. Grisham has noticed a stand-off tension between the tobacco companies and the personal injury lawyers. For a personal injury bar their expected value of the a lawsuit (reward x chance of the outcome) was not that great. The tobacco companies best defense was never to lose a trial, make them as expensive as possible and never settle. As long as the defense kept the expected value low, they would discourage lawsuits. The flip side of this is that if they ever started to lose, lawyers would come out of the woodwork to take a run at them because now the odds of a huge payoff dont look so bad. Tobacco couldn't afford to lose the first suit because it would beget a raft of successors. Grisham posits what would happen if someone with a little legal experience were to insert himself into the jury pool for tobacco case, and it is a good premise. A juror willing to sell his vote and influence others would have a lot of bargaining power in this position and this could lead to some good plots. Unfortunately this book is little more than an interesting premise and a good writing style. The two putative 'protagonists' (although you wont like them) are granted near magic powers to battle the typical Grisham bugbear- a shadowy, amoral corporate law apparatus full of dirty tricks lackeys. Our two heroes have backgrounds as law students and in waitressing but they can run circles around the baddies from tobacco. No problem in shaking professional surveillance teams, masking their identities, walking in and out of jury sequester whenever the plot requires it, hacking computer systems, and of course the former waitress knows more about offshore numbered accounts and how to manipulate them than the corporate law boobs. Oh yeah, and our mole juror has no trouble manipulating everyone else on the jury. I know the author sees lawyers as a cut better than everyone else, but this Sevengalli control is a bit too much. Grisham might as well have granted them the power of invisibility as well for all the sense this makes. Lets suppose you can look past the lack of realism- then you have the story of a couple of slackers scamming bumbling corporate baddies. But our heroes here really are no better than the baddies. They bump off properly selected jurors out of the pool- though harassment and poison - undermining a fair trial as much as anything the bad guys do. A set of amoral uber-lawer groups clashing with dirty tricks. Do you really cares who wins? I didn't by half way though. 550+ pages and this still a very shallow book that only succeeds on the level of writing mechanics. This is a two star book that feels like a retread of "The Firm". Dick Francis still manages to turn out compelling books set in horse circles but I think Grishman will need a change of venue to return to 4-star form.
Rating:
Summary: The Runaway Jury
Review: This is the first John Grisham book i have read. I liked the novel, but at times it jumped around from character to character too fast. The story takes place in the courtroom in Biloxi, Mississippi, where a widow has sued the tobacco industry for the death of her husband. The Protagonist Nicholas Easter and his girlfriend Marlee have been following tobacco litigation for years and finally Nicholas makes it on the jury. The rest of the novel deals with Nicholas and Marlee manipulating the Jury and the Defense's hired "man" Rankin Fitch to secure the verdict they want. The jury is being controlled, but which way will it go? The novel is filled with suspense and twists at almost every other chapter. Like i said earlier this is the first Grisham book i have read so i cant compare it to others, but I will definetley now read more of John Grisham's books. If you haven't read this one and you like Grisham i'm sure this one is a must read.
Rating:
Summary: An entertaining story of big-time litigation. A decent read
Review: "The Runaway Jury" is an entertaining read. The basic plot (no spoiler here) is a tobacco trial in which the plaintiff is suing a Big Tobacco firm for product liability--for causing the death of her husband. Both sides are determined to control the jury and its verdict anyway they can. There is much more to the story than that, which makes this a quite decent read. Although The Runaway Jury is entertaining, it lacks depth. None of the characters have any real substance. Even the protagonists (there are several) are kept at a distance from the reader and we never get to know them. Except for Fitch, the defense jury consultant, all of the main characters are utterly forgettable, and the reader will likely not come to care for any of them. As in most of Grisham's novels, Grisham's experience and knowledge of the law shines through. The reader is treated to a variety of insights about the trial process, and the world of civil litigation. This authenticity is Grisham's trademark, and combined with a snappy and clear writing style, yields a novel that succeeds in entertaining the reader. The plot is fairly predictable, however, and this combined with the colorless characters robs the novel's conclusion of any real punch.
