The Street Lawyer

Rating:
Summary: SCRIPT FOR T.V. MOVIE OF THE WEEK!!!!
Review: If you absolutely HAVE to read this cuz it's a John Grisham book, get it from the library....not worth buying it...while the premise is commendable, his one page in-depth article in a recent Newsweek was far more succinct...so he spent a couple of weeks playing "street lawyer" just so he could write a book... big deal...he shed a tear only once....yeah, crying cuz this one is not gonna make the big bucks like his others... John, when you were doing a book tour a few years ago appearing at Book Passage here in Marin, you said that you would start "real writing" as you did in "A Time to Kill" once you fulfilled your contract.....and made some money so you could afford the latitude of "real writing".....well, you've made a ton of $$$$$$$$$ by now, don't you think you can start writing again for readers and not for the movies???? I liked all of your books but i realllly LOVED your very first one....characters in "street lawyer" were one dimensional, story was extremely weak.....there just wasn't any substance...this could've been a very powerful book given your "research" and subject matter but you cheated your readers in more ways than one....only 11 lines on each chapter page....verrrry slim pickings there....give it some more effort next time around....!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Not as good as some, better than others
Review: As with all Grisham's book, it is a must for his fans. While I rate it a 7, I still read the book the day it was released. An interesting twist on his normal storylines (predominantly based in the South) in that it addresses a problem not many are confronted with on a daily basis, namely the homeless in Washington DC.

Rating:
Summary: Don't Believe the Hype
Review: This is undoubtedly the worst Grisham book I have ever read, and I've read them all. It may be the worst book of any kind that I've ever read. I'd rate it lower, but then I'd feel worse about the $16 I spent on it at Sam's Warehouse. It's neither gripping nor thrilling. There was no intrigue and there were more loose ends and unanswered questions than all eight of his previous books combined. This is not a "legal thriller" but a literary soapbox. The Street Lawyer doesn't introduce the reader to the plight of the homeless, it drags you into it and then continues to beat you over the head with statistics and rhetoric. I have no problem with the subject matter of the book, or Grishams reasons for writing it. I'm sure that it is a subject that should be explored and funded more vigorously. BUT, don't dress up a book as a new "legal thriller" and then gloss over every aspect of the law. Court scenes are all but ignored until the last 50 pages, and they are concluded in a most unrealistic manner. Maybe the protaginst of the book is really an alter ego of Grisham when he says, more than a couple of times, that he has little experience with the crimal court process. If Grisham feels he needs to write socially redeeming books, why not be honest about it and write a Clancyesque "OpCenter" type of book and market it in paper back. Don't waste my money, or more importantly, my time. The story was lame, the characters were as colorful as cardboard and the ending left you with too many questions. What happened to his wife? What happend to his old Firm? What happend to his new job? Why mention characters such as his wifes brother and paramour, and not follow them up? Etc, etc... The character development was the worst I've ever seen in one of his books, and I can only imagine two possibilites. 1) Grisham didn't write it. OR more likely 2)He knows that anything he writes will fly off the shelfs, no matter what it is about. Overall, very dissapointing if you're a a lawyer or any way related to the legal arena. Unless you're a in social services, a public interest lawyer, or are radically idealistic, you will be better off waiting a couple of months for the paperback, or better yet, call me and I'll mail it to you.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book!
Review: This is one of Grisham's greatest book and I would definitely have to recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading.

Rating:
Summary: Fabulous
Review: Another John Grisham masterpiece. Will this man ever stop producing such wonderfully enthralling stories?

Rating:
Summary: Easy read, entertaining, too predictable.
Review: Grisham still hasn't regained his peak reached with The Firm. The Street Lawyer was only slightly better than average, but very entertaining and thought provoking. Everyone should feel a mild degree of guilt while dealing with the subject content of homelessness. However, what is Grisham trying to do here? Become an advocate for the cause of the month, and this month that cause is homelessness? This book must have been written with the screenplay in mind. Picture James Earl Jones as Mordecai and the characters from tv's The Practice as the attorneys of the 14th Street Legal Clinic. Overall: entertaining and thought provoking!

Rating:
Summary: boring!
Review: There was no suspense, no build up to the plot. I didnt care one bit about the hero. Grisham needs to stop trying to put out a bk every 8 months and take the time to write a well thought out bk. He could have done great things with this plot. At 27.95 the bk is terribly overpriced unless proceeds are going to help the homeless he writes about.

Rating:
Summary: The book lacked the usual plot readers are used to seeing.
Review: The book had an interesting premise, but, as I read on, I said so what. I could not develop sympathy for the lawyer, or the homeless. What was the point of the wife? I didn't believe that the premise of a stolen file could embarrass a major law firm to its knees, especially over the homeless. What was the point of the 3rd lawyer in the street clinic? How come at convienient points, the social worker for the law clinic simply came up with adresses, names, etc? He did not develop the story well. There was no suspense. I am glad I checked it out of the library

Rating:
Summary: WHO CARES??
Review: I've read most of Mr. Grisham's book, and in my opinion, only A TIME to KIll stands by itself as a decent piece of literature. I wouldn't waste my precious reading time with an author who writes banal, predictable screenplays only to sell out to the highest bidder. Mr. Grisham should either become a movie producer or simply spend more time on his precious baseball diamond which he built for his son anyway.

Rating:
Summary: Great!!!
Review: Definitly Grisham's best yet!!! I would buy the book from Amazon if I were you---cause the cover price is 27.95!!!