This book was entertaining and pretty suspenseful, but it has a lot of problems. I have read two other Grisham books, The Client and The Firm, and I didn't think this one was as good.

Okay. Firstly, the characters are flat. This is acceptable because this is a thriller, but it would have been much better if people had some personality. Darcy, the protagonist, was so stereotypical as a beautiful (men can't help but lust after her oft-mentioned long legs) and brilliant law student.

Secondly, the whole premise didn't make much sense to me. The entire book hinges on the believability of a millionaire madman deciding to kill off a bunch of people so that the Pelican Brief won't surface, but that glass of milk was already spilled. And his trying to kill Darcy was the only thing that gave it legitimacy; if he hadn't, the brief would just be dismissed. I had problems accepting this.

Lastly, and this is a small, nitpicky thing, I didn't like the little romance storyline. I do not think that romance is Mr. Grisham's forte. The characters were not round enough to pull it off believably. Most importantly, someone's (I don't want to spoil it) paramour was killed off pretty early in the book, so it seemed a little unbelievable how quickly they moved on.

Now. With the negative comments out of the way, I can tell you what I did like about The Pelican Brief. It was entertaining and fast-paced. Suspenseful. Grisham is pretty consistent in these areas. Overall, I would recommend it to anyone who likes Law & Order.