Would You Give Up Riches For The Street? (The Street Lawyer - John Grisham)

Name: Andy.mack

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Product:	The Street Lawyer - John Grisham
Date:	18/11/03 (700 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The best start to a Grisham book I have read

Disadvantages: A few of the twists can seem to be a little far fetched

The next book on my trip through my John Grisham shelf of my Bookcase is The Street Lawyer. I know a lot of people will be thinking I only have Grisham books on my shelf and it certainly seems that way to me. His books make up just under half of my collection of fiction works and although one of his recent works didn?t fill me with the same desire to read, the older ones such as this certainly did.

Grisham, a former lawyer has made a very good living out of writing Novels, since his debut effort A Time To Kill. Despite his move away from practising law he writes his books on the subject he is familiar with keeping a law theme within almost all of his works to date. His knowledge of the criminal system obviously helps a lot in explaining exactly what he means in an easy way so that someone like me, with only basic knowledge of legal proceedings can follow easily.

The main character is Michael Brook, a young lawyer with one of Washington DC?s top law firms, Sweeney & Drake who graduated from Yale law school. In his mid thirties, Mike is pushing hard to make partner, working some 80 hours a week. This of course has taken its toll on his marriage. But he feels that when he?s a partner making a million dollars a year it will all have been worthwhile. Of course this doesn?t last for long.

On what Michael assumes will be a day like any other events that change his entire life unfolds. Having arrived at work he shares the elevator with a homeless, but being in a hurry he just ignores him. Having arrived on his floor he gets off the lift and heads to his office passing the secretary, who almost moments later is shot by the homeless man who followed him off the lift. He proceeds to take Michael and 7 others hostage in a meeting room and begins to question them about how much money they give to charity.

They are rescued after the homeless man is shot and all given a few days off before returning to work. But the whole experience has shaken
Michael and something the man said, ?Who are the Evictors? sticks with him. In fact the whole experience has shaken him so much that he pays a visit to a street Lawyer, named Mordecai who offers him a job and a massive pay cut. Which Brook accepts throwing away his marriage, a chance to be a partner in one of Washington?s biggest law firms and almost $90000 a year. He then sets about answering the homeless mans question and finds links that shock him.

This is one of the fastest books I have actually read. From picking it up to putting it down only once did I actually put it down and that was to sleep. I was gripped from the first page. This is mainly down to this being the best opening to a story Grisham has had. The let down though comes in just how far fetched the idea of a former Yale student giving up everything in his life to go and work for a charitable organisation.

However this doesn?t seem quite as bad a twist as it could have been. Grisham spends enough time building up Michael?s personality to the reader that you expect something drastic to happen. And when it does it is written in such away that rather than question it too much, you are left thinking, well maybe it could happen. Of course with Michael being the main character of the book as you get further engrossed into it the more you accept the fact. The way Grisham has written really gets you inside Michaels head and see things from his viewpoint.

Really there are no major characters, except for maybe the Homeless man whose actions spark off a drastic turn of events for everyone involved. Of course like all Grisham books there are smaller stories going on in the sidelines, all relating back to the main story and this helps to add a bit of realism to the book. Factors such as Michaels struggling marriage make it seem that Grisham has gone for a more detailed approach to his main Lawyer character than in previous books.

In typical Grisham style the book is full of t
wists and turns that keep the plot fresh and interesting but also keep your interest. Although the actual steps Michael takes after the incident will seem a little unusual and sudden it also helps to keep the story moving along and perhaps is one of the reasons its so compelling. If you like any of his other work you are bound to like this.

The book can be bought from amazon.co.uk for £5.59 or from any high street bookshop for £6.99. The book has also been turned into a TV series in the States due for release this year.

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