The Appeal (Limited Edition)

Manufacturer: Doubleday Availability: Not yet published List Price:$250.00 Our Price:$250.00 Authors: John Grisham Description: Like the author of twenty books bestselling, John Grisham has regulated the champion for exciting storys lawyers from the debut of the company in 1991. This Q enjoys

Reviews:

The Appeal
Other books of Grisham have been better. The diagram sure holds your interest. Good development of the character. The conclusion is disappointing.


Drivel
Pure unadulterated the drivel. Grisham would have to be ashamed of himself. This book reads like something produced from a neophyte for the workshop of the producer. It is not only the unidimensionale history, the characters are, without exception, stereotypes and the diagram is only that a theorist of conspiracy with liberal folding could love. Every action of every character is therefore expectable (and the writing so as to sophomoric)that question that what low-common-denominator the Grisham reader has had in mind when it has transmitted this dog of a manuscript to the publisher. If, poichè some say, the novel are "rubber to chew for the mind," this ia a single Chiclet! I will not read to other of its "exciting storys lawyers."


Preachy, with finger puppet characters
The readers will come via from the appeal with little doubt approximately the Grisham point are trying to make. Its anger to the sense moneies influences the seethes electoral of the system from every page. That it has chosen an election year in order to more guide the domestic Marches of this point much heavy-handed. Its you probably protest they will raise the sopracciglia of some of its readers and will remove others. It could more directly make the point in a bene-smerigliatrice test or a not-novel book. While lever in feet, the book is detached strident and preachy and, once that it transports its final blow, it loses all the interest in the characters, thin designs to you benchè can be, than they have served it through the first 300 pages of the book. It sees my complete review to the onyxreviews to punctuate COM.


still a page turner
The Appeal, John Grisham -
not his best but stll a page turner with interesting characters - just glad he's still writing!


Not as good as his other books
The conclusion was much disappointing one. He was not like good of one history line. They have read every of the books of the Grisham and thought this it was not to the same high level of the others.


Typical Liberal Drivel, but a good read anyway. **Spoiler Alert**
Here is a quick summary of this novel:

Conservatives are bad. Liberals are good. Bible-beaters are bad. Corporations are bad. Trial Lawyers are good. Big law firms are bad.

I gave this 3 stars because it is a good read. The story flows. The characters are well-developed. Pretty good suspense.

Some have complained about the ending, but I think it is refreshing to see an ending that is likely to happen in real life. I know it is fiction, and Grisham usually wraps everything up favorably for his protagonists. But in this case, as I said, it was a refreshing break from his usual happy endings. I also liked the way he threw in the late "twist" only to then "re-twist" and end on a sour note, at least for the good guys.

In closing, I would recommend this book to either side of the political aisle, but keep in mind that it is very liberal leaning.


Grishams' The Appeal
Excellent return of Grisham to the legal novel. Turner page, particularly the second half.


Dominic's Review
Great read but very depressing. Shows how in the end good guys do finish last.


The Appeal - not a feel good book
I know in real life the good guy doesn't always win, that often the big corporations beat down the little guy. But I don't want to read about that. I want to read that the little guy does win, like the "Erin Brockovich" story. I was very disappointed in the way this ended. You will wish you never started reading the book. This would never fly as a movie, no one would go see it.


Not very appealing
A light read that disappoints. The plot is mildly plausible, but the ending is a bit contrived. The maturing Grisham is still looking for a good story and this one is not quite the one.


A return to form
This is the best John Grisham book in years, he gives us some great, colorful characters, and his writing is as crisp and witty as it's ever been. I loved the character of Carl Trudeau, I found the descriptions of his life to be darkly amusing. The only weakness for me was the married lawyer team, they were kind of bland, and the story slowed down whenever they were focused on, that's the only thing that brings the book from a five star review to a four star review. But that's just a minor quibble, this was a very enjoyable book.


The Appeal ? John Grisham
That was a lot a insightful and hard to rest book.He he is our favorite author.


A Disgusting Tale of Cooking the Books, Dirty Elections, and Unrepentant Greed
Less that you are dying to read more on some of the disgustosa people and greedy that has never walked in a novel, you can jump this book. The book has several messages: 1. Lasci the judges not to be chosen; nominilo preferibilmente. 2. The conservative constituents are easy to mislead in the ballot for the candidates who favoriranno the commerce over the interests of the consumer. 3. The lawyers of the complaining one are less viscous who rich people of transactions because they occasionally try to help someone in the difficulty. 4. The deep politicians who have need of the monetary ones of campaign are in the pocket of one manciata of rich people of transactions, if the politicians realize it or not. If those information do not render you the good tact, consider that moreover you will read on people a lot that dies and that it suffers from a company fictional that pollutes the water refueling in order to increase the relati to you profits. I have thought that the book was written well, interesting and full load of good ideas affinchè like steals the elections. But I have not had to read this book. Not task that facades neanche.


Why, Oh Why, Did You Do This to Us, John Grisham?
Semi-Spoiler Alert!! This book was decent reading--although it was far, very far, from his best (that honor still belongs to A Time to Kill), but I agree with the other reviewers who felt that the book lacked character development. So many questions were left unanswered--i.e., why did Wes and Mary Grace sacrifice their home, cars, everything, to defend this case? How did they let themselves get so far in debt? My main question, though, is how John Grisham could end this book in such a manner. I was EXTREMELY disappointed, and after the end, wished I had never read the book at all. I realize you were trying to make an important point, Mr. Grisham, but the point was just too heavy-handed.


Poor Job
Grisham has written some wonderful books. Unfortunately, The Appeal is not one of them. He has a point which is that elected judges create a problem and an opportunity for abuse. We all agree. By the way so do appointed judges.

The plot has been described by others. My issue with this effort is that everybody was predictable. The good folks were perfect. Plaintiff lawyers who will bankrupt themselves for a case they believe in. Not like many plaintiff lawyers who I have run into. The company and its owners are completely bad. When a character such as the general counsel of the company looks to be a little interesting he is ignored.

Grisham in my view has always had the ability to develop believable characters who were interesting. All the leading characters in this book were boring and too much of a stereotype.




The Appeal
He was pleasant to read a book that it is on an object that I enjoy it the greater part, legal an exciting story of Grisham.


The Appeal
That was Grisham classic and was to its the better thing. One real page Turner and one sad look to the truths of the supreme Court and the moneies behind the chosen judges. Large picked. Large book.


The Appeal by John Grisham
Like important fan of the John Grisham, they have been disappointed in this book. In my opinion humble the diagram has seemed thin and tired. The characters have not come never alive for me and they are concluded to me on the jump parts in order to obtain to the extremity. Perhaps mine ennui it has come hardly from the rifinitura of the magnificent novel of Ken Follett, the columns of the earth.


Wait for the paperback or check it out at the library - a dud....
Ringrazio John Grisham for the introduction me to legal the exciting story ' in the 90s begins them, beginning with "the company" and continuing for one good decade. That is not its the better thing, or approaches its better job. I have found absolutely expectable and preachy, that it is disappointing because its systems more in advance payment are therefore good. Too much that sermonizing approximately "one surprised has bought" the elections (than what! $$>it guides politics! Shocker!), and not enough interesting characters of development of time.


Entertaining
The Appeal is an entertaining book, as are most of Grisham books. It touches on some very problematic issues regarding elected officials, and as always in a way that captivates the reader.
However, I didnt appreciate the ending at all, and whereas it is entertaining and fine reading for a long flight for example, it is also "more of the same". The latter is not necessarily negative, so if you like Grishams style and previous books, you will like this one too.



The Appeal
This is not one of Grisham's better efforts. I found it hard to get into the story and to believe in the characters. It certainly lacks the page turning excitement found in The Firm that Grisham is known for.


GRESHAM HAS WRITTEN SEVERAL GOOD BOOKS.THIS IS NOT ONE OF THEM
I WAS MUCH DISAPOINTED. The READING Of the BOOK WAS a CHORE. IT HAS SEEMED TO OBTAIN DEFECTIVE I HAVE READ OVER. ALTHOUGH, TO SATISFY FICTIONAL, In MY JUDGMENT Of DISPOSITION, WAS TECHNICALLY ENORMOUS GAPS OF LEFT Of INACCURATE.MR GRESHAM In THAT WHAT TASK I WAS I MEAN TO BE CRITICAL EXTREMITIES Of ISSUES.MANY' ' LOOSE '. The EXPOSURE TOTAL Of the DOLLAR, an ELEMENT Of INPORTANT In a JOB LIKE THIS, WAS NOT NEVER CORRECTLY DEVLOPED. NOVEL YES, BUT LITTLE, IF There is Some Of the CHARACTERS WERE BELIVEABLE. MANY FINE BOOKS, THEN THIS.


Justice Served?
Like many fans in advance payment of John Grisham, I could not obtain of its first books enough. I have begun with the COMPANY that I have read within approximately two sitting and have continued with the REASSUMED one of the PELICAN. I have found the premises and I trace the torsions that incuriosiscono in both. I have had to be first of all mine fiends in order to read the CUSTOMER. I have read a MOMENT TO KILL and have believed to that point and in part still creeds that have been its better novel. Since it was its first one has had some defects and he has not become popular until that its books succeeded to you did not correct on the list of the bestseller, but the imperfections of the book far away have been exceeded from determined granulosità in its storytelling. When I have felt the successive interviews with Grisham and have read the tips approximately its life, they are asked to me if it were Jake Brigance, the young main character, idealistic, good and of talent of the novel and the lawyer. It has been said that a first novel is often autobiographic. While I have enjoyed first novels the Grisham, poichè it has published more and more novels, I have begun to wonder if sterà reading to the same history with different characters. Since he is therefore popular author with many loyal fans, this is not obviously a defective quality, but with many books that I wish to read, I they have decided to take a hiatus of the John Grisham. I have decided to conclude my breach of Grisham ago some weeks after that you saw that it has interviewed from Bill Moyers. I have lacked the beginning the interview and I have found it when it has spoken about the importance of its last novel and that what says today approximately politics. Enough frank they are asked to me like can PLAYING FOR the PEAK, a novel approximately a professional player of game of the soccer that pursues a career in Italy is to must read today on politics. Soon I have realized that it was speaking about new legal exciting story, the APPEAL. The interview so as to made curious me, I have had to read the novel. The APPEAL makes all the readers of characteristics to attend from Grisham: many characters, some goods and one sure malvagità. One moves quickly. He supplies enough particular lawyers so as to the readers understand but never they do not obtain makes muddy to you in detail. In the APPEAL a woman loses many members of the family to cancer, cancer appreciate to the toxic fuoruscita one from a chemical company. The company knows that it can lose on appeal but it has great hope when is proposed that the better sense to guarantee a Victoria must finance the campaign of a candidate in the chosen Mississippi the supreme Court that is for commerce. The greater part of the novel puts to fire on the campaign and as some critics already have specified us, on the extremities it is rather UN-Grisham-as the sense. Grisham invoca occasionally Charles a Dickens like the social comment in the book with a Upton Sinclair like flair for muckraking. Its scope is to make a point rather than to say to a history and poichè anyone that reads later on it will see, is not apologetic to this purpose. It cannot be like the action has packed like some of its exciting storys. The characters are not sentimental how much some of its others forays in novel and in I am not sure we I think the same connections with the characters enough who we make in other novels of Grisham. The better thing is not John Grisham to its. Still it is good cultured and ago some interesting observations. To moreover it remembers me that even if I cannot always accosentire with that what mine declares the supreme Court decides, poor that joined Declares the supreme Court decides, it could be defective. The justices could be chosen.


