COLUMN: Grisham releases his best book in years

This month John Grisham releases his best book in years, and we revisit some classics of legal suspense.  Read on! 

The Litigators, by John Grisham:

John Grisham, author of such perennially popular works of legal suspense as The Firm and The Rainmaker, returns with a book that reviewers have called his best in years. 

The partners at Finley & Figg—all two of them—often refer to themselves as “a boutique law firm.” Boutique, as in chic, selective, and prosperous. They are, of course, none of these things. What they are is a two-bit operation always in search of their big break, ambulance chasers who’ve been in the trenches much too long making way too little. Their specialties, so to speak, are quickie divorces and DUIs, with the occasional jackpot of an actual car wreck thrown in. After twenty plus years together, Oscar Finley and Wally Figg bicker like an old married couple but somehow continue to scratch out a half-decent living from their seedy bungalow offices in southwest Chicago.

And then change comes their way. More accurately, it stumbles in. David Zinc, a young but already burned-out attorney, walks away from his fast-track career at a fancy downtown firm, goes on a serious bender, and finds himself literally at the doorstep of our boutique firm. Once David sobers up and comes to grips with the fact that he’s suddenly unemployed, any job—even one with Finley & Figg—looks okay to him.

With their new associate on board, F&F is ready to tackle a really big case, a case that could make the partners rich without requiring them to actually practice much law. An extremely popular drug, Krayoxx, the number one cholesterol reducer for the dangerously overweight, produced by Varrick Labs, a giant pharmaceutical company with annual sales of $25 billion, has recently come under fire after several patients taking it have suffered heart attacks. Wally smells money.

A little online research confirms Wally’s suspicions—a huge plaintiffs’ firm in Florida is putting together a class action suit against Varrick. All Finley & Figg has to do is find a handful of people who have had heart attacks while taking Krayoxx, convince them to become clients, join the class action, and ride along to fame and fortune. With any luck, they won’t even have to enter a courtroom!

It almost seems too good to be true.   And it is.

The Litigators will be released October 25.  Be sure to request a copy at the library so you can be first in line to read it!  In the meantime, try one of these works of legal suspense:

Presumed Innocent, by Scott Turow:

Rusty Sabich is chief deputy prosecuting attorney in a large midwestern city. His boss is in the midst of a bitter campaign for re-election. A fellow prosecuting attorney, Carolyn Polhemus, has been brutally murdered. Rusty is handling the investigation---and he needs results. Before election day. Before his illicit affair with Carolyn is uncovered. Election day brings a new prosecuting attorney into office. A political enemy who wants Rusty out. man whose own secret investigation has revealed Rusty's relationship with Carolyn. A man who takes Rusty off the case---and charges him with murder. Rusty now faces a long battle in court. Each side will twist the evidence to win its case, and try any procedural ploy, any courtroom trick that might ensure victory. Rusty's ordeal will uncover corruption, deceit, depravity and incompetence---and keep you spellbound. Who did kill Carolyn Polhemus?

A Civil Action, by Jonathan Harr:

In this true story of an epic courtroom showdown, two of the nation's largest corporations stand accused of causing the deaths of children. Representing the bereaved parents, the unlikeliest of heroes emerges: a young, flamboyant Porsche-driving lawyer who hopes to win millions of dollars and ends up nearly losing everything, including his sanity. A compelling tale of a legal system gone awry, one in which greed and power fight an unending struggle against justice, A Civil Action is also the story of how one determined man can ultimately make a difference.   This reading experience is as unforgettable as it is true.