The Rainmaker

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Summary: Welcome to the world of the uninsured
Review: The Rainmaker is a great book which was made amazingly well into a movie. For those of you considering watching the movie, please read the book first. It can be kind of confusing if you don't have a general sense of who the characters are, and if you're bad with names, well, watching the film can be a struggle. The Rainmaker is a great book with a realistic plot. Folks, this is how many Americans live, and being a college student, I KNOW what it's like to be uninsured. I think that's probably why it was such a smooth read for me. My props to John Grisham.

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Summary: Excellent Read!! You can't put it down!
Review: Being a big Grisham fan.. I have to say this is one of his best! The character's are rich and real and developed well early on... I'm a "picky" reader who doesn't like "wordy" books and this is by far one of the most gripping reads I've encountered in a while! Bravo Grisham!

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Summary: Did the publishing deadline steal the ending?
Review: I am not a great reader, so getting through a book this long is a challenge for me. I loved the plot: it was well crafted with limitless potential to weave the pieces together into an intriguing conclusion. But alas! I was disappointed. Seemed like Grisham ran out of time at the end.

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Summary: Wonderful book, did not enjoy the ending
Review: Until you get to the ending, this is probably my favorite Grisham book. I found a tongue-in-cheek humor, very wry, which was extraordinary, similar to Faulker in _The Sound and the Fury_. As to the ending, well, to be fair, the second time I read the book I found the roots of it all through, from the beginning. I didn't like it at all, however, no fun and no fair. And it was unrealistic that none of the powerful, smart and famous attorneys who were watching and helping Rudy didn't warn him about what might happen, and how he might avoid it. So that's it, at the end? It's all over, no looking back, after all that hard work? I don't buy it. The rest of the book is worth living with the ending. Well-written, fascinating, wonderful characters, darkly funny.

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Summary: GRISHAM'S UNDERDOGS ARE SECOND TO NONE
Review: Grisham's main character's fit into two categories, the brilliant, gifted strategists such as Mitch Mcdeere and Nicholas Easter, and the underdog commonfolk pitted against overwhelming odds such as Jake Brigance and Mark Sway. Rudy Baylor fits into the latter category. Grisham does a brilliant job of building him up as a frustrated, sympathetic underdog. At first, I was upset that the Rainmaker was written in the first person as I thought that this might take away from his ability to work his objective humor style into the book. Indeed, the book starts a little slow. Have patience however, it gets better. Rudy grows smarter, angrier and more mature as the story goes on until his opponents,the once heavy favorites, almost start to look like sympathetic characters. If anything the first person style allows the reader to follow one saga without having to endure one or two chapter interruptions between chapters that follow the master narrative. The book can be a little slow paced at times, and may be a bit long for the story, but the drama scenes are Grisham at his best. The Rainmaker is also the perfect forum for Grisham's trademark anti- lawyer humor, which, although unrealistic and not indicative of the way real lawyers live and operate, does make for some very good humor.

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Summary: This was one of the best books that I have ever read.
Review: I liked this book because there wasn't just one good story line there were several. This major one was Rudy Bayler trying to nail ainsurance company for killing a person with lukimia. I also liked the first person narreration, by John Grisham in his finest books ever. Sure every book he writes is about a lawyer just coming out of, or in, law school, but he's so good at it who cares.

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Summary: Clever plot construction makes the Rainmaker a winner
Review: Let's hear it for the underdog!! Grisham weaves a clever tale of a law school grad going up against a huge corporation with its high-octane lawyers in a wrongful death suit. You can't help but root for Rudy Baylor, the rookie lawyer. There is, of course, the obligatory romance to spice things up, as well. My only problem with the story was how Grisham trivializes the death of one of the characters in the book, an abusive husband, and how Baylor rides off into the sunset at the end (with his new love). Good read!!!

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Summary: Underdog defeats corporate scum, Yay!
Review: I'll never get tired of this theme! Unfortunately, Grisham takes on two entirely separate plots in The Rainmaker and never makes them matter to each other. Romance with an abused wife deserved an entire book to itself, or else a clever way to relate it to the main plot--which was terrific as usual. Wet-behind-the-ears kid lawyer brings down money-grubbing slime and its hired guns. What's not to like? :^)

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Summary: the rainmaker
Review: I have read all of john grisham's novels and I was not the least bit disappointed with "The Rainmaker". There is never a dull moment in the novel and even when you "recovered" from the climatic point in the novel,there's still something left to uncover. Grisham goes to an extra length to explain legal procedures, or perfectly describe the main character's "surroundings". Because of this book I feel like I've been to memphis! Anyone that enjoys John Grisham's novels will love "The Rainmaker".

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Summary: Where, oh where, has Grishman gone?
Review: Mr. Grisham has compiled a weak, predictible plot with The Rainmaker. He does not allow his readers the opportunity to fall in love with any characters except for Rudy, and we do not really depise anyone except for an untangible insurance company. He needed to develop Kelly Riker's story line and weave it through the enitre novel rather than having her pop up every now and then. And what is the whole point of Bruiser and Prince? Not much except for a stepping stone to introduce Deck and Rudy. Characters did not develop and the conclusion was ho hum. I used to read his novels as quickly as my schedule would allow me to. Now, I drag through them in hopes to feel the thrills that stories like A Time to Kill and The Firm provided me. I feel as if Mr. Grisham only writes with the big silver screen in mind and does not provide his readers with a novel full of riveting action and roller coaster emotions like we grew to expect from him. I hope the real Mr. Grisham returns soon.