In his savviest book in years ("New York Times"), #1 bestselling author Grisham delivers a powerful, timely, and shocking story of political and legal intrigue sure to leave readers unable to look at this country's electoral process or judicial system in quite the same way ever again.

Reviews

No title, no plot description, and just a few tantalizing hints: in America, justice is for sale at a price-a very high price. Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

A Mississippi jury returns a $41-million verdict against a chemical company accused of dumping carcinogenic waste into a small town's water supply. The company's ruthless billionaire CEO is thwarted and the good guys (a courageous young woman who lost her husband and child and her two lawyers who've gone half a million dollars in debt preparing her case) receives its just reward. This sounds like the end of a Grisham legal thriller, but instead it's the beginning of a book-length lesson in how greed and big business have corrupted our electoral and judicial systems. Grisham's characters are over-the-top. The CEO and the other equally overdone villains-his venal trophy wife, a self-serving senator and a pair of smarmy political fixers-as well as the unbelievably good-hearted, self-sacrificing lawyers and an honorable state judge, are one dimensional. Michael Beck, with his natural Southern drawl, does a fine job of adding credibility and nuance to the large cast. But his efforts are for naught. In fact, the more he makes us feel for these characters, the less apt we are to be satisfied with the sourball moral of Grisham's downbeat discourse. Simultaneous release with the Doubleday hardcover (reviewed online). (Jan.) Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.

"Building a remarkable degree of suspense...Grisham delivers his savviest book in years. His extended vacation from hard-hitting fiction is over."--Janet Maslin, "The New York Times"

"A novel that could become its own era-defining classic. John Grisham holds up that same mirror to our age as Tom Wolfe's "Bonfire of the Vanities"."--"The Boston Globe"

"Chilling and timeless."--"The Washington Post"

"An intricately detailed, involving story...the ending may surprise you."--"People"

"Stirring popular fiction that doubles as an important public-service announcement."--"Entertainment Weekly"

"Packs a wallop...The timing, in the midst of all the presidential primaries, makes it all the more compelling."-"USA Today"

"Fascinating...filled with deadly accurate characterizations by and author who knows both the law and politics from the inside."-"Los Angeles Times"

"A clever story and thoughtful plot...Grisham confronts in stark relief the dangers of electing judges in an era of big-money politics."--"Seattle Times-Post Intelligencer"