Rating:
Summary: Don't believe all the hype
Review: While I enjoyed the book for the most part, I was disappointed over-all. I think it was because it was so built up for me with all the hype and the movie, I had high expectations. Runaway Jury did not live up to them. I agree with a previous reviewer who said that if you've read Grisham before, this is nothing to write home about. It's his regular type plot and story. And honestly, that makes this a bit of a plain book. I loved the premise of this book, almost comparing it to the movie 12 Angry Men. The thought that one person can sway a group in a trial situation is fascenating to me. However, this book did not keep me on the edge of my seat. Yes, there were a lot of sub-plots and things going on, but this book was just not successful in capturing my undivided attention. The ending was ok. Like a few other Grisham books, the ending isn't his strong point. I'd recommend this book, but I guess I'd just say, reader beware. Don't expect a non-stop thrill ride with a shocking ending. This book isn't that at all. But for a solid story about trials, juries and schemes, this book does ok. For a much stronger story by Grisham read: The Street Lawyer, The Partner and The Firm.
Rating:
Summary: Where's the real motivation?
Review: The Runaway Jury is marked as suspense, but I didn't think there was much suspenseful about it. Nicholas Easter is selected as a juror in a tobacco trial. He's a friendly guy with two years of law school behind him and all the jurors respect him and sometimes even look to him to explain what's going on. Inside the courtroom, the plaintiff is trying to prove that a man died directly from cigarette smoking. They throw in all sorts of obscure facts about advertising and targetting kids. Things that are supposed to make the jury hate cigarettes, but these things have nothing to do with the case. The defense, in my opinion, is very weak in this case. But the book isn't really about the trial, it's about the jury and what goes on behind the scenes. I'm really afraid to serve on a jury for a large trial now. Both the defense and plaintiff trail all prospective jurors and gather as much dirt on them as they can. Once jury selection is complete, the defense goes to work on influencing each of the jurors. Sometimes they use their spouses to get to them. Sometimes they do so directly with a dirty little secret. Rankin Fitch works for the big tobacco companies and is, in effect, running this operation. He is very perceptive and can probably tell you your life history just by looking at you. Fitch starts getting notes and phone calls from a woman named Marlee and it doesn't take long before Fitch realizes that Marlee knows exactly what's going on and Nicholas Easter is working with her somehow to control the jury. The question is, what does Marlee want, why is she doing this? Both her and Nicholas seem to have appeared out of thin air and Fitch must track them down and learn their dirty little secrets in order to get the upper hand. Will he be too late?
Rating:
Summary: Is this how the legal system works?
Review: "Runaway Jury" is ostensibly the story of a widow suing a tobacco company for damages concerning the death of her husband, a life-long smoker unable to quit the habit. But the book, in actuality, is an in-depth look at the manipulation of the jury selection process and the possibilities of jury tampering once a jury has been selected. Nicholas Easter's name has shown up on the potential juror pool. But he is a mystery man to the jury consultants who have examined his past as described on the juror forms, photographed his every move, and even tried to penetrate his anonymity by enticing him with attractive female agents. But Nicholas is strategically placed in the jury pool and neither side is able to strike him from being selected. Early in the trial, the jury begins to panic the consultants through such independent actions as insisting on reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in court and requiring first class service on catered lunches. Someone is driving the jury and that person is Nicholas. It turns out that he has help in the person of his girlfriend and shrewd operator, Marlee, in controlling the jury. Simultaneously, the defense has identified several jurors who have vulnerabilities that can be exploited through spousal contact. The key interaction is between Marlee and Fitch, the ruthless, unofficial head of the defense team who will stop at nothing to ensure a favorable verdict for his clients, the tobacco industry. As Fitch and his operatives scramble to learn the true identity of Nicholas and Marlee, can they afford to ignore the ability of this enigmatic pair to control the jury? The book was interesting, but it was not particularly gripping. The plot moves along fairly slowly and even predictably as the impacts of Nicholas and Marlee and Fitch and cohorts on the jury are played out. One is left with the inescapable conclusion that there are few limits when attempting to undermine the legal process.
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