Book Thoughts: Early John Grisham.

Recently I undertook a reading project. Being that John Grisham is my favorite author, and it had been a long time since I've read many of his books, I decided to reread all of his legal thrillers. I've now finished the first five: "A Time to Kill," "The Firm," "The Pelican Brief," "The Client," and "The Chamber." I classify these as "Early Grisham." Now, I'm sure I'll never be fortunate enough to teach a class on this great man's work, but that's how I divide it. I don't know if Mr. Grisham would agree, but no offense intended.

I would classify these five novels into two types: The Thriller and the Issue Focused novel.

Thrillers
The Firm
The Pelican Brief
The Client

Issue Focused Novels
A Time To Kill
The Chamber

Now of course all 5 carry some parts from both of these categories. A Time to Kill has some Thriller like action while the The Pelican Brief tackles earth based green issues. However, I think the books are different enough that the categorization holds. I'll give my thoughts on the thrillers first.

The Firm--Grisham's second novel really shot him on to the national stage. Mitch Mcdeere, bright young attorney, takes a dream job at a firm in Memphis only to discover that his new employers are really paid by the mob to help them launder money, among other things. Mitch is forced to become an informant for the FBI and deliver his bosses and coworkers into the hands of justice. The book has a ton of action and a lot of suspense, and while I like The Client a little better as a thriller, this one is still top notch. It reads a lot like a spy novel at times. Grisham is often knocked for not writing the best characters, but Mitch is an exception. While not necessarily feeling sorry for him, after all he IS rich, you really appreciate the predicament he finds himself in and you wonder if you could make the same choice. The bad guys are bad, but kind of just shadowy, and I thought Mitch's wife's character could have been fleshed out better, but alas, I have to be picky even to say that. 4 stars out of 5.


The Pelican Brief--Probably my least favorite of the 5 books. A young law student happens to solve the mystery of the murder of two Supreme Court Justices, and tries to live to tell the tale. This one, while trying to tackle green issues, is almost pure thriller and reads more like a spy novel than even The Firm. Honestly, it gets a little tedious following Darby from hovel to hovel as she hides, and I just wanted to get on with it at a certain point. Plus, I think trying to put Darby in a possible romantic situation is just too forced, and kind of turned me off a bit, especially the second time around. Still, the action is good and it's well written, just not my favorite. 3 stars out of 5.

The Client--A Young Boy witnesses the suicide of a mob lawyer, who tells him a secret that the mob will kill for. The action and characters in this book are both superb. It's a great ride to watch Mark try to escape both the mob, but the FBI as well! The character of Reggie is superbly written to fit with her young client and be perhaps the first good adult influence he has. 5 stars out of 5 and one of my favorite books ever.

The Issue focused Novels--

A Time to Kill--This book is so great, I don't know why it didn't win acclaim until after the publication of The Firm. In this one, a black father murders the two white men who raped his young daughter. Everyone knows he's guilty but the whole town struggles with issues of race and the fact that they didn't really blame the guy for doing what he did. The book comes to a very satisfying conclusion and takes an unflinching look at race issues in the modern south. The spirit of the old south hasn't gone away. 4 Stars out of 5.

The Chamber--Grisham takes another unflinching look at a controversial subject, the death penalty. From the get go, the reader can tell that Grisham has issues with the death penalty in the USA, and that's exactly how he wants it. Sam is guilty as sin, and Grisham lets the reader know right away, that allows him to totally focus the book on the issue of capital punishment in and of itself. The results are emotional in many ways. The last 20 or 30 pages are some of Grisham's best work ever, extremely poignant. I'd be hard pressed to say you could honestly read this novel and at least reevaluate your position on the death penalty. I know I did. 5 stars out of 5.

Throughout all of these books, you get the sense that Grisham is writing about the culture and literature of the south almost as much as he is writing about the law. It's a particular facet of these novels that I really enjoy and it gives them color. Some of the middle novels get away from that a bit, but some of the newer ones, particularly "Ford County" really got back to capturing it. I hope Grisham continues to do this.

All in all, these 5 novels were as good as the first time I read them. If you're one of the few who hasn't given Grisham a try, please do so. It's a treat.