Welcome Back, John!
It felt so good to look forward to reading the next page in a John Grisham courtroom novel! After his nonfiction book, "An Innocent Man", and his trip to Italy, "Playing for Pizza", I longed for a good Grisham legal yarn. I wasn't disappointed. I'm looking forward to the next one!


not pleasurable
I read for it appeal to and are spiacente to waste the period of this book. Not a pleasure.


The Appeal
This book is an excellent memory why the constituents must be necessary time are are informed, why we must interrogate from where the public information come and why we must vote. There is an increasing body of test that demonstrates why ' the great commerce cannot be trusted in order making the just thing and why the svista is demanded in order to assess practical the just ones and ethics are carried out. The book of the sig. Grisham remembers to us why all we must more be informs to you and more supervising. The message is clearly for we all and the shape of the message was agganciantesi and interesting. A lot a good ones picked!


Great Subject Lousy Book
I have read almost all of Grisham's books and am convinced that none was better than the first, "A Time To Kill." The themes are always timely and relevant, however without spoiling the ending you will feel cheated,confused and perhaps bereft of emotion. As often said, Grisham is a good storyteller but not one of the best writers. This one does not leave me yearning for more. Churning out more than one book in a year makes me wonder, when do we get to read another book like "The Painted House"?


Preachy and Stale
Like with all the artist, the author or the visual artist, if one receives the reviews of rave and the lotteries of moneies for their efforts grinder outside for the bucks begins them "" them then. This book has had a line MUCH history weak person and has given more Info that really I have wished on the graft in the duh of politics......, as all I do not know that all the political race is a game with handled attention?


Hurry to finish so you can move on.
I have read all of John Grisham's books. I bought The Appeal expecting another similarly enjoyable and engaging book. Early in the book I noticed that the characters were created either black or white. I found myself being manipulated to hate the "evil" characters and love the "good" characters. The story did make my blood boil and it was scary to think that the story could really happen and thus manipulate our judiciary elections.

The book presents a scathing commentary on politics and the judiciary. Grisham makes his point, but I wish it had been done in a more subtle manner.


Success for Grisham
That is a page to align Turner and sends back to where Grisham prospers, dramas lawyers with spatering of the intrigue and mystery. However, this book stretches to put to fire mainly on politics and supplies an interesting look on the equipped elections and hardly that what could be the problem with is our political system that judicial. They are sure that you would enjoy these picking and you will be you are strange from the conclusion.


Dirty Politics Bought Judges
This book is about a corrupt legal system, bought elections, and a failed jury system. What else is new. It seems as though Grisham has parlayed several of his story lines into a new book. A thriller it isn't. Don't know what book the other reviewers read when they called this book an exciting book.
This story is about a law firm that hocks its future to take on a large company that is polluting the streams of a small town in Mississippi. After am impassioned plea, the jury awards a huge amount that is appealed to the Mississippi Supreme Court.
The large company owners and political friends then go about changing the makeup of the court by buying a new judge. When they are successful they start the campaign.
John throws in a personal event that seems to alter the thinking of our new judge (Fisk) but he soon makes a decision (I will not reveal it).
No, it did not keep me up at night like the Client did. Yes it's a good book.


First take on Grisham
"The Appeal", John Grisham's latest novel about politics and corporate power, was my first foray into his works. It very well may be my last.

Is this the author about whom everyone raves? I found "The Appeal" (while often approaching a nice depth regarding the many facets involving a large, legal case in Mississippi) pedantically written. The uninspired dialogue is at times unintentionally funny, and although the character development works on certain levels, the characters, themselves, are an unsympathetic lot. Things heat up toward the end, but by then the outcome is predictable and the book fizzles out in the last few chapters.

As we are in the midst of an important presidential election year, a spicy, political novel would be welcome, but unfortunately "The Appeal" is not it. Grisham has delivered a ho-hum book that offers a plot of intrigue but fails to deliver.




A huge disappointment



A very big letdown....
I was really excited to see that John Grisham had a new book out that had him back in the courtroom and out of non-fiction. So many of the reviews have recounted the story that I won't bother with those details, but I will add my two cents about how disappointing the book was. The pages are loaded with long winded explainations of how the judicial system works, who does what, etc., and once in awhile the story pops in to remind us why we are reading the book. I was terribly bored with all the legal lessons, but stuck with it hoping it would pick up at some point. The story, when it was active, was engaging and did make me think about corruption and politics. Toward the last of the book the plot throws a loop with Fisk's son, and then things got interesting, and I think any reader could see what was coming. Then as quickly as that happened, it flew back around and fell flat on its face. I was left with the disappointment in spending all that time wading through hundreds of boring pages of those legal details only to have it end like that. And it wasn't necessarily the ending itself, bad things do happen, but the way it was so abrupt and unsatisfyingly written. I sincerely think Mr. Grisham needs to realize he has run the gammut of his ideas and to quit writing just to sell a book.


By Far my least favorite Grisham book
Coming from John Grisham, this book was a huge disappointment. I've always been a fan of his work & always pick them up when they come out. This is his first book that I haven't liked. It seemed more like this book was written as a political vendetta more than as entertainment. His point is clearly that the big corporations are bad & the lawyers & moderate to leftish judges are good. Which is fine, many great books have been written in this genre & I've enjoyed them. The problem with this book is how cut & dried the characters are. All of the people on the 'right' are evil or dupes with no redeeming qualities, and all of the people on the left are completely pure, their only fault being their overwhelming compassion for the downtrodden. The characters were stiff & unnatural. The only bad guy on the left is the 'radical' lawyer that the guys on the right hired to try to push through a homosexual marriage lawsuit.

Overall, it was a great topic that cries out for a good treatment of it. Grisham's choices regarding the characters & their personalities diminishes the topic into something more akin to a political leaflet than an interesting piece of entertainment, or an honest look at the problem.


Very disappointed
I bought it. I read it. I enjoyed it. Then came the ending. I hated it. Then I hated that I invested so much time reading it. Don't waste your valuable time and money on this one.


crappy ending spoiler alert
They are coupled for the greater part, but that what lasci down of one conclusion. Lascili that the just opinion was no satisfied outside the reader or complaining one here.


Predictable
Much disappointing one! Charecters, the diagram and the conversations is even expectable. Little history and filling a lot. The extremity disppointing equally. Grisham has lost it?


Love that man!
I wish strongly that John Grisham would publish more of its novel. They are always therefore impaziente, waiting for its following in order to exit. Consequently, I find I have read it its savor of novels slowly for they like a meal fabulous. John thanks, you have repeated it.


You have to be a lawyer
John Grisham has used to write the really good books. The last ones have been the just bore law. That has had an idea much good one, but I have continued to wait for it in order to not never obtain andante and. The conclusion was not sure that what I was previewing and has thought the author obtains to uniform writing reamed this and the approval dictates the extremity. In the truth I usually know that good it always does not prevail over the malvagità, but in my history like it the that sense. The sig. Grisham, takes a measure is withdrawn of the books of court classroom and tries an other Italian history of game of soccer. That one was different and interesting.


The Old John Grisham is Back
At first I thought I was reading the standard and slightly predictable John Grisham legal thriller.- It started as an enjoyable and quick read slightly reminiscent of Erin Brockavich. However, it wasn't long before I was hooked and couldn't put it down until I finished. If you ever complained about large personal injury settlements or class action settlements than this is the book for you. Read how big business and greedy politicians can tip the scales of justice in their favor. Did David fell Goliath again; this time on a legal battlefield? Read it to find out.


Long winded
I have always enjoyed John Grisham's novels...but i found myself struggling to get to the end of this one. This book starts out fairly good, a very large and wealthy Chemical company was found guilty of dumping toxins into the ground behind the factory. Eventually the toxins made its way into the local drinking water and the townspeople started dropping like flies from cancer and other health problems. Through a long court battle the chemical company was found guilty and the plaintiff was awarded a very large sum of money. The chemical company of course would appeal, the stocks in the chemical company drop, billions of dollars are lost. To make a long story short the chemical company put up millions of dollars to support a supreme court candidate that would side with the big chemical companies, and insurance companies ect. and the book heads off in the direction of the campaign which was very dirty and filled with lies and deception. I wont give out the end, because it wasn't the ending i was satisfied with, but it was very unexpected.
This book was long winded and at times boring but all in all it wasnt absolutely terrible. If you are a Grisham fan you will get through it, if you have never read any of his books, please don't start with this one.


appalled with the appeal!
I just finished "THE APPEAL". I have always been a fan of John Grisham but I can't believe the outrage I feel after reading this book.I will concede it was intelligent and stylish consistant with his writing but the ending is appalling.I understand sometimes in real life tragic circumstances don't always turn out for the best for all involved.All the more reason why a work of fiction (by John Grisham's own admission)and the time a reader puts into a book,you should be rewarded with a satisfying conclusion.I was not.This book is a bitter disapointment.I can't recommend anyone wasting their time with this one but if read this review and read it anyway.....You've been warned! D. Canfield


Storyline not very gripping
Grisham, in some of his books (THE RUNAWAY JURY comes to mind first) can give the reader an ending that really captivates. This book is not among them.

Without giving the ending away, I can say that the author toward the end writes a plot -- the rising action, you could say -- that prepares the reader for the ultimate climax. However, it didn't seem like the rising action led to a climax that was very interesting at all. Moreover, the rising action had no real purpose, as the reader shall learn at the end of the book.

Therefore, THE APPEAL is not among Grisham's gems. In fact, it is not even close.


Completely transparent
John Grisham has written some very good novels, but this isn't one of them. Not even close. The villains are so transparently evil that the reader can almost see them twirling their mustaches and hear their evil chuckles. And the heroes are just too too nice, with nice kids, who go to a nice church, and do all sorts of nice things.

I have no sympathy for chemical companies that dump carcinogens. I think the owners should pay through the nose and go to prison. That's not the point. Nor do I sympathize with a lawyer who gets sucked into an obvious scheme to overthrow a perfectly competent supreme court justice. But such topics should be treated with some modicum of subtlety. There is nothing subtle about "The Appeal." As a result, the book isn't of much interest at all.

The characters are predictable. Ditto the plot. The atmosphere isn't much at all. It's just one long mad tirade. Let's hope for better out of Grisham's next book.


Spell-binding hyperbole
John Grisham knows to write an exciting story amusing that conservations you in on to the night, impeller the pages. The appeal to me ago exception. Probably it is causing every lawyer of test in America droll and are sure that all farciranno the stockings this NATO them in order to promote the messsage. As far as generating the interesting characters, a large storyline and the great step, Grisham have repeated it. From the side negative, this he is expectable, as a not guilty man. You have known the first pages was going to conclude itself. The characters were hyperbole, not believable: the tycoon corporative diabolic and egoist, vapid the useless "eye-candy" like other meaningful number three, poor, the poor one that takes care the lawyers hard workers who heroic fight their bankrupt sense to represent simple the not guilty victims of large the defective society. Come on John!!! It is this, like a not guilty man really not an exciting story fictional but rather one political declaration? It perforates the author of Scranton MD, "died on the learning curve"


Complete drivel
John Grisham would have to find one new line of job. All it is written since the company has been boring, the bore and uninteresting. Not duped in the purchase of the other of its limited edition appeal novels.The ()


Very Appealing
That is better legal novel of the Grisham during the years. I will jump the particular of the diagram that they are ready available elsewhere on this place and hardly dirvi that the writing is superb. Grisham really seems to work to this book, instead hardly telephone call it within as it has made with "the mediator". There is no stupid, lazy errors (like having Moscow of the Lufthansa from Washington to Amsterdam). Much people will not appreciate the conclusion, but, hey, that one is authorization of the author. If you appreciate the Grisham originates them, you will love this.


