The Lincoln Lawyer - Michael Connelly

 61%

09.09.23

What makes this interesting - other than the details of how the urban American legal system works - is the character development arc. It could have been a standard procedural but the narrator goes from shrugging off the ethical issues of defending guilty people to confronting and eventually embracing the complexity of different cases. There was a lot of unnecessary visual detail, though - who cares what side of the sofa people are sitting on? 

The Firm - John Grisham

 47%

04.07.21

If there were any keen readers of this blog, they'd know my opinion of Grisham's books is as exciting and unpredictable as his storylines (full of peaks and troughs). Unfortunately, this classic has dated badly over 30 years, crammed as it is with sexism, racism and tediously bickering alpha males, including the 'hero' himself, who I hoped would get eliminated by the mob but the plot didn't even make enough sense for that.

Theodore Boone: The Fugitive - John Grisham

42%
17.04.20

Oh dear. This was more the quality of Camino Island than The Rainmaker, and in fact I wonder whether Grisham's name on the cover is his only involvement in these more recent novels. If I were him, I'd not want anything to do with such a dull, emotionless, impersonal book. I didn't even care enough to hate it.

The Rainmaker - John Grisham

73%
06.08.19

Who knew insurance law could be so fascinating? I loved this. At least, I loved the first 95% of it. Let's not talk about the ending.

The Client - John Grisham

71%
31.12.18

I'd never read any Grisham legal dramas before, due to an unfounded conviction (see what I did there?) that it wasn't my thing. But there it was in the library... and I loved it. Not high literature, and with a confusing cast of characters, but surprisingly exciting for a story that mainly takes place in courtrooms and lawyers' chambers. A fun end to my year's reading.

The Children Act - Ian McEwan

50%
25.02.18

Despite having two copies of 'Atonement', I've never read any Ian McEwan books before. I'm not sure I'll read any more in a hurry as this seemed to have little point as a novel. Yes, it raises some questions about the nature of law and the challenges of upholding it, but so does the A-Level textbook I've just edited, and that has pictures.