Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6840 in Books
• Published on: 1998-01-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 576 pages

Synopsis
Rudy Baylor is a newly-qualified lawyer: he has one case, and one case alone, to save himself from his mounting debts. His case is against a giant insurance company which could have saved a young man's life, but instead refused to pay the claim until it was too late. The settlement could be worth millions of dollars, but there is one problem: Rudy has never argued a case in court before, and he's up against the most expensive lawyers that money can buy.

From the Publisher
John Grisham's bestselling backlist repackaged with fantastic new covers

From the Back Cover
Rudy Baylor is a newly-qualified lawyer: he has one case, and one case alone, to save himself from his mounting debts. His case is against a giant insurance company which could have saved a young man’s life, but instead refused to pay the claim until it was too late.

The settlement could be worth millions of dollars, but there is one problem: Rudy has never argued a case in court before, and he’s up against the most expensive lawyers that money can buy.

‘The best thriller writer alive’Ken Follett, Evening Standard

‘The suspense does not let up for a minute’ Daily Telegraph

‘He keeps us turning the pages until well after bedtime… as exciting as a car chase with a load of dynamite thrown in’ Daily Mail

‘The book stays in the hands as if super-glued… compelling’ Sunday Express

Customer Reviews

Slapstick Look at the Ambulance Chasing Side of Legal Practice

We all know that to make a good joke, you've got to exaggerate the right elements while ignoring what isn't funny. John Grisham creates a slapstick winner with a book about a bumbling young lawyer who isn't going to Wall Street . . . in fact, he has to declare bankruptcy before he passes the bar exam.

But don't confuse this book with a humorous book about the law. This novel would have to be toned down by about 60 degrees before that would be possible. This is a comic book version of a funny story about "what if" a law student didn't have a job, any money, or any connections after three years of torts and briefs.

Rudy Baylor is dragged by his professor to a meeting of senior citizens to give out free advice. He meets the meeting's hostess who wants to change her will to favor a television evangelist with her millions. Rudy also meets the parents of a young man who will die from leukemia because the insurance company wouldn't pay for a bone marrow transplant.

This all seems like a pleasant way to spend a few hours finishing a class until Rudy's promised job evaporates in a shotgun law firm merger. Now, he tries to trade off his leads into some cash and some work. The complications are unexpected, unrealistic, and slapstick funny. There's a sweetness to Rudy's character that you won't find in many real lawyers that makes the book work.

I found myself wondering what pratfalls John Grisham would foist on poor Rudy next. That was a major part of the attraction of the story.

If you hate lawyers and insurance companies, you'll find nothing to discourage either view in this jaundiced critique of the legal profession.

But you'll have some smiles and chuckles along the way, neither of which would happen if there were any real lawyers around.

Gripping Stuff...
From the moment I started reading 'The Rainmaker' I couldn't wait to turn each page. John Grisham once again demonstrates his expertise and depth of knowledge. He is in my mind the master of the genre. While writing this review I would like to recommend 'The Constantine Legacy' by Andrew Towning.

Excellent, but how can you ignore ...
... Bruiser, Prince, Deck - and most of all Miss Birdie?! We know where Rudy will end up, but what happens to this priceless cast? They are the foundations on which the story is built. Forget insurance companies, an old lady can teach them something about engineering predictable responses!
Mind you, the beginning is a wonderful literary helter-skelter of how your career and life prospects can progress. From which "peak" the story unfolds.
However, the unanswered questions are ... did the boys get their money, and what did Deck do?! Will we ever know?