The Appeal

As ever with Grisham, the mechanics of plotting are key, and the characterisation is functional rather than detailed. But it is (as always) more than capable of keeping the reader totally engaged. Given John Grisham's much-publicised conversion to born-again Christianity, it's intriguing to note here the implicit criticism of the moral majority's religious values, but that is hardly central to the enterprise. What counts is the storytelling, and while the writing is as straightforward and uncomplicated as ever, few readers will put down The Appeal once they have allowed it to exert its grip on upon them. --Barry Forshaw

Reader Reviews:

Great subject - Slack execution (0/0 people found this helpful)

Buying elections has become a big business. Sometimes it works (Bush)and sometimes it fails miserably (Huffington). I've enjoyed some of Grisham in the past, especially when he moved away from an earlier tendancy to interchangable plots involving bright young rookie idealist lawyer doing battle with The Man.

This time round The Man has a name and has technically already lost against the bright young not so rookie idealist couple. So he appeals and buys a supreme court candidate to bury it when the time comes. So for so readable.

PLOT SPOILER COMING.

The trouble is that there's no payoff in this book. It's not that it doesn't end happily, I've read plenty of books by the likes of Dostoevsky and Euripides that don't have happy endings but the payoff is that the reader might gain some insight into the human psyche or the way the World turns in the process. Grisham however is not a great tragedian. He lays all sorts of traps for the bad guys to fail (the knowing wife, his lawyer's secret memo, the 'bought' judge's family tragedy) and then ignores them all in the last five or six pages to force a clunky ending where the bad guys win everything followed by an even clunkier description of The Man's celebratory party.

Maybe he was getting bored and wanted to stick it to our expectations. Whatever else, it's his book and he can send it anyway he wants but this does not excuse the fact that an entertaining piece of black/white hero/villain polemic ends with readers thinking "Yes? And?" as they become ex-Grisham fans. The result is a book dealing with a rich subject for satire and anger but with absolutely no resonance.

Something tells me the next one will end happily.

Back South (1/1 people found this helpful)

Grisham's latest returns to where he is at his best, The Deep South. It is the little people devastated by pollution from a chemical plant versus the big corporation. When big business loses the case they seek to get a reversal on appeal by secretly arranging for a sympathetic lawyer to be elected to the state supreme court. How voters can be manipulated is frightening. It leaves one thankful to be in a country where judges are appointed not elected. Money makes the world go round. The story is about the misuse of riches to make more money. It does not have a happy ending but that is life.

Money, Money, Money... (0/0 people found this helpful)

It never fails to amuse me every time John Grisham presents a new book, the amount of readers kewing up to inform the world what a bad writer Grisham is. Even giving the bestselling author some good advice about "how to do it"!

I have read and enjoyed all Grisham's books. Favourites are "A Time too Kill", "The Testament", "The Street Lawyer" and "The Innocent Man". These books are based on very strong human characters/stories and I think Grisham is at his best when showing a social conscience and digging deep into the human mind.

This is where I think "The Appeal" is somewhat lacking. The main characters, attorneys Mary Grace and Wes Payton, are duly presented and pop in and out as the story develops. But never long enough for the reader to properly relate to them. There are short glimpses but then so many more people to meet, details to present....

The book is about money, power, injustice, greed, vanity, ambition, more money, more greed, more vanity and so on... It's about the world of the super rich where everything and everyone can be bought, contra the hopelessness of the poorest of the poor. It's about an unjust legal system, about politics and corruption.

The story is delivered in great detail. New Characters, companies, organizations and rumours are introduced constantly. At times, feeling almost like rambling and getting a tiny bit tedious. Until we are back on track and the main issue, the liability case against Krane Chemicals in the small Mississipi town of Bowmore and the need of a less liberal supreme court judge.

However, in spite of the many (too many?) technical explanations and listings of chemical/medical/legal facts, Grisham manages to hold the reader's attention. The cynicism sometimes verging on cockiness when pinpointing the clowns and their moneymaking stunts, calls for refreshing laughs in the middle of the overall plotting and misery. And in the final chapters, the reader is literally kept on edge.

Many reviewers don't like the ending. However, lawyer/judge Ron Fisk, good guy turned bad, is simply too good to be true for the part he is so thoroughly selected to play. Which I see as the whole point.

"The Appeal" is a cynic book. The story is ugly and shocking, and I believe meant to disturb rather than entertain. But even if not for the fainthearted, Grisham has once again proven himself as one of the best and most interesting writers of our time.

Sorry John! (2/2 people found this helpful)

I'm a great fan of Grisham, in previous reviews I've called him 'the master.' But sorry John, this book just didn't do it for me. Grisham back to what he does best, the reviews say... Not for me I'm afraid. The book is well written but well ... forgettable. I can always tell when a book hasn't got it, when I start forgetting the characters. It happened here. I kept flicking back the pages.. Who are Rinehart and Carl Trudeau? It's a sign of a boring book, sorry John, but I gave up at page 147. I'm not a reader who sticks with the book till the end. My time is too valuable and there are too many good books out there to labour with a bad one, and this was. I don't know what went wrong with this book but something did. It won't stop me buying Grisham's next book though, everyone deserves a second chance. Get back to individuals John, ignore the demands of your publisher... write from the heart. PS. any chance of blurbing my new book? Yeah I know I'm a cheeky B****** especially after a review like that.

Slightly disappointing (0/0 people found this helpful)

I agree with all the other reviews that say this is Grisham 'back to what he does best'. It has a great storline about giant corperations 'squashing' the average person on the street and buying decisions in the courtroom. It started off great, fast paced,with characters you can relate to and I couldn't put it down. However I was very dissapointed with the ending. I was waiting a a 'big twist' in the story but it didn't happen. The ending was rushed and I was left wanting more of a conclusion.
This could have been a 5 star thriller but the ending brought it down to 4 stars.

John Grisham

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