The Rainmaker, John Grisham | 434 pages

The classic underdog plot, this time with a baby lawyer going up against The Big Bad Insurance Company.

Rudy just can't catch a break. Do this many bad things really happen to people one after another? All the way to the last page, one hit after another. Deck and the thugs add interest at least. I don't buy Rudy's relationship with Kelly... That's a wildly unhealthy foundation for a relationship if I've ever heard of one.

I did read it through and there were some well written scenes; I can see why people like Grisham's writing. It's just not for me.

The Exchange : After The Firm by John Grisham

 

The Exchange : After The Firm by John Grisham-338 pages

This novel re-acquaints us with Mitch and Abbey McDeere; the couple who first appeared in "The Firm" 15 years ago.  They are happy and contented, living with their twin boys in Manhattan.  Both have thriving careers.  Then one of Mitch's mentors in Rome asks him for a favor that will take him far from home.  Very soon their idyllic life will be turned upside down. 

 I didn't really care for this one...I read every book Grisham writes.  Too many characters, too many loose ends.  Even the ending was disappointing.  Barely 3 out of 5 stars from me!

The Rooster Bar by John Grisham

The Rooster by John Grisham - 468 Pages

"Mark, Todd, and Zola came to law school to change the world, to make it a better place. But now, as third-year students, these close friends realize they have been duped. They all borrowed heavily to attend a third-tier, for-profit law school so mediocre that its graduates rarely pass the bar exam, let alone get good jobs. And when they learn that their school is one of a chain owned by a shady New York hedge-fund operator who also happens to own a bank specializing in student loans, the three know they have been caught up in The Great Law School Scam.

But maybe there's a way out. Maybe there’s a way to escape their crushing debt, expose the bank and the scam, and make a few bucks in the process. But to do so, they would first have to quit school. And leaving law school a few short months before graduation would be completely crazy, right?  Well, yes and no . ."

Juror #3 by James Patterson and Nancy Allen

Juror #3 by James Patterson and Nancy Allen, 331pages

In James Pattersons latest novel Ruby is a southern lawyer trying to establish herself and built up her clientele in her new law practice.  But when she is chosen to defend a young criminal, she will start her reputatîon for being a tuff lawyer.  Especially when Juror #3 shows signs that he may actually be the killer.  Her second case is not easy when she has to defend her exfiance of killing a prostitute.  But with the help of Suzanne and new boyfriend Shorty, she has all the help she needs.  This James Patterson book read more like a Stephanie Plum novel by Janet Evanovich and was a little lighter read than the usual Patterson book

The Whistler by John Grisham

The Whistler by John Grisham --374 pages

We expect our judges to be honest and wise. Their integrity and impartiality are the bedrock of the entire judicial system. We trust them to ensure fair trials, to protect the rights of all litigants, to punish those who do wrong, and to oversee the orderly and efficient flow of justice.

The Dead Hand: A Rachel Gold Mystery by Michael A. Kahn

The Dead Hand: A Rachel Gold Mystery by Michael A. Kahn --- 227 pages

The tenth book in local attorney/author Michael A. Kahn's clever mystery series features St. Louis attorney Rachel Gold and an abundance of St. Louis references that will add to the enjoyment of local readers.

In her busy law practice, Rachel has handled any number of legally tricky cases and earned a reputation as "tougher than every smart lawyer in town and smarter than every tough lawyer." In “The Dead Hand,” she will need both attributes in order to win two different but tricky cases based on an arcane and obscure bit of Anglo Saxon property law called "The Rule Against Perpetuities."  In one case the trophy widow of a wealthy lingerie manufacturer is attempting to claw back the property deeded to her predecessor in the divorce settlement. In the other the estranged son of a wealthy financier is trying to invalidate the trust created for his much younger half sister by claiming she's not his father's daughter.

Along the way Rachel discovers an unsuspected homicide and meets a man who just might offer her a second chance at love.  Another winner for Kahn.

Click HERE to read the review from Publisher's Weekly.

Click HERE to read the review from Kirkus Reviews.

Click HERE to read the review from the St. Louis Jewish Light. 

Blind Justice by Anne Perry

Blind Justice: A William Monk Novel by Anne Perry --- 338 pages

Another great installment in Perry's William Monk series, a tense courtroom drama set amidst the opulance and squalor of midnineteenth century London, where corruption seethes beneath the surface of Victorian propriety.

Hester and Monk undertake to unmask a charismatic preacher who they suspect is milking his gullible congregation for donations to help the needy that are actually going to fund a lavish lifestyle for himself and his family.

They are happy to know that their friend, Sir Oliver Rathbone, newly appointed to the bench, will be presiding at the trial of the Reverand Abel Taft. The prosecution makes a convincing case using the evidence Hester and Monk have collected, but then the defense presents a witness, Robertson Drew, a close associate of Taft's, who sedulously undermines Hester's credibility and the integrity of Taft's victims. Sir Oliver, watching this perversion of justice unfold in his courtroom, rashly decides to intervene. The results are so disastrous they could destroy his career and threaten his life.

Check out this video teaser for Blind Justice:



 

The Flinch Factor by Michael Kahn

The Flinch Factor: A Rachel Gold Mystery by Michael A. Kahn --- 287 pages

Michael Kahn's quirky series of legal thrillers featuring attorney Rachel Gold and set in St. Louis combines local color, sly humor, fast-paced action, and clever plots in one guaranteed engrossing and enjoyable package.

Since Kahn has a full-time day job as an attorney specializing in intellectual property rights, fans have to wait patiently for the appearance of each book in the series, but it's always worth the wait. The Flinch Factor is another winner.

In her previous outing, Rachel became engaged to be married; in this book, she is a very recent widow with a small child and two teenage step-daughters she has taken under her wing. She's also in the middle of a lawsuit, representing a working-class neighborhood trying to fight off a developer who is asking the city for eminenet domain and tax increment financing to redevelop this "blighted area" as a swanky gated community. It appears to be a lost cause, since the city and the developer have the law on their side, so Rachel's last hope is the judge that has been assigned to hear the suit; a judge so notoriously flakey he's known to the entire St. Louis legal community as "The Flinch Factor."

Then Rachel reluctantly agrees to take on another hopeless case: the strange death of Nick Moran, a local contractor adored by every woman whose house he has remodeled. Nick was found dead of a drug overdose in his truck, parked in an isolated area notorious for gay hook-ups, so the police came to the obvious conclusion. But Nick's younger sister is convinced her brother was neither gay nor a drug user.

When Rachel begins digging into the case she finds various bits of evidence that just don't add up to an accidental death. And to her surprise, she discovers a number of connections between Nick's death and the developer in her lost cause lawsuit. Too many connections, in Rachel's opinion, to qualify as coincidence.