Not Grisham at his best
Remarkablly I have enjoyed many the books of the Grisham but I have found this that not worthy reading is disturbed not only but. If this is that what has been transformato in like producer, I will save the lotteries of moneies on its books.


Good, but.......
It has been a much time to wait for legal an exciting story from Grisham. This good but... is picked slow di.a, until that you are not 3/4s to the book. The subject is frightful, could happen hardly or is happened. Just hope that we do not have to attend as they wish following its.


Interesting issue
I have used to be an enormous fan of Grisham and a moment to kill and the company they are two of the books that of better novel of divertimento it has never read. But after those two gems, I have thought that its books took one real lessening. Then I have inasmuch as these and it have observed particularly interesting me. I follow I declare and the editions and I of territorial public agencie think that the election of declares the judges is a worthy important edition more consideration. Grisham more sends back thankfully to the shape in advance payment and more fort in the appeal. It specifies the costs that would have to be more seriously consider you in making to choose the justices from people: the financing of campaign and an inability to think beyond the following election is factors much people that tact would have to be maintained from the decisional process of the judicial ordering. Those factors and the negative consequences of they are knot place in this book. A woman who has lost its child and husband to cancer contracted from the altered water consumption offers a sad and interesting hook in the emission of the judicial elections. Like the heroes of the book, a square spousal of test lawyers, tries in order to try an enormous verdict financial to addolorantesi name of the mother from the company that it has let out illegally the chemical products that are leak to you in drinkable water, Grisham simply makes its point of view of left-hanging of an important edition. It could help if it made at least mention of the many causes frivolous that they contribute to generate the depictions that stereotypical we have formed of the test lawyers, but anyone otherwise who thinks enough gotten passionate approximately such a point would have to seat down and to write its just book. With unconcern, the history of like the exec corporative sleazy, that it has lost the enormous verdict, searches in order to buy a justice of the supreme Court that can exceed the test verdict is interesting. The secret must supply a sense that judges the responsible companies of their errors, however assesses that the causes more frivolous are avoided. Unfortunately, jetties approximately to the address are little proposals measured that difficult action of the tight-rope of an edition. The many causes that seem execs corporati you really of the force ridiculous in order to prepare the preventive measures to assess that their products and processes not not nuoc normal people. Then there is moreover the fact that many of the causes are legitimate. That one is all one argument for an other day. In the meantime there is interesting book of the new Grisham.


Just a great book
This is the John Grisham I remember !
Fantastic legal quagmires - characters you hate - characters you love - a book that keeps you up way past your bedtime.



I Only Hope This is Fiction--Scary if it Isn't
That is a novel much good ones approximately the corruption of our system of the justice and like the political they influence the verdicts. It is sure provocazione thought and them force really to interrogate if we know for that what and who we are voting. It was a lot interesting to see like indirect powerful people and manipolativa it can be and how much people decent can duped and used easy when they put to fire on moneies and they are boasted. There are many different characters, but really only those main ones have been develop to you well. I have really appreciate the lawyers of the complaining one, the Wes and the Peyton tolerance of the Mary from the beginning to covering. Moreover I have appreciate the judge Sheila McCarthy from the beginning and have thought spiacente for she when the political campaign from its adversaries could ritrarla poichè something she was not. It was clearing in order to see how many moneies have carried out a role in the election of the candidates. Of new, if this is to align and I am frightened that he is, our country I am in the serious difficulty! Ron Fisk, even if has been introduced to a good light, I have not appreciate it because it has gone with a program that has thought suspicion was ombreggiato, also after the search the wisdom and of the council godly. They have been astounded to the sense ch' has voted once that he became an appeal judge. The only thing that I have really not appreciate approximately this book that the Christians are ritratti like being gullible, is handled stupid and easy. Of new, I hope this is novel, but unfortunately, they are frightened that she is the more truth who the novel. Large book! -- Karen Arlettaz Zemek, author "of amusing mine dad, Harry"


Frighteningly realistic
Beyond that to be a forcing history that does not resort "to obligatory the happy conclusion", is today all the too much representative one of declaring of politics. The politicians who are possessed through use of great transactions the warm emissions of the key of the union of gay and of abortion garner the religious support much from and the generally relatively poor one, members of our society. Unfortunately, when you support a candidate who ago ballot in limiting the protections of people, it is one short road to make your own ones to tread on rights in the process. I have thought that Fisk was a character much real one... except being absolutely incapable of empathy until its own personal tragedy (and to he it is supposed for being an exemplary Christian), he was a medium citizen whom he has obtained played for one foolish from that the stringhe controlled of the ag. It is all too much easy to even see how much those politicians who do not have intention to sell towards the outside the extremity in on that he is controlled like the puppets. Example (fictional) great of the requirement of the campaign reform.


Monumental waste of time
Bore, expectable, confused and with one conclusion ridiculous. Well, I presume that it was ridiculous, mainly I had lost the interest in order then and I had only read approximately a paragraph for the page.


A liberal's liberal
Grisham was lawyer of the complaining one - people have cited and have taken a piece pleasant of the moneies that has won or it has deposited itself for. Because of the lawyers like he you and I paid much more all, particularly health. Moreover it has made little a job criminal of the defense. If you even believe - the greater part of found people guilty - those who to it he confesses to their crimes - he is really not guilty. This book is one combination of both philosophies. In its systems it passes has suggested to you to this sensibility, but for the greater part it has written the interesting coupling and novels. Hour, thinking its oats, not ago attempt to hide obvious its leanings. You were in order to believe them, all the criminals are not guilty, all the proxies and lawyers of district deliberately condemn not guilty people of the crimes heinous and all the lawyers who represent the doctors and the companies who are cited for the sums outrageous are nothing but thugs heartless. The OH has forgotten the judges - at all who opposes the verdicts ridiculous - as the coffeee warm of McDonalds fines million verdicts - she is in the pockets of the great commerce. If you had not obtained this book from the library I would burn it in the protest. But since it is not mine from desecrate I will give back it and I can only hope that other patrons are not knuckleheads and nincompoops like me and they do not waste the time that reads this drivel. It is always narcotic like the unjust authors like Grisham can be when describing like other unjust ones are. Hypocrite Ché. I foretell that its days of glory are behind he like author.


John Grisham - The Appeal
After such a long time finally there is another court novel by Grisham. Basically the story is about the town Bowmore, where people are warned to drink the local water. Where clean water is trucked in to replace the colored, stinky and obviously life threatening water. A town where cancer is almost in every family and where the cancer rate is 15% higher than the national average.

Wes and Mary Grace Payton are lawyers and so far, the only once that sued the Krane Chemical Corporation for 30 years of relieving cancer causing chemicals into Bowmores ground. They give everything, their live savings, their house, their office in those five years it took them to get a verdict.
So in the case Janet Barker vs. Krane Chemical Corp. the jury decides against Chemical Corp in all points:

Guilty for causing the death by Chad and Pete Barker, Janet's son and husband. Liability $500.000 for Chad and $2.500.000 for Pete.
Guilty for the intentional imposition of punitive damages. Liability $38.000.000

Of course there is an appeal and Carl Trudeau, millionaire and owner of the Krane Corp. hires a suspicious firm that promises to find a good candidate for the upcoming judicial elections to replace the most liberal Judge in Mississippi's Supreme Court. Until then a decision in Krane's case isn't expected anyway. Krane pays for these services and a young, clean, ambitious and most of all conservative lawyer is found in Ron Fisk, husband and father to three children. They build him up. They collect the money for his campaign. The money comes from the big business. Companies like Krane Chemical Corporation, churches and private people.
Ron speaks for families, about the death penalty and that sexual predators and killers aren't executed, he's pro gun possession and against gay marriage.
After what seems for Ron to be an easy campaign he is elected and takes his place in the Supreme Court. Mississippis Supreme Court holds 9 people. Five of them protect corporate wrongdoers by limiting their liability and verdicts are reversed one after another.

When it is time to decide about the Krane Corp. Appeal Ron experiences his own tragic family disaster after his son got hit by a baseball that leaves him with a fractured scull and likely permanent damage to the brain. He experienced how those people whose verdicts were reversed by him must have felt when their loved once got hurt or even died.

-

A long, depressing read that kept me thinking all the time. It isn't fast paced but there is no necessity to that. The mills of justice grind slowly. So the reader is dragged into the tragedy of Bowmore and corporate behavior and the inability to vouch for their liabilities. In a world of money there is no such thing like responsibility. There is only the question how to get out of the mess with the least damage.
It was shocking to even read about settlement plans for Bowmores aggrieved party where the loss or illness of a child is worth much less than adults because they have no record of earning power. That young fathers are worth more because of the loss of future wages. Negotiations about still alive people, how long each would live, how much they will suffer, likelihood of survival and death. It was distressing to read about that.

It is also distressing to read about the ways money is risen and used to mislead the voters. The whole process of half-truths, statements taken out of contexts just to make a point for the own campaign is disgusting.

Of course the book is based on fiction but it has a lot of truth and at times like these, where Americans are about to elect their new president, it is even more something each and very voter out there wholeheartedly should consider.


Interesting, but slow
The concept behind the book was to interest and that one rather frightful. But the book has gotten bogged down in detail that has delayed picked considerable.


Disappointing
I was disappointed by this offering from John Grisham. First, it was nothing like I had anticipated. I found myself wanting to see more of the original trial, but instead it was a commentary on the political system in our country. I agree that the topic should be touched on, but I felt inundated with the message. By the end, I was so disgusted, I was ready to throw the book. At least I didn't have to pay for it. I really think the trial leading up to the "beginning" would have made for a much stronger story. Live and learn.


Predictable
Grisham must be getting paid by trial lawyers for this one. The characters are totally one sided, all good or all bad. Good lawyers, totally bad corporate execs. Just too simplistic for my tastes, save your money, buy something else.


Grisham at his vey best!
He's back -- grisham at his best exposing our sad legal system and all the loopholes therein -- PLEASE write more of these !!!!


Another good read...
The appeal has seemed to be one mixture of the reassumed one of the pelican, of the giuria of instability, Erin Brockovich and others. It enjoys the sense that Grisham writes. That what I have enjoyed particularly was the reference to the cities and to the cities in the Mississippi like I have travelled hardly approximately all for the scopes of transactions during the slid years. The appeal has some intelligent torsions and turns. The not guilty man mólto better was picked for me.


Hold your politics, please.....
Lascilo to begin to say from I has read all Grisham written, comprised its books of nonfiction and is a large fan. Usually pre-order the new ones hardcovers and I have first editions to go of new to the customer. I was waiting for with eagerness to read a sure legal novel of Grisham with the appeal and happily I have begun to read. An easy one was reasonably picked. Several days would still go near between the selezionamento on the book, than it says to me that not sterà enjoying my favorite job its. However, the second half of the book in particular has read like a diatribe political. I usually ignore it when an author introduces its political points of view in the reading and the test in order to enjoy the history hardly. But conservative-bashing incessant and the contempt of the Grisham "of the crowd of the guns and the dii" they were more little than a off-putting. For the end of the book, just they are shaken in order to see that Grisham ' to punish ' a conservative main character making its family resists to one tragedy in order to open its eyes to the liberal cause. It was enough in order to urge it to write this, my first review on Amazon, in the repulsione to this tactics. Watching posterior this book, it astonishes it as the code category centers them inundated America is with the authors, the actors and the political points of view of the musicians ' and we continue to pay $15,99, $8,25 and $60 in order to read, to watch and to listen to they. Well, my opinion does not import. However, for the following book of Grisham, I will carefully read very to more a lot one sinossi and several reviews before the purchase.


