The King of Torts

Another two day read from Grisham that kept me up way too late wanting to get the whole story in.This is a good tale of rags-to-riches-to-rags; of legal abuse and using the system; of good boy goes bad.The main character toils on public service to indigent cases in need of protection and then eats the forbidden fruit on his way to wealth. Along the way, money clouds his judgement and his motives. I found myself both pulling for him to come out good in the end and to get what was coming to him for abusing the judicial system. In the end, he gets a little of both; something he wants and something he had.If you like Grisham, you'll enjoy Torts. It might not be his best...but it's better than most.

If you like the classic Grisham thrillers - fast moving D.C. lawyers, mysterious wheeler-dealers, evil corporations, big buck settlements, plus a touch of romance and private jet trips to semi-exotic settings, this is the book for you. But unlike with "The Summons" a practiced reader can see the plot's conclusion coming from a distance. Grisham bogs down a bit while clipping his character's wings, preventing an all out bolt to the conclusion, and a violent event on the streets of D.C. leaves readers contemplating how conspiracy can be disguised as random violence, the theme with which the novel begins. Still, the violence touching central characters is less than in "Painted House;" although, Clay Carter's (the hero/anti hero lawyer)adversaries in their greed and self serving machinations are just as deadly as the knife wielding, head bashing characters of "Painted House."The author creates a sympathetic lawyer, not surprising as Carter's colleagues embody the traits of popular lawyer jokes, but as I closed the book I had the feeling that not all of this club of high rolling tort lawyers could be such rogues, or if they are some of the corporate actions portrayed just might merit such behavior. All in all, a book worth the time, but heavy on poetic justice; Carter deserved to keep a bit more of the swag.

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.

Not usually one to disappoint, Mr. Grisham has captured his audience once again by giving his readers a glimpse into the lawyer's world of mass tort/litigation. In this tale he creates the engaging Clay Carter, a young lawyer who spends his days toiling away for pennies in the Public Defender's office, defending the poor and downtrodden. By night he romances the lovely Rebecca, his girlfriend of many years who works as a congressional aide but secretly longs for the career of her mother (shopping and charity luncheons). The truth is, Clay does not measure up to the expectations of Rebecca's very rich family...and eventually Clay's apparent lack of desire to better his career and as a result his finances proves fatal to their relationship.Then, out of nowhere Clay is approached by a stranger to discusspossible litigation involving a pharmaceutical giant--and a bad drug. Hence, he is introduced to the world of mass torts, greedy lawyers, personal jets and more money than he'd ever dreamed...True Grisham fans will find this to be a real page-turner, as Clay learns that nothing comes without a price.............DYB

Not since The Firm had I torn through a Grisham book like I did with KOT and yet I finished feeling unsatisfied. There is no doubt that J.G. is the King of page turning action; however, one small plot twist at the end does not keep this book from being predictable.Would I have been excited about King of Torts as I was about The Firm, Pelican Brief or A Time to Kill if I had read this first, I think I would have. We have been spoiled by the freshness of his earlier books and let's be honest, his latest works have been of the same quality yet are no longer fresh. It's tough for Grisham to surprise us anymore because of the number of books he has written and how he has trained his readers to truly expect the "unbelievable," the "unexpected," and the customary trip to the Caribbean-do you think he has to travel there for background information all the time, must be nice!Is it just me or is Grisham just a little more didactic in this tome than in his previous works? I think he did an excellent job with the main character and you could see the greed and ethical conflict boiling below the surface (like father, like son) as J. Clay Carter II decided to plunge into the depths of mass tort law. Grisham does paint a vivid picture of the slide from "doing good" to "doing well" and character development has always been this author's strength.In the end, this book is worth 4 or 5 hours of your time and even though you know where the book is going, you don't mind it when you know it is Grisham taking you there.