Having read of eight his books I can say that John Grisham is my favorite author. I haven’t read one of his books in over 10 years and I can see not much has changed. The last book I read was his 1996 book ‘The Runaway Jury’. This one was his next book published in 1997 and it recounts the same territory of a Grisham book. One man embroiled in some huge dilemma aided by a woman surrounded by a group of shady adversaries who are out to get him. That’s pretty much half of the plots to his books except in ‘The Pelican Brief’ it was - One [wo]man embroiled in some huge dilemma aided by a man surrounded by a group of shady adversaries who are out to get [her].

I generally enjoy his books or I wouldn’t have read so many, but it was nothing that new or original in this book. The protagonist, Patrick Lanigan, was pretty much a bastard who wrapped everyone he meets around his finger. The fact that I thought he was a bastard made every “trick” he did sleazier. To be clear he wasn’t supposed to be a villain, but I didn’t find him likeable. Grisham does do a good job at keeping one of the main mysteries of if this guy is alive then WHO is buried in his grave until pretty much the end. He also overspreads the details of exactly how this guy faked his death until later in the book.

The book indeed gets off to a rocking start and the mystery is intriguing, but once you figure out what an unlikable figure Patrick is, the book spirals down from there.

Out of the eight John Grisham books I’ve read (so far), my favorites in order are:
(All links lead here to GoodReads)

1. The Client (1993) http://bit.ly/j7c6jW
2. The Pelican Brief (1992) http://bit.ly/mO0cB6
3. The Firm (1991) http://bit.ly/mchQnu
4. A Time to Kill (1989) http://bit.ly/nmnmqa
5. The Rainmaker (1995)
6. The Runaway Jury (1996)
7. The Chamber (1994)
8. The Partner (1997)