Why isn't there a "0" star rating
Right now I'm looking for a time machine so I can go back and not buy this book. Absolutely horrible! Thanks for an icredibly depressing book during a long cold depressing winter. I used to look forward to Grisham's books coming out and have read them all. That streak will probably end now. Save your time and just watch the news if you want to be brought down, that will only take half an hour of your time.


yawn.....
I don't know....I've been such a fan of Grisham's for so long and I was so anticipating The Appeal to be a powerhouse legal thriller. It had the potential to be very interesting; suggesting how elected judges could easily be bought if the money is right, but end result was a so-so novel that preached how immoral big businesses can be and truthfully, it's been done before, so many times, and more well written.

The characters were over the top; Trophy wife, greedy billionaire husband, goody-two-shoes lawyers (the Peyton's), this novel read like a silly Lifetime Movie script.

Disappointed - only 2 stars for this one.


Powerful Read
It's not Orwell's 1984, but this book drives home a very important message.

The plot, character development, and story are all over the place. However, the message is loud and clear. The 3rd section of the novel is rather surrealistic, but it left a lasting impression on me nonetheless.


More political than enjoyable
The Appeal was more of a political statement than it was enjoyable for me. I have enjoyed most of John Grisham's work, except for his one endeavor into non-fiction in The Innocent Man. However this book, while thought provoking and distressing from a political standpoint, but perhaps that was his goal, was not an enjoyable read for me,particularly becasue of the way it ended.I guess we always want the good guys to win, but in the last chapter where he seemed to find it necessary to have the bad guys gloating over what was obviously lots of illegal transactions, some that were SEC violations that I find hard to believe would not have been investigated and found out, made the story unbelievable and wrong.


The Appeal
A very readable book more so than the last couple of Grisham books. I am enjoying the book.

W. A. Zellars




Grisham's Feeblest Novel
This is without a doubt Grisham's most feeble novel, and I have read them all. The situations are contrived, the "characters" are flimsy cardboard cutouts, and the plot is predictable. The book is intended to trumpet the evils of the appellate system but this, in my opinion, would best be left to a non-fiction effort more closely aligned to "The Innocent Man", Grisham's compelling narrative of wrongful conviction and imprisonment. I felt betrayed and unsatisfied by "The Appeal", and I truly believe that if it didn't bear Grisham's name it would not receive anywhere near the attention it has. In my opinion save your money on this one, or get it from the library if you "must" read everything Grisham writes.The Innocent Man


The Appeal
This book was unusally different from the other books that John Grisham writes. I have thought that it was dry.


Now for Hollywood to screw it all up...
Another page-turner by John Grisham with a surprising ending.

Now the book will be turned into a script where Hollywood will butcher it. The plot will be watered down, the actors will be miscast and the ending will be conveniently changed so it can appeal to the masses, most who don't like reading novels, just to maximize profits. No good Grisham novel has ever been left unharmed by Hollywood.

Hmmmm. Sounds like another Grisham novel in the making.


A solid four
However fastly covered how much some of the others, a lot interesting was an understanding in that what happens after that a verdict jury was within. The look to the lawyers of test and damages punished to you renders me in a different sense. To think the judges and the appeals can be bought from the groups of large-interest! As soon as a new reason to vote for Obama...


Disappointing
While the history line was right... is like if Grisham it has worked from gas..or does not succeed to come to contact of an expiration and the history has been concluded. For nothing in harmony with some of its history large. It saves your moneies.


Disappointed
I have read Grisham's books with the exception of Playing for Pizza. I am usually pleased with his books. I, of course, have some I like more than others. I just can't figure out why John chose to end the book the way he did. I just felt cheated. I remember seeing a movie with Nicholas Cage and Meg Ryan where he gave up being an angel to be on Earth with her and as soon as he got to Earth she was killed. I wanted my money back. I felt like I had been betrayed. This book left me feeling with a feeling similar to that. It is like he just got tired of writing and ended with a terrible ending. I could have loved this book with a different ending. Come on John...I like it when the victim in the end wins. It pissed me off that you let Trudeau off and ending with him on boasting about his win. What was that all about???? You really let us down on this one. I've bought every one of your books...in hardback...(except the Pizza one. After this, I may just have to move on!!!!


My Toughest Verdict
I' ve has followed the career of the Grisham for the years, enjoying all from its exciting storys lawyers to its novellas. Sure, some of its outings more recent lawyers have hesitated ("the siblings" were terrible, as an example), but I have hung within here. Recently, it has freed "the game for the peak," and I have thought that this could be its attempt to riguadagnare according to wind making a something offbeat. Offbeat, effectively. I cannot suggest that particular book to anyone, based on the character of the cable of the milquetoast and on its refusal in order to learn, to change, to make to mature, or to give one history decent. With the arrival "of the appeal," once again I leave my hopes to go up. I have felt lle sure good answers from an owner of the bookstore. I have bought the book and -- to my complete stupefazione -- breezed through the first one hundred pages in that one is based. The old Grisham was behind, I is dictates. That could have been one of its the better thing during the years. All the parts were on the place for one great history. Even if "the appeal" is nothing of originates them, has been coupled from the rappresentazione of the Grisham of the characters of the Goliath and David. The giant: Carl Trudeau, owner of a company that it has let out illegally the chemical products in waters and the earth of the Mississippi, with consequent cancer, leukaemia and screw lost many local citizens. The midget: Payton


The Real Golden Rule - whoever has the gold rules
I was waiting for the new book of Grisham and they are not disappointed. I have observed in ahead to every understood it while it has woven a injustice story, of greed and of politics. Unfortunately, we have had virtual experience in the corruption during this management. But if wonderered for the seven last years, why someone I do not make something or why someone cannot make qualche.cosa, this novel has given some answers to me. An honest mortgage of the two lawyers of defense all must help a victim of national a chemical company who is responsible of fuoruscita the waste in the water and therefore of causing the cancer and the dead women of the husband and the son of the woman. Two screw young fiutate outside. There are other real victims in this small city that, unfortunately, can only be based behind and wondering why to their government not the protegge. One giuria sentence the company, Krane and therefore begins the appeal process. Carl Trudeau, director of the company, will go to all the end to buy a reversal of the result of the test and. The supreme Court of the Mississippi is the objective. They are not name but chosen in this it declares so as to charterings of the sig. Trudeau an expert who can buy one campaign and one center on the court. Ron Fisk is their conservative choice of the right wing and Sheila McCarthy is the incumbent. Wonderered if the sig. Grisham chose the McCarthy name (Eugene McCarthy) even if it was not liberal a pure one but preferibilmente it has made its job and it has interpreted the law and the use of the laws. Well, people of the moneies, have used every radical that of right of the wing could assemble until transmits the action plans of putting to point and the moneies in order to urge the McCarthy judge to seem like liberal a burning one. No lawyer of test can support the feeding of this campaign. The sig. Fisk puts in argument ethics occasionally but it does not have integrity for giving in on possible its enough judgeship. It has never had experience to a test or it has not published some famous cases. Sound like Roberts? In any case, poichè the things turn out, have continued commutare the general office of the lawyer and the supreme Court puts into effect them of the United States for the jet of the characters. Not one of the for-commerce, judges of the for-assurance company has seemed to perceive all the horror in their screw; they have not had displeasure. But the somethings they happen to the favorite to and they change. We can only remember the interest de Nancy Reagan in the resarch of the formative cell when its plagued husband could help. The Limbaugh jolts have thought that all the customers and spingitoi of drug would have to go to the prison - except he, naturally. The sig. Fisk perceives the incubus defective than every parent but still we do not have one happy conclusion. It does not wish "to change" its position; it continues to defend the defective types and is to just fine its. Therefore this history seems a lot puts into effect them to me: this management supports the large oil via a war dastardly and the large moneies win with the justification that these have name and chosen civil employees are religious men. The sig. Grisham fleshed towards the outside its characters, especially Carl Trudeau that have need more billions and of the square of the defense that seem to be the righteous and the real protections of our constitution.


Interesting
Written to the quality of its previous novels, but relative not that I wish to read repeatedly still. I have begun to read it hardly before the ends and have found that the effort of life and the effort of the book have not stirred much good. If been trying a book in order to be based behind and stretching themselves with or for distract with, this is not it.


I want my time back
I have read nearly every of the books of the Grisham, except Been born them schmalzy one. And they have been a loyal fan, just while the quality has seemed to diminish. This book has made it within. Much from the beginning, I have thought as I had read it before. The diagram had therefore familiarità, when it was really the tone and the description plodding that it had familiarità even if the book was new. I was always under the impression that a good history has a culminating point. This book not never. And also when there was a decisive point, it has passed from therefore quickly that I have begun to wonder if "that it is here all is." The characters little deep have been develop to you and the new history lines have been jetties within in order transmitting the diagram in a different sense. Without to reveal the conclusion, I will have to say it extremely have been disappointed. The extremity could be the same result but to develop itself various -- with at least a sure degree of logic. Instead, Grisham has chosen to develop a history line artificially to the extremity that that one has carried the reader to a conclusion, therefore has throws them to you in entire a different sense without logical explanation. I would really want to have the time behind that I have spold the reading of the this book and less than something changes radically, I will not help continuous Grisham to become richer buying the future books.


The Appeal
When you have much fort the emotions to the extremity of the novel and to that what it happens to the good types and the Evil - you they must say that it was a great history - and that one is that what the appeal is. Poichè the low priority to the characters is the process to choose the judges and of the infuence of the appeal of one judicial decision. The issues to raise of Grisham and as the screw is influenced will obtain them angers to you and they will force them to transformarsi in in sides of the return and imply to you. However its editions are more center them to the history that the individuals. Moreover, the necessity of having "friendly" judges would have to remember you of the reassumed one of the pelican. It is picked large and fast and highly suggested.


This is an editorial, not a mystery or thriller
Unfortunately, though it's very well written, as one would expect from Grisham, it's also quite boring. There's no mystery here. No thriller. Even the ending is sad - the bad guys win. Grisham wants to tell us of the evils of making judges run for office. Point taken. Some, but not all, of his plot works toward making the point. Unfortunately, he also winds up preaching on quite a few pet beliefs of his along the way. Too obvious I'm afraid. This is the first Grisham novel I'm sorry I paid for. John, if you read this, please stick to story telling. Leave this kindof stuff for the editorial pages of the New York Times.


The Appeal
I was disappointed in the latest from Grisham. Nothing new here - just an old idea that has been done before.


The Appeal
This book was nearly impossible to read! It was reaming and nit-picking. They are I am strange that we have not had to read every turns the diabolic scoundrels have used the restrooms. They have been a fan of Grisham for the years and naturally I was to the bookstore the day that this has exited. The next time I will not be in one such haste! They are convinced that if this book did not have name of the John Grisham on the cover it would have been never published! Of other part, if wished to be gotten depressed and bores to you - make to work and you buy this book!


Disappointed Reader in AZ
I ordered early in eager anticipation of "The Appeal," the newest book from my favorite author of all time. After finishing it today, I had to shake my head. I feel it was a big disappointment in many ways, so much so that I needed to read the reviews of other readers to see if it was just me! I always love the characters, who are so real I feel like I've met them in the flesh, but that's not the case in this book. There were some really draggy parts with lots of election percentages, etc., where I actually skipped over paragraphs. I wanted to love it, but I didn't, and can't say I could highly recommend it to others. My collection of John Grisham is complete up to this point, but I'll hesitate before I buy another.


