View shopping cart

The Appeal Author: John Grisham Binding: Hardcover Published: 2008-01-29 ISBN: 0385515049 Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours from Doubleday Price: $18.45 Editorial Review: Politics has always been a dirty game. Now justice is, too. In a crowded courtroom in Mississippi, a jury returns a shocking verdict against a chemical company accused of dumping toxic waste into a small town's water supply, causing the worst "cancer cluster" in history. The company appeals to the Mississippi Supreme Court, whose nine justices will one day either approve the verdict or reverse it. Who are the nine? How will they vote? Can one be replaced before the case is ultimately decided? The chemical company is owned by a Wall Street predator named Carl Trudeau, and Mr. Trudeau is convinced the Court is not friendly enough. With judicial elections looming, he decides to try to purchase himself a seat on the Court. The cost is a few million dollars, a drop in the bucket for a billionaire like Mr. Trudeau. Through an intricate web of conspiracy and deceit, his political operatives recruit a young, unsuspecting candidate. They finance him, manipulate him, market him, and mold him into a potential Supreme Court justice. Their Supreme Court justice. The Appeal is a powerful, timely, and shocking story of political and legal intrigue, a story that will leave readers unable to think about our electoral process or judicial system in quite the same way ever again. As the author of twenty bestselling books, John Grisham has set the standard for legal thrillers since the debut of The Firm in 1991. Enjoy this Q&A--as well as a personal note to Amazon readers--from John Grisham. 1. Your new novel starts off where most courtroom dramas end--with the verdict. Where did you get the idea to reverse the usual order of events this time around? The actual trial is not a terribly significant part of the story. Most all of the action and intrigue begins after the trial is over, with the verdict and the subsequent appeal. 2. The Appeal overtly suggests that elected judges can be bought. If the novel is meant as a cautionary tale, what's next--the Presidential primaries? Why not? Over one billion dollars will be spent next year in the Presidential primaries and general election. With that kind of money floating around, anything can be bought. 3. Speaking of electoral politics, you've been more vocal recently about your political views ... first supporting Jim Webb for Senate and now endorsing Hillary Clinton for the White House. Have you given any thought to running for office yourself? No. I made that mistake 25 years ago, and promised myself I would never do it again. I enjoy watching and participating in politics from the sidelines, but it's best to keep some distance. 4. This is your first legal thriller in three years. How did it feel to get back to the genre that started it all, and can fans expect another thriller from you next year? I still enjoy writing the legal thrillers, and don't plan to get too far away from them. Obviously, they have been very good to me, and they remain popular. I plan to write one a year for the next several years. 5. Your nonfiction book The Innocent Man continues to be a bestseller in paperback. In your ongoing work with The Innocence Project, have you come across another story of the wrongfully convicted that begs to be written as nonfiction? There are literally hundreds of great stories out there about wrongfully convicted defendants. I am continually astounded by these stories, and I resist the temptation to take the plunge again into non-fiction. 6. What's on your bedside reading list at the moment? 1. The Nine by Jeffrey Toobin 2. Eric Clapton's autobiography 3. East of Eden by John Steinbeck. Avg. Customer Rating: 3.0 / 5.0 "Fragmented Storry and Simplistic Characters" "Annoying - but with a powerful message" "Goodbye Grisham" "Waste of Precious Time"   Ready to buy? Price: $18.45 List Price: $27.95 You save: $9.50 (33%)

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 3.0 / 5.0

• Fragmented Storry and Simplistic Characters
  The premise of this book sounded great and it certinaly lured me to buy it. I've read other Grisham books in the past, The Last Juror, being my favourite.
  I have a few problems with what could have been an excellent book:
  1) Too Short
  Why do Grisham's ending always end way too quickly? He has a problem with this, and while he stalls the book right before the climax the eventual resolution is so short it really left me in shock. Probably one of the worst endings ever in a book for so many... more info

• Annoying - but with a powerful message
  John Grisham rings a warning bell with this sordid tale of corporate bigwigs and the lengths they will go to screw people. A small community in Southern Mississippi wins a large verdict against Krane Chemical, whose illegal dumping contaminated the town's ground water and led to many cancer deaths. But Krane's billionaire CEO, sleazy politicians, and sneaky offshore political operators arrange to "fix" the appeal. How? By defeating a State Supreme Court judge at the polls with a candidate they can control.... more info

• Goodbye Grisham
  I have just wasted a portion of my life reading this book with an ending we readers do not deserve. I tried to rate it 0 but can't go less than 1.

• Waste of Precious Time
  Who's the protagonist? Who carries the story? I never could really grasp on to any single character as someone I cared about in this book. The characters are predicatble, stereotypical and uninteresting. They are underdeveloped, and overly-wordy. Grisham goes off on tangents that don't support the through line, throws in a zillion characters that are thinly developed and leaves us so unsatisfied at the end. The good guy doesn't win in this story, and in such a predictable book, he/she should, albeit done... more info

Similar Products: