John Grisham sure knows how to write. His books are always of the “can’t put it down” variety.
This one is described as the “first in the Rogue Lawyer series.” It appears to be a series of one at this point, but I can see why this could be a series.
The “rogue lawyer” is Sebastian Rudd, a maverick defense attorney who specializes in defending the indefensible – often at the risk of angering the police and the community. His office has been firebombed and his life has been threatened. He works out of a converted van. His chauffeur / bodyguard / paralegal is a black ex-con appropriately named Partner. He has a bitchy lesbian ex-wife and a son that he sees infrequently. He loves mixed martial arts “cage fights” – and financially backs a young fighter.
Rudd has several clients in this one, including the fighter he is backing who is arrested for going beserk and killing the referee, in the cage. He also takes on the police department who kill a woman in a botched SWAT raid. And a scumbag guy who is probably a serial killer or at least a serial kidnapper. Oh – and a drug lord on death row.
It is a busy life.
Grisham writes this story in the first person, using short sentences and minimal dialog. It is almost like you are in Rudd’s head, thinking what he is thinking. It is a different style from his other books, but an effective one for telling the story of the rogue lawyer.
9 out of 10.