Back to the law
It was great to see John getting back to courtroom in this one. I feel it's his best in a few years. Thanks John for getting back to the basics. Loved the way you surprised us in the end...

Rtb


Classic Grisham!
Finally a good story of mystery about law again from Grisham. One of his best books in years.


The Appeal
John Grisham is to align to form for the first 300 pages, then ago approximately a face with a conclusion that is too much impressionabile. This has been able really to happen, probably; but we do not wish to believe them.


Grisham's political statement
A story that could have been true. Grisham made the possibility of the rigged election seem entirely plausible....and very frightening.

Writing was okay....I thought that the ending was way too rushed, even though it needed to end after so many pages and a bit of dragging in the middle. I thought the characters being depicted as either good or evil was a stretch, as there are many shades of gray. Portraying the characters the way he did makes them caricatures. Grisham just laid it on too thick, sermonizing, and not at all subtle as far as the message he wanted to get across. In order to promote his personal political issues, the author sacrificed believable characters and situations.

His characterization of ALL corporations as evil was especially disturbing. People so quickly forget any good that corporations have done for America. Yes, many corporations do bad things, but....as another reviewer said, this book seemed like it was written by the Democratic National Committee.


No More
The one-star reviewers before me said it all. Once before I swore off this guy, sorry I didn't keep my promise.


Overall, yet another great Grisham work
After a two-book hiatus, John Grisham has returned to the genre that regularly places him on bestseller lists: the courtroom thriller. In the '90s his novels sold more than 60 million copies, and he was one of America's --- and the world's --- most popular novelists. The Mississippi native broke from the courtroom fictional mold in 2006 to write AN INNOCENT MAN, a true account of Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz, convicted of murder and sentenced to death in Oklahoma but exonerated after a lengthy post-trial investigation of their case. Grisham's 2007 effort, PLAYING FOR PIZZA, told the fictional tale of an American football player whose career sunk to the level of playing in an Italian semi-professional football league.

In the early years of his writing career, Grisham produced page-turning thrillers featuring characters who were associated with the legal profession. The success of these books assured advanced first printings in the millions. His stature as a bestselling author allowed him to undertake a major change in style. While maintaining the thriller aspect of his writing, Grisham's work began to exhibit a social conscience on legal issues that became the subtext of his novels. It might be the death penalty, or class action lawsuits, or the bane of the tobacco industry, or the manipulative process that has become the American jury trial. The addition of controversial legal and social issues to his works had no measurable impact on sales. From 1994 to 2000, Grisham occupied the #1 spot on bestseller lists at least one week of each year. No other writer has achieved that honor.

THE APPEAL, Grisham's newest thriller, has for its underpinning social issue the method by which the majority of our nation's judges are chosen, and the evil that is creeping into that system by the perfidious infusion of large amounts of money into the judicial election process. The story begins in a small-town Mississippi courtroom, where a jury returns a $41-million verdict against Krane Chemical, a national corporation that has been found to have polluted the drinking water of the small community where they operated a chemical plant for decades. The company is controlled by Carl Trudeau, who, from his penthouse in New York, vows that not one penny of the judgment will ever be paid. It means little to Trudeau that he could pay the millions owed by his company from petty cash. Everyone who has crossed his path in the litigation will be destroyed.

Trudeau discovers that the way to accomplish his goal is to make certain that Krane Chemical will be victorious on the appeal of the jury verdict. To ensure victory, he launches a surreptitious campaign to elect a Supreme Court Justice in Mississippi who will tip the balance of the State's highest court in Krane's favor. In recent years, judicial campaigns in the states that elect judges have become free-spending battles among trial lawyers, insurance companies and major corporations. In THE APPEAL, Grisham paints a chilling picture of how elections are being manipulated by both sides in a battle for control of the courts. While it is clear to the reader what side the author favors in this debate, the portrait is disturbing regardless of one's position. Justice is for sale in our nation, and the result is not encouraging.

THE APPEAL is thought-provoking and scary. It is clear that this is an important legal issue for Grisham, and to some degree his fervor influences his writing. No character can be as evil and conniving as Trudeau. No attorney can be as naïve as Ron Fisk, the young lawyer selected to be the candidate of the business community. And no lawyers can be as saintly as Wes and Mary Grace Payton, the husband and wife team who have beaten Krane Chemical at trial. They are a combination of Jimmy Stewart and Mother Theresa, and no trial lawyer in America can rise to that level.

Overall, though, THE APPEAL is yet another great Grisham work. From its opening courtroom scene to its Faustian ending, it is a page-turning gem, worthy of a writer whose position on the bestseller list is a given. The thrill of reading a John Grisham novel and coming to its conclusion is heightened as the reader ponders where the author will go next as he uses his skill as a writer of great fiction to highlight and promote discussion of important legal issues for his audience.

--- Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman



Most depressing Grisham book
Book much disappointing one. Concluded badly. Why it takes them with the arduous test with the wound to the son of Ron Fisk and not to admit that effect its decision for the appeal of Krane? Which to be human (father or the mother)ever more watches the life the same sense after therefore tragic event to the child thier? The conclusion of the history would have had more meant if the son of Ron Fisk never did not endure one such hurt. Then we could say, as it could empathize with someone when it same has had not to never watch its own ones loved one sliding via from the gross negligence of the enormous companies like Krane and others. But it has suffered a terrible loss and still it does not have conceduto that it changes to its points of view. That I say is not a reflection to align of life and like we take the decisions after a life that alters the experience. They are sig. the spiacente Grisham but this history would have not to be never written. The extremity a lot is getting depressed. That what is happened to the son of the Fisk, Sheila McCarthy, coley of Clete, Jeanette, Wes


Did he just get tired?
It seems to me that the sig. Grisham must obtain tired while this book has written and simply it has decided to conclude it without using the same creative talent that it has used to weave the history. I have read every book of the sig. Grishman and I will continue to read the future books, but this was a real disappointment on the credit side extremity -- less that the history in some place wrote to a continuation on the credit side return more better del he to left this. Much disappointing one.


disappointing
This is by far the worst book I have read by Mr. Grisham. Too many characters that have no relavance to the plot. The plot is ho-hum. Perhaps its time to find a genre outside of the courtroom. I find this book guilty of being boring.


Page Turner
It has not been able to put it down. Approximately law of the Mississippi buying one center of the justice of the supreme Court. Pulled for the small type. Wonderful!!


Fun read that makes you *think*
Although I've always been a fan of Grisham's other legal novels, The Appeal is probably going to be my favorite. This book not only delivers all the pacing and suspense of his other books, but also provides readers with grist for thinking about elections, politics, big business, and how our court systems work today.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book; I could hardly put it down. It is a terrific story (and you can get the synopsis from other reviews), but for me, the best part of the book was its call to really think about how things are done. I am Jane Q Public, and I have to confess that I have been careless with my votes, that I haven't thought about the ramifications of having elected judges, that I haven't always done the homework I should to be an educated voter. This book makes me want to be a better voter ... and it served up that lesson to me in a way that was so much fun, so enjoyable, that I'm not just rolling my eyes and waiting for Civics class to be over. I actually want to try to use my votes better. Thank you, Mr. Grisham!


Great until the end
Of course, I love Grisham's books. This time he misses the mark. If you are going to write popular fiction, write for the people. The end was disappointing and lacked the interesting plot twists of his previous work. I read fiction for enjoyment and not to become depressed or for political messages. I would love Grisham fans to send ideas for an ending that was satisfying.


I forgot - he tells the truth- how DEPRESSING
A well written - and particularly well READ book (I listen to Audio Books in the car and Michael Beck is extremely talented.) BUT not for people that want a David vs. Goliath story - unless of course you don't mind Goliath winning - and winning big.

Before I ordered the book... I hesitated - I'm not sure why - but something told me - you're going to be upset don't do it - and now I wish I had trusted that instinct.

I am afraid I will be labeled "Pollyanna" - but I very much wanted this story to be uplifting - and instead I am depressed. I think it's a testament to Mr. Grisham's writing and Mr. Beck' characterizations that I could be so affected by what happens to characters in a book - but nonetheless I am deeply disappointed.

So - if you're looking for an inspiring story of hardworking and decency people triumphing over corruption and the lust for money... buy something else.




GRISHAM IS BACK!!
Grisham is behind on the track, these is the history kinds that must write for we. Poichè an owner of all of its reserves this is that what I love to read. These are the history kind that is good to and enjoy to the last page!


Legal Unthriller
The history of defective the chemical product great Co against Poor Townies hapless. Of right from the gate I have had to riverificare the cover - the huh, it does not say null approximately Erin Brockovich. The approval, so as to continuous I to read and comes to discover it is one different history. It is really the history behind the interesting history. The defective type is not that Badly and the good types are, well, bond single I indovinano. That is not really a legal wing of the exciting story "the company" but rather one history approximately an election that door to an appeal. That one rivettando because... at the moment we can only obtain the election filling on one manciata of 24 hour news rabbets. A distension has read for those who enjoys a good long winter.


AWFUL ENDING
IT WAS A TYPICAL GRISHAM BOOK ABOUT THE BEHIND THE SCENES OF LAWYERS, ELCTIONS, AND THE MONEY THAT IS THROWN OUT THERE. IT WAS ALL GOOD, BUT THE ENDING WAS AWFUL, IT WAS LIKE HE GOT TIRED OF WRITING AND DECIDED TO END IT. THE KID GETTING HURT, THE NEGLIGENCE BY THE DR/HOSPITAL WAS GOOD AND IT MADE YOU THINK THAT THE JUDGE WOULD "SEE THE LIGHT", BUT HE ENDS IT WITH A COUPLE OF PAGES AND THAT WAS IT.


Don't Do It!
While I have previously been entertained by many of John Grisham's novels, this is NOT one of them! He may think that in this account of the more egregious aspects of our legal system, he is performing a public service. Not So!. This book is painful and ultimately very disappointing! I read for pleasure and I sincerely regret the money and hours spent on this novel. John Grisham ... Never Again!


Great Suspense, Moralizing Goes Overboard
Grisham has returned to the legal non-fiction thriller, and it is worth the wait!

While a chemical company pollutes a Southern small town, lawyers seek compensation. Meanwhile, the rigging of the Mississippi Court of Appeals gears up, and everyone is bound for a Shakespearian finale.

Suffice to say, when all is said and done, the victims, lawyers, and big business collide (and collude) with modern politics.

I loved the premise, the story is believable, but felt as if it was written by the Democratic National Committee. All business is evil, the GOP is the devil, and liberal judges can do no wrong.

A worthy effort , but next time, stick to the facts, and nothing but the facts in the courtroom!


The Appeal
I stayed up until 2:00 A.M. to finish this book and the closer I got to the end, the worse I felt. I couldn't stand the ending. Maybe that was Mr. Grisham's intention--to make the reader really think about what is more than likely going on in our country. In any event, I did not like the ending and I would rewrite it if I could.


Grisham Scores Again
This is an outstanding book. One of his best, if not the best. It grabs you from the start. You will not want to put this book down. Every character gets your attention. You should definitely read this book.

