The King of Torts - Hardcover

Grisham, John

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0385508042 ISBN 13: 9780385508049

Publisher: Doubleday Books, 2003

Synopsis

The office of the public defender is not known as a training ground for bright young litigators. Clay Carter has been there too long and, like most of his colleagues, dreams of a better job in a real firm. When he reluctantly takes the case of a young man charged with a random street killing, he assumes it is just another of the many senseless murders that hit D.C. every week.

As he digs into the background of his client, Clay stumbles on a conspiracy too horrible to believe. He suddenly finds himself in the middle of a complex case against one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, looking at the kind of enormous settlement that would totally change his life--that would make him, almost overnight, the legal profession's newest king of torts...

About this title

Review:

John Grisham's The King of Torts demonstrates that his narrative skills remain as impeccable as ever. Grisham knows exactly what he's doing when it comes to transfixing the reader.

Within the high-powered milieu of the public defender's office in Washington DC, Grisham's protagonist is an ambitious young lawyer who finds himself saddled with what appears to be a nothing case: one of a wave of crack cocaine killings that are the bane of the capital. But as Clay Carter investigates, he finds that something more than a random street murder is involved here and a massive conspiracy becomes apparent. The stakes are suddenly very high indeed.

If the skulduggery here (involving one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world) is a tad familiar, Grisham remains nonpareil when it comes to delivering a smoothly engineered plot. A fresh touch is Carter's desire to break free from the routine cases he has been handling: this quickly becomes a case of beware what you wish for. Another innovative touch is the refusal to tie up the narrative in the expected ways: The King of Torts has much more verisimilitude in this area than most legal thrillers. One more thing, Grisham's prose now has a sardonic, satirical quality that suggests the Tom Wolfe of Bonfire of the Vanities. --Barry Forshaw

Review:

"Rousing . . . Another pedal-to-the-metal crowd-pleaser."--People

"Offers everything one expects from Grisham . . . delivers with a vengeance."--The Seattle Times

"Satisfying . . . a lot of fun . . . When you finish it, you're ready to dash on to the next Grisham."--Entertainment Weekly

"A thrill ride of twists and turns."--The Philadelphia Inquirer

About this edition

• Publisher: Doubleday Books
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0385508042
• ISBN 13: 9780385508049
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 384