The Appeal

Hi everyone! So today, I am reviewing a book that I finished a few weeks ago entitled: "The Appeal". It is by a rather famous author named John Grisham. He is not only, a very prominent writer, but several movies have been made based off his books. Here we go!

Characters: Wes and Mary Grace Payton: prosecuting lawyers in the Crane Chemical Case/ parents of two young children/ win $38 million in putative damages off the Crane Case
Carl Trudeau: owner of Crane Chemical Company/ responsible for the dumping of toxic materials into the water/is a multi-billionaire
Barry Reinhart: hired by Trudeau to make sure Crane wins the appeal/ specializes in getting the "right people" elected/ plans to unseat justice Shelia McCarthy
Ron Fisk: Reinhart's political pawn/ designed to be an advocate for big business/ ends up making the deciding decision on the appeal case of Crane chemical

The Plot: In a small town in Mississippi, the people know that the water is bad. Not only is it bad, but it is cancerous. Their only hope is a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Jeannette Baker against Crane Chemical Company asking to receive compensation for the deaths of her husband and young son. The town hopes that if Jeannette wins, the water may be ultimately cleaned up and the town's health restored. Against all odds, Baker and her two hardened, hometown lawyers, Wes and Mary Grace Payton, win the suit and a total $41 million in damages. While this is where the story would seem to end, it is actually where the story just starts to pick up. Infuriated that these back country justices robbed him of millions, Carl Trudea, owner of Crane, decides that there can be no uncertainties during this appeal. So he decides to hedge his bets: he hires Barry Reinhart, a so-called "election specialist" to help make sure the appeal results in the "appropriate" result. Reinhart's strategy? Create the perfect justice candidate out of the virtually unknown Ron Fisk and fund him by big business and Christian interest groups and pit him against Shelia McCarthy, a more liberal appeal court justice. Then all Reinhart has to do is make sure Fisk votes with Crane during the appeal. In a furious race to keep McCarthy on the court, the Paytons and the other attorneys in Mississippi will begin to wonder: are big businesses finally meddling in the court systems of this small town?

What I liked: Before I start, I wanted to note something interesting. This is my first John Grisham novel, and right off the bat I liked it very much. But what was interesting is that when I went to Amazon.com to get a picture for the post, I was surprised to see that "The Appeal" only had two and a half stars (out of 5). I found this shocking. I am not sure if that is a reflection on the fact that this is the first Grisham novel I have read and it is not, admittedly, one of his more famous ones, or if it has to do with the fact that I often differ from the Amazon rating. Case in point, "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" is closer to four stars on Amazon, but I would probably give it no higher than one. So this is just my sort of disclaimer that Grisham may have written far better novels and this may not be his best work. That being said, if this isn't his best work it is still very good. I have never read a novel like this before which is rather surprising. Politics are an unpleasant fascination for me. Politicians and big business interactions can be corrupt and sometimes even disturbing (in a sense that companies have so much influence over our "freely elected" government) yet at the same time, I love learning about politics and still have genuine hope for the system. So for me, the subject matter was truly interesting. While I found the huge amounts of money and bribery to get Fisk support disturbing, it was astonishing to learn how much influence these groups have. I sort of felt the sensation you get when you look at something disgusting and want to look away but you just can't. One of the things I liked about Grisham's writing style was the general lack of fluff: it was direct, and to the point, with the characters developed enough to keep you interested. One of the things I noted when I looked through the Amazon reviews was that an astonishing number of people thought the characters were not well developed. While I understand that their complexity was not something to write home about, I feel like it wasn't so much about the characters, as the interaction of the characters together. It was about big business versus the hometown, not Trudeau versus the Paytons. They simply represented something on a much larger scale. Also, the book certainly kept me guessing: I found the ending surprising and almost a little frustrating (but in a good way). By the way, my dad said that all John Grisham novels have happy endings: readers out there can you comment on this? Because the novel I read (spoiler ahead) did not have a very happy ending.

What I didn't like: This is not an attack on Grisham: I totally understand why he wrote the character the way he was written but I am still furious. Ron Fisk was a complete idiot (sorry but that is the only word that works here). He allowed himself to be wooed by these businessmen and it never occurred to him, he had no inclination whatsoever, to question why in the world these men were funding him! He never thought about the repercussions of his actions and he never thought about what he was doing. Fisk was almost like a kid who jumps into the pool without looking, and without thought of the kid who he jumps on. He didn't seem to have any moral fiber, and when it just seemed like he would get some, he backed up again and proved yet again, what a chicken he was.

Overall: 8 out of 10. I guess I didn't give it higher because there was no "wow" factor like I was expecting out of a John Grisham novel. But I will definitely pick up another Grisham novel in the future.