Gerard Zemek, husband of author of "My Funny Dad, Harry"


Not the usual Grisham.
Unfortunately this will become another best-seller for Mr. Grisham. I say "unfortunately" because, in keeping with what seems to be a trend of my favorite writers, Mr. Grisham deviates in The Appeal from the formula that has made him a "must read" for so many. John, why oh why do you feel you have to ruin a good story with political undertones and a dose of reality? This one starts out good, bogs down because it introduces too many new characters and plot lines, and then ends in quite an unexpected, hurried, and unattractive way. I don't want to spoil the ending for other readers, but if you're expecting a typical Grishmam root for the underdog story with a happy ending, this isn't it. As for me, I've already relegated Karin Slaughter and Patricia Cornwell to my "never buy again" category for similar reasons. Grisham could be next. I don't mind when he dabbles in non-fiction, but please don't make me think this is like his other legal fictions and then leave me feeling empty. When will successful writers understand that their faithful readers don't read them to get a dose of reality; we can get that from the newspapers and CNN. We read Grisham for escape. I used to read Slaughter and Cornwell for escape. John, check on how their latest books have done before you write your next!


"For eight million, I can buy myself a supreme court justice."
For those who believe that judges are above politics, John Grisham has written "The Appeal," a legal thriller that explores the ways in which powerful groups use dirty tricks and unlimited financial resources to pervert the law and manipulate elections. The book opens in the aftermath of a hotly contested seventy-one day trial followed by five days of deliberations. A jury has found Krane Chemical Corporation liable for illegally dumping toxic waste that contaminated the groundwater in Bowmore, Mississippi. The tainted water caused the cancer deaths of Pete and Chad Baker, the husband and son of the plaintiff, Jeannette Baker, who is awarded a staggering forty-one million dollars. The lawyers for Mrs. Baker, Mary Grace and Wes Payton, have made incredible sacrifices to win this case. They sold their home and most valued possessions and are four hundred thousand dollars in debt.

Their adversary is a sixty-one year old billionaire named Carl Trudeau, who owns Krane. After the verdict is announced, the venal and contemptuous Trudeau declares "that not one dime of our hard-earned profits will ever get into the hands of those trailer park peasants." One way or another, he is determined to win on appeal. The Paytons pray that the judgment will be upheld and that Krane Chemical will be forced to clean up the mess that it created. Meanwhile, many other Bowmore residents have already died of cancer (which, in this town, has struck down men, women, and children at fifteen times the national average), and others are battling the dreaded disease. The survivors are waiting in line to file their own lawsuits against Krane.

Trudeau is a stereotype of the cold-blooded captain of industry. He is "unflappable, decisive, [and] calculating," and a "hothead with a massive ego who hated to lose." He owns luxurious homes, jets, and boats, has a gorgeous thirty-one year old trophy wife, and more money than he can ever spend. Why, then, does he care nothing for the people whom he has harmed? Put simply, Carl Trudeau is an obnoxious, selfish, and arrogant creep with no conscience and no moral center. He hires a bunch of lackeys to turn things around in a way that will not be traceable to him. Trying to thwart him are the aforementioned Paytons as well as Denny Ott, the founding pastor of the Pine Grove Church. Denny feeds the hungry, shelters the homeless, buries the dead, and passionately fights poverty and injustice. Many members of his congregation have been directly or indirectly affected by Krane's actions. Denny is close with Mary and Wes Payton and his church is "the hub of anti-Krane activity in Cary County," Mississippi.

At the center of "The Appeal" is the packaging and marketing of a thirty-nine year old lawyer, Ron Fisk, to replace a moderate jurist named Sheila McCarthy on the Supreme Court of Mississippi. If Fisk were to win, he would be the swing vote that might turn the tide when the case of Baker vs. Krane Chemical eventually comes before the court. Behind Fisk's campaign is the Machiavellian Barry Rinehart, a shadowy and ruthless consultant hired by Trudeau. Rinehart is a "fixer" whose job it is to target unfriendly judges and make sure they are defeated. Rinehart represents big business of all stripes: "energy, insurance, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, timber, all types of manufacturers, plus doctors, hospitals, nursing homes, banks." Rinehart boasts, "Information is power, and we know everything." Fisk is white, handsome, conservative, devoutly religious, and uncontroversial. He is also gullible, which makes him the perfect foil for Rinehart. In spite of the overwhelming odds against them, can the Payton's prevail against the ruthless Trudeau?

"The Appeal" is not Grisham's best work. The author lays his message on with a trowel, hammering home the idea that judges are routinely bought by powerful individuals with deep pockets. The villains are one-dimensional scoundrels who are as heartless as they are greedy. The Paytons are saintly and endlessly patient, putting the interests of their unfortunate clients ahead of their own. To his credit, Grisham's prose is clear, crisp, and eminently readable. He throws in a few surprises (one of which is incredibly melodramatic) to add a touch of irony and realism to the narrative. However, "The Appeal" lacks subtlety and shading. Writing a sermon couched as a work of fiction generally does not work well; the message tends to get in the way of the story.


Exhilarating / Very Appealing
I read the LARGE PRINT version and that was a plus, namely because my eyesight is on the wane. Well, no wonder this book has a sales ranking of 3 at this writing, here's why: Although fiction, I applaud the author's enthusiasm for the exciting genre of jurisprudence, which he so eloquently paints in this book. The tale was juicy and complementary to the way I spent my weekend. The book starts out with dirty politics/business in a pesticide plant in Podunk, Mississippi and the rest of the story, which is a blockbuster, will keep you on your toes and reading smoothly. You will run into some irony by the ending, but in between, get ready to go behind-the-scenes in the legal realms. I just have to say here that this story reminded me so much of the motion picture " Erin Brockovich." Lastly, if you enjoy a real page-turner, this will satisfy you in no uncertain terms, unlike others who have said it is predictable or boring. I do believe that Justice always had a high price tag, but there are still a few secrets left in dealing with the lack of funds. Read on, in the first recommended link...The Den of Iniquity Blue Smoke


The Appeal - John Grisham
I may be a pollyana, but I will not buy another John Grisham book. I have waited patiently and then purchased all books by this author. In this book, although a precautionary tale, the bad guys win big. I have always looked to the Grisham books to provide a restatement that good guys can win - the everyman has a purpose and counts......but in this book we find that Grisham, while painting a very negative picture of the corporate and legislative powers, gives it to the bad guys. The good and small are overpowered by money, greed, and power....are actually destroyed by them. And Grisham gives them the win! No more from this reader, I will stike him off my list of favorite authors. Good-by John Grisham.


the low end of his legal novels



this is awful
Spiacente, but this is really terrible. I could not obtain beyond page 50. All poor people is good and the rich malvagità except naturally for the lawyers altuistic of personal wound. Grisham the better thing is still the company, unfortunately that a lot was a time much ago effectively.


ending sucked
I was very disappointed. The read was just okay. I was hoping to be rewarded with a great ending. The ending was awful! He doesn't do sequels, so I know I will never be satisfied.


Cardboard characters, I'm so eeevil villain
Evil uncaring chemical baron Carl Trudeau's company has been poisoning the city of Bowmore's drinking water for years. After people start coming down with cancer and related ailments, the company cuts and runs to Mexico leaving hundreds of people ill and dying and the ground water contaminated. A scrappy altruistic attorney couple(the Paytons) sues Krane on behalf of a widowed client and wins a sizeable settlement. Carl Trudeau chooses to fight back, using his deep pockets and political connections.

I wanted to like this story, but I felt the good guy characters-particularly the attorneys -(the Paytons), were annoying. They were a little too perfect, a little too altruistic... It was very saccharine. The Paytons were both such Mary Sue's I didn't identify with them at all. Ironically, I liked the antics of the evil villains more because at least their plots and plans were entertaining.

Overall this was a decent book, but I found the simplistic character development aggravating.


Entertaining and Informative
It is obvious that John Grisham is up to more than spinning a fine yarn in this, his most recent legal novel. A former practicing trial lawyer in Mississippi, the setting for most of the story, as well as a member of the state legislature, Grisham is apparently, and quite rightly, concerned about a recent phenomenon relative to state supreme courts. As the novel illustrates, this is the increasing tactic of large business and ideological groups sweeping into various states and unloading large resources in elections for state supreme court justices--still not an uncommon way in which they are selected. Some states have adopted the so-called "Missouri system" where an expert panel recommends a slate of names to the governor, who must nominate one of the names, the individual serves a short term, and then stands for retention on a non-partisan basis. A simple majority of yes votes suffices to keep the judge in office for a full term.

But in Mississippi, and a number of other states, anyone can run in a competitive election for a seat on the state court. I expect this is particularly a hot issue in Mississippi, since it is the headquarters for gigantic tort recoveries in individual and class action suits returned by sympathetic juries. Grisham's previous novel, "King of Torts," was full of insights on this phenomenon. In the novel, business and ideological groups dissatisfied with the state court's decisions combine to run a candidate they pick and believe will be sympathetic to their viewpoints in rendering decisions. The target is a female Justice, by no means super liberal or extreme by any measure--but that is before the millions of dollars invested in campaign propaganda distort her record. The novel is designed to exhibit several of the major problems with this system: the potential for extraneous "hot button" issues to be injected into the campaign; the disparity in funds between judges and interest/business groups seeking to dislodge them; will judges render decisions based upon what they feel voters will like?; could judges who receive financial support from groups ignore that fact when rendering decisions that impact upon them?; will this tactic emasculate the tort law system that has "cleaned up a lot of bad products and protected a lot of people"?(p. 337)

So, while there is some serious food for thought in the book, it is also a solid novel well in the tradition of Grisham's other books: full of suspense; fast moving; and well written. I was not wild about the ending, but found it interesting that goodness and justice did not triumph as they often end up doing in novels. This one is more realistic.


An engaging novel that sacrifices character and story for the sake of a political issue
John Grisham sends back to the kind ch' has rendered famous with legal the exciting story, the appeal. That is a book with the good qualities a lot and a book that I have wished to like, but to the fine ones they have been disappointed is in the sense the diagram has taken, in the general message of the book that in the quality of the writing. The baker of Jeannette has had one poor life. Living in Bowmore, the Mississippi, she and its family they have drunk the tap water when the city and the EPA have assured it that it was sure. Its family has continued to drink also when the water has begun to smell and to change the colors. Then its husband and son are come down with cancer and are died. Then people a lot are come down with cancer. Wes and the Payton tolerance of the Mary has taken the case of the Jeannette and has cited the chemical product of Krane in order illegally the fuoruscita one of the toxic chemical products in the land. The test concludes and the received giuria to Jeannette $41 million. The CEO Carl that of Krane Trudeau is devestated like the action in its wide folder of the plummetts of the companies. After some days, Trudeau finds one possible solution to its problems. All the sense to the supreme Court of the Mississippi will make appeal the verdict, in the Mississippi, justices of the supreme Court is voted over from people. The court is cracked 5-4 against of he. It assumes a company that the guarantees can obtain to a likeable candidate to its cause chosen to the court to time to feel the appeal. All it is made in the secret. Nobody knows that Carl Trudeau is constituting a bottom for the canidacy of Ron Fisk to the supreme Court of the Mississippi. Fisk is good, a conservative one decent and Christian who believes that people that he asks to work has honest reasons, but soon also he is soprafato from the amount of moneies that are expenses. Although its friends of test of the lawyer, the running justice Shiela McArthy faces a battle in climb. In the meantime, the entire city of Bowmore is on the edge. The hundreds of people have been influence to you from the criminal negligence of Krane and hope for one large legal plant. Grisham has written obviously this book for rilasciare one declaration. I amuse myself as soon as to calculate towards the outside that what is. Ritrae the chemical product of Krane like therefore obvious company diabolic that you have not chosen to uproot against this "company of great transactions". Then there are the senators corrupts, the income of the gun, the wide alignment of the groups that they join in order to choose Ron Fisk so as to they can have one for-gun, one for capital punishment, a union of anti-gay and naturally one for justice of the lawyer of business/anti-trial on the supreme Court. It seems that Grisham recently has written the king of the torts in order to blink the lifestyle and the lawyers of tort of methods use to generate the judgments totals using defective science. In this book, they are the good types. I know from first experience of the hand that is many put causes frivilous ahead against the medical professionals who have not made nothing badly. Effort of the Grisham to paint with therefore immense brush and to describe to the lawyers of test like bonds and the great assurance of business/big medical/big as Badly it is wrong. It succeeds however to make the point that to have made judges to work for the election it is a mature system for the corruption. This book is full of editions that one could be for or against, but task that is some of it does not reduce the reading of the novel. You could it must simply choose to ignore that the parts of the novel that smarriscono in the political comment. If you had the time, I would go behind and read the giuria and Rainmaker of instability. When, these were two of the better novels I had never read. Hour, after that reading to the appeal, me questions if Grisham is changed mólto, or if I have? It is the appeal that much defective than those novels? The appeal is said to in the point of view omniscient 3rd-person, meaning the changes of the character of point of view from the paragraph to the paragraph. That has rendered the history hard to follow occasionally. Moreover, with therefore a lot to cover in the novel, Grisham basically says the history to us instead showing and allowing that the reader obtains implied in the durations of the characters. Grisham has written one here forcing history. It has the bottom on theirs laywers R-di.fortuna, Wes and tolerance of the Mary. The victim pathetic, baker of Jeannette. The diabolic corporative CEO, Carl Trudeau. The pledge naïve, Ron Fisk. But all it happens fastly therefore that never really we become familiar ourselves with, or cures for, is some of the characters. The only thing that is taken care to me approximately while the reading it was if or the appeal would not succeed. Since this novel has seemed to be approximately the emission to choose the judges, the test lawyers and the large societies, fortune teller who is like Grisham have wished it. In the past, Grisham would have written approximately the test against the chemical product of Krane and it had been concluded with the verdict. This novel begins with the verdict and goes from here. The fans will enjoy this novel, like. But task that is far away to scream from some of its better novels.


Just in time for election year
If you did not think the republican/christian/conservatives were in a plot to rule the world and crush the working democrats and America's poor, you will after reading The Appeal. John Grisham did not miss one chance to nail conservative views to the wall. Im sure there was a story on the pages somewhere but it was difficult to find between the jabs I was taking trying to enjoy a book.




Another Grisham Bestseller
Grisham knows to write large the legal novel. High one for himself has regulated the bar much. We know and we preview that it says to a story to that those of we that they work in the trenches of the legislative system even find believable. Moreover we know that its books will be a large one picked. All the fan of Grisham or legal novel would have to enjoy this book.


Wonderful page-turner.
John Grisham's "The Appeal" focused on the case of Jeannette Baker who lost both her husband and son to cancer due to chemical pollution caused my Krane Chemical Corporation in small town Mississippi. The case was fought by trial lawyers, Wes and Mary Grace Peyton who became in debt after taking this case. The jury found Krane guilty and of course, Krane filed an appeal. Krane Chemical Corporation was lead by a shrewd businessman, Carl Trudeau who decided to purchase himself a seat on the Mississippi court. The book focused primarily on how that was accomplished.

This was such an engaging read for me. Grisham skillfully combined both legal drama and politics to make "The Appeal" such an exciting story. Grisham was able to show how politics can be manipulated especially when one has money and how much politics can influenced the judicial system. Highly recommended!


the master of the legal thriller strikes again
I just this moment finished The Appeal, and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed it, as I do all of Mr. Grisham's works. He is far and away my favorite writer. In regards to this book, hopefully without giving too much away, I have to say I was a little disheartened by the way it ended. But I would guess it was Mr. Grisham's intention to invoke a sense of outrage at the way the 'system' works, and in writing this book, he hits it right on the head. Congratulations to the master of the legal thriller for writing another engaging, exciting story. Here's to his continued success.


Big money...a cautionary tale.
John Grisham can get a bit preachy from time to time. In this case, set within what amounts to the backstory of a mass toxic tort case brought in state court in South Mississippi, the guilty defendant attempts to stack the deck for its appeal by electing an unknown conservative to the state's highest court. Through this tale, Grisham rails against the danger big money presents to the judicial system and how contemporary political techniques can be used in unscrupulous ways.

While this work is fiction. the danger is quite real. Shortly before I was admitted to the Florida Bar, two Supreme Court justices were found to be circulating an opinion secretly drafted by the counsel for one of the parties, a major utility company. The removal of the two justices from the bench (as well as their subsequent disbarment) presented an opportunity for the governor to appoint the first African-American jurist to the court. This was followed in short order by an election campaign in which a trial judge of limited ability campaigned on the platform of a "matter of black and white."

Florida amended its Constitution after these events to provide for retention elections giving the voters power to remove appellate judges, but not seat them. This method is known as the "Missouri Plan" after the first state to implement it. It provides a degree of voter control, but removes the dangers skillfully exposed by The Appeal.

Few states followed suit, creating opportunities for big money donors to buy judicial elections. Grisham's point is clear-we must resist the efforts of any special interest group to destroy the public's right to (in Edmund Burke's words) "the cold neutrality of an impartial judge." Such a loss would be catastrophic, in Grisham's opinion and in mine as well.

However this lesson is not delivered with too heavy a hand. The engaging narrative of corporate misdeeds, political operatives, church/state meddling, and trial lawyering will keep you turning pages until late at night.

In the end, we find that its lessons are imbedded in our consciousness. Hopefully they will not be lost on readers and voters.


A Civil Action
A civil action with John Travolta. Form the diagram of approximately 80% of this book.


The Appeal, John Grisham
I was very disappointed and waited a long time for this book. He has left out the suspense and thrill that makes his books legal thrillers. It was boring unless one wants to learn about political networking. Not enough story or excitment. I won't buy him again unless he starts writing similar to "The Pelican Brief", "The Firm", etc.


Too True to Life
Well written. I couldn't put this book down. However, I felt dirty after finishing it. The ending, however realistic it might be, is ultimately sad and frustrating. I wonder if the author wanted to write a tale to agitate readers into political action. I'd rather a Grishom novel end with at least a hint of the good guys winning

So, if you want to be jolted into political foment, this is your story. If you want a rousing story in which the underdog wins, I'd pass on this one.


an insult
The appeal is an insult to the Christians, the conservatives, the republicans and anyone otherwise to the right of Karl Marx. And, the OH yeah, the conclusion sucks.


Almost Classic Grisham
The last novel of the author offers one dark look in the justice of the American of the heart. This time around to the history happens after an important test. The main edition that spark controversy in this novel is if the moneies reserve you would have to be used in choosing the judicial civil employees. The history written around to this is is believable that writing up. An exciting story is not therefore a lot legal. It is more an exciting story approximately the legislative system. I have uncovered that is entertains that it clears. As they say, "talks of the moneies". Suggested for the fans of Grisham.


Familiar ground.
Like nearly all the critics, I have read all the books to us of the John Grisham (from my first year of the right school). Not ripartisco politics of the sig. Grisham in a generalized manner, but I enjoy its writing like reading diversionary for one brace the nights. You must be informs you that this book is much politician and that one is centers them to the thing. I remain via from law of tort (personal wound) because the accosento they are exited from control, (the sig. Grisham not.) and task that is some scumbags enormous that they obtain via with making some things really dirty that urge them to cry when a verdict is read. That is earth well-blanket for the sig. Grisham; a diabolic chemical company much ago deliberately qualche.cosa one of horrible really in order destroying one Community. Lle dangerous situations of the young and sincere face of the lawyer (in this case two) from corporeo damage to no moneies. I would ask I pray to the sig. Grisham in your return following of the novel on an other edition beyond to cancer. The history is good and legal it corrects from a sense that ago appeal to one medium person. However, the scoundrels are expectable, that it is a retroced. The young lawyer who is their pledge passes with the good-defective phase. But honestly, it is boring enough and its moglie is therefore of wood as far as is distracting right. The improvement in this zone could add mólto to the history. Franc the sense that is taken care of its "conversion" is hardly defective writing (but hey it is John Grisham and I am speaking about its book.) Here it is my main point - uses I pray your favorite Search Engine and writes to penny of the justice the Tennessee to machine white man 1996. You will see that that what task is 100% of inspiration of the sig. Grisham for approximately this entire novel. It was picked diversionary pleasant, but it has some important defects that they down carry it to the mediocre performances.


the appeal
They are therefore happy for having John that Grisham "lawyer reserves" posterior! Many of the reviews of the customer I have read said that they have not had some character ' to love '. I loved


Another brilliant rollercoaster
As many of the books of the Grisham this is based without to block on a history to align that ago to participate to W.R. the Grace and the relative branchs (office) that lets out the chemical products on a farmstead and that casuing the disease. But this takes to the history a measure more ulteriorly and examines the sense in which Carl Trudeau, the raider famed of the Wall ßstreet, it is trying to handle to the system using all possible means. While the transaction more low of the courts a fabulous verdict the case must hour to be made appeal to the supreme Court of the Mississippi and hour it seems that all it is in on for the bucket crane. Grisham sends back to its old topics that are try to you and to align; the court. With much interest today put to fire on the supreme Court American this is a such history in microcism and examines as the political and the commerce and the courts are all interelated. A shining book that once again demonstrates the sig. Grisham like the master of the drama of the room of the court. Seth J. Frantzman


Like reading a newspaper
While reading this latest novel from Grisham I couldn't help but feel like I was reading and endless Article in a newspaper. Filled with facts and no character developement at all! I do like his work very much and will continue to read his latest books, but I was very dissapointed in this one.


Grisham ran out of energy
They have been a long reader of Grisham of time and this has not hit it like better its effert. It was like if it exausted its energy of writing or its quota word from pages 330 and just glue on one conclusion to you unsayisfying to its history, concluding itself abruptly from page 355. Its likeable character of the lawyer "has come a experience to the Jesus" that to the end does not count in order a lot.


Well-written disappointment
This book frustrated me immensely.

Grisham's writing style is technically good, if a bit pedestrian; but usually his stories rise above the uninspired prose. There is usually someone to like, and someone to dislike, and then a coterie of interesting extras.

In this book, though, there is someone to despise, and no one I really liked. The extra characters were more like caricatures.

Worst of all, the story starts most depressingly, shifts gears to tell almost an entirely different story, and then ends on a very unsatisfying (and abrupt) note. There is one red herring that I mistakenly thought would be a major item in the outcome.

Eh, well, it took up an evening's reading, and it wasn't outright horrible.


Not his best, but still worth a read...
In The Appeal, John Grisham returns to his bread and butter - legal drama carried out in the deep South. Unfortunately, while this story carries most of the classic elements of his wonderful previous works of fiction, it lacks the heart which made them truly great, thought-provoking reads.

The Appeal quickly throws multiple characters at the reader, each described in Mr. Grisham's bullet fast, succinct manner. As in past novels, each player is the most extreme version of the character he or she could possibly be. There is the intense, super disciplined, hyper focused CEO of the chemical company. He cares for nothing (not even his daughter) except money, making money and keeping money. There is the shadowy expert, who is scarily adept at his job and has all the information you could possibly need to achieve your end - for a price. There is the fat politician - not too smart, but he has all the connections and can get anything done. There is the victim - poor, uneducated and completely crushed by the calamities that befell her family. There are the plaintiff's attorneys - wearied beyond belief under the burden of an expensive, never-ending case. You know they will do the right thing for their client no matter what. All of these characters seem a bit too convenient, a bit too black and white. We aren't given the opportunity to know any of them well enough to take them beyond their first impressions. We never get to decide if we love them or hate them. And that is the sad thing about this book. We remain indifferent to the characters' plight. There is no single character for the reader to latch on to and root for.

With all this said, I still enjoyed reading the book. But this isn't a book that I'll read again. The Appeal does have the thought-provoking issue that always appears in John Grisham's books. However, unlike The Firm, The Pelican Brief and A Time to Kill, it is missing a character you can fall for.


Bit of a disappointment



Grisham is BACK!!!!
Yes, Grisham is behind! I love its books -- picked all. And beyond "to Skeeping Born them" they were all and star 5 in my opinion. A lot entertaining, to seize, making cultured them to work the extremity. The Apeal is different - a lot entartaining, while at the same time they indicate to some flows in the legislative system (the author has made the light of som it in its book prvious -- the man of Inncent) obtains it and clears up it.


Great fun
Task that "the appeal" replaces Grisham where belongs... on the list of the bestseller. I have thought that this was an excellent legal exciting story and really do not understand these negative reviews. I would buy the book and I would enjoy the writing talent of the Grisham. From the novel editor of the women of vincita of the prize of Michele Cozzens one line between the friends


Easy To Put Down
Like many of the readers of these reviews, I have read all the books of the Grisham. It is not nothing really to suggest to us or to attacare in the appeal. Like the greater part of its books, I have read it beyond two evenings, but the found one that it puts it several times down, not therefore with the greater part of its previous books. During these last years, the books of the Grisham have had one pushed moral against the punishment understood them and other editions that it finds to disturb itself in the legal process. In this book, it is putting to fire on the large moneies that occasionally seem to spodestare a sitting judge. It is a po' on a single side for the test lawyers, but not in crushing way therefore. To the conclusion of the day, I would want to see the test of Grisham something completely different while Follet makes therefore wonderfully therefore often the every one. The appeal is only right.


I'm glad Grisham is "back"...
Like everyone else I've been waiting a while for Grisham to put out another lawyer-type novel. Matter of fact I wanted this book so bad that I didn't ready anything else once I finished the book I was on just so that I wouldn't have anything to "get in my way". This Grisham novel was different in the sense that everything happened AFTER the trial. Most of his other work is the pre-trial and the trial itself. So to read a book of his that happens after all the grunt work was a change of pace.

For me it didn't jump out the gate but that was because he had to explain what lead up to "the appeal". To me the title was also misleading. This book should have been called "The Process" or "The Election". But all that is trivial and has nothing really to do with the book. :-) I really did enjoy this Grisham novel and was taken in by the uncanny ability he has to tell a story. He also has a way to make like the bad guys as much as you do the good guys. He'll make a lot of people upset with the way he exposes the all too familiar tactics of politicans and their aids.

Are our judges really elected this way? Do huge companies get away with blatant law breaking because they have our Senators, Congressmen, judges, and CEO's on the payroll? Is the fight for justice just a practice in futility? Is the average citizen seen as stupid, mindless lemmings that need direction in every aspect of our lives? Is our "freedom" controlled by Big Brother and his adopted siblings? Ok, maybe I took that a little far but this book will get you thinking about those questions and more. Fans of Grisham will enjoy this, but I wouldn't start off a new Grisham reader with this one.


Water that burns
Attorneys have no particular compulsion to bring a case to closure if they are collecting for billable hours. Juries, on the other hand, are paid a pittance, and need to reach a decision in order to go home. I have served on juries, and I know the drill. Some jurors are more dominant and persuasive than others. Decisions are based on negotiation and compromise. In the present story, the trial has lasted 71 days, and the jury has deliberated for 42 hours. They are not in complete agreement, but that is not required in a civil case. A verdict has been reached, and ten jurors are willing to sign it. But that is not the end, because the case will now wind through THE APPEAL.

So, the protagonists -

On the one side there is Carl Trudeau, a ruthless corporate executive in New York City who is willing to advance himself over the broken bodies of others. He will manipulate, lie, hide behind shells, and use fair means or foul to get his way. His obsession is money. He has no real friends. When you run with jackals, any sign of weakness can get you pulled down, and the pack will feed on your carcass.

On the other side is Mary Grace Payton, who grew up in the Bowmore, Mississippi, area and is seeking justice for the residents of the town. She and her husband Wes, a married team of attorneys, have given up everything to handle the case. It is expensive. There is office staff, and there are expert witnesses. It has cost $400,000 of borrowed money.

The case involves Krane Chemical Company, controlled by Trudeau, accused of polluting the water supply of Bowmore, leading to illnesses and deaths. The water is unfit for washing cars, and there are claims that it will burn if used on a fire. Various people are drawn into the fray. The scent of money attracts various maggots and vultures. There are business interests on one side, and there are tort attorneys on the other. The case will create a precedent. The case is being watched on Wall Street.

It is more than just an appeal, it is also about an election to the Mississippi Supreme Court (all judges in Mississippi are elected). The problem with the election of judges has been spelled out in detail in a recent article by retired U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (Parade magazine, Feb. 24, 2008). There are vested interests trying to influence the election. A large part of the book deals with campaign financing, sham PACs, campaign dirty tricks, etc. Such tactics are real, but fictional names and circumstances are used. It is a good analysis of politics. Money talks.

The end of the story may be disagreeable to some people, but that is the way things sometimes go. I might have wished for something different. There is the Stone family who carry grudges (I had hoped for a gunshot). However, it is a well written story, even if some people go unpunished, but there are different forms of punishment. Sometimes victory can leave you with a mouth full of ashes.

On a side note, under the present governor, a former lobbyist, the Mississippi legislature recently enacted tort reform legislation that limits liability in civil cases. It is a contentious issue. There are arguements on both sides. I would note that a Mississippi attorney was recently sentenced to prison for conspiring to submit fraudulent claims in a product liability case (doesn't that sound like a character in the novel?). Maybe you have to live in the state to understand some aspects of the novel.

Reality is sometimes stranger than fiction. In a recent Mississippi Supreme Court decision, an associate justice, writing a minority opinion stated, "Much of what has been written by the majority in the instant case would be dismissed as mere gobbledygook but for the fact that it is being promulgated by a venerable institution in our democracy, the Mississippi Supreme Court. This majority decision erodes that veneration. Contrary to the majority's misapprehension, which defies reason and common sense, Section 23-15-855 of the Mississippi Code is unambiguous and should be construed as written." The case related to a decision by the Governor which had been challenged by the Mississippi Attorney General. It was a political issue with the majority siding with the governor to overturn a lower court decision.

In breaking news, the Bush administration's proposed FY2009 budget includes a 20.8 percent reduction in the budget for the U.S. Geological Survey's Toxic Substances Hydrology Program (a significant issue considering the case in the novel).


Dirty Elections, Big Money, Corrupt Politicians Now Take Grisham's Center Stage For Urgent Moral Issues
John Grisham will be ending his absence from the New York Times Best Seller's List (fiction) with the arrival "The Appeal." Grisham's first legal thriller since the Broker (2005) is a gripping and compelling read that will be hard to put down. It is also timely since it highlights the underbelly of today's election politics.

The story centers on a small Mississippi law firm who wins a big verdict over a chemical giant, Krane, that has spread carcinogenic pollutants. Krane, fearful that this verdict, if not overturned, would set a precedent that would eventually destroy it, goes into action. It files an appeal that will find its way to the state supreme court, and hires a "dirty tricks" firm to unseat a sitting justice believe to be unfriendly. This is a viable strategy since Mississippi elects their Supreme Court justices and 69% of its voters know little about the court's candidates.

The "Appeal" provides a believable primer on how to rig an election - pick a victim; promote an unknown candidate with no visible record; and ambush the victim by painting him/her as a extreme ideologue (this liberal judge will destroy the family). Done well...and the election process is subverted.

This is Grisham's thirteenth legal thriller since "A Time to Kill" which was published in 1989. He has been a master at putting urgent moral issues on center stage for all to consider. He has succeeded again in "The Appeal."



Outstanding book but not for those who want Hollywood endings
This book is outstanding. The pace and suspense does not relent and one feels a genuine empathy with the characters. The villain of the piece could be labeled a stereotype in the "Gordon Gekko" vein, but he is believable and scary in his own right. This book should make people consider the issues regarding electing State Supreme Court Justices. I can recall the election slash deposing of Justice Rose Bird in California: this book was a familiar refrain. It also should be a wake up call to those who want to depend on talk radio for information. I highly recommend this book and hope that when the movie comes out, they stick to the story and do not bend it to make things happier.


Too Many Villains, No Clear Protagonist
Grisham's latest literary event is a big dud. It's chocked full of central casting villains with lots of red herrings and soft mush. The book badly needs a clear protagonist, but instead has been populated with many also-rans. Even the hapless young judicial candidate is good then bad then good then bad. The book's subject matter of big business, politics, liability, law and corruption would have been served better in a New York Times op-ed piece or a "60 Minutes" segment.


Good, but not great
I have read every book of the John Grisham never published! From exciting storys lawyers in advance payment to nonfiction and the novel the not-lawyer. It is one of my favorite authors! This book is not good how much its job more in advance payment. I do not know but perhaps since it has made it, does not have to put within much effort! Who knows? In any case the diagram is good, little a slow one to begin however. I have not thought equally relative the characters as I have in previous books of Grisham. The book was totally good, but definitively not its the better thing in my opinion. One what is rise in feet outside however approximately this book like no other novel from Grisham. I have known that liberal it is occupied of in politics. I do not have problem with and is its freedom to think and to choose poichè satisfies. But this novel has had small suggestions of the political and creed that Grisham has them wishes to you infuriated to as the system currently it is working. There is without doubt that some decisions are taken that they are wrong from the supreme Courts and all the courts for that matter. But I wish that Grisham would have gone towards the outside the political comment. A novel, to me, is one seen of one sure species of life impartial. If we had a first one narrator of the person with the leanings political liberal, they would not have had problem. But since this is a third party point of view of the person, does not wish to feel the leanings political from a narrator presumed impartial. Otherwise I have enjoyed the book, but I hope that it maintains its comment politcal from future novels. Grisham is better than those and hopes that it recognizes it!


I was quite disappointed
The story is well written from a technical aspect, i.e., complete sentences, good grammar and vocabulary. The story itself is a hackneyed screed praising trial lawyers, and serving up the corrupt chemical company, politicians and campaigns. After an initial exposition of the basis of the story, not much happens in the first 150 pages. I almost gave it up, but held on hoping for an old-style John Grisham story. It picks up some in the remainder of the book. The characters are thin and stereotypes.

Overall I felt he 'called it in.' I doubt this one would get any notice except that his name is on the cover.


Grisham doing what Grisham does best!
It was good to have Grisham back in familiar territory. I have tried his other books "Playing For Pizza" for instance and they just don't work for me. Grisham is not a great writer, but what carries his legal thrillers is his knowledge of the subject and his ability to craft a thriller. He does get on his political soap box in this one, evil corporations that squash the little guy, but also brings up some real flaws in the system and does it in an entertaining way that gets people to think. This is Grisham doing what Grisham does best!


don't bother
The thin characters, the same defective types nobody are good