LAW UNTO THE LAWYERS! (The King of Torts - John Grisham)

Member Name: Fantasybeliever

Product:	The King of Torts - John Grisham
Date:	15/07/04 (469 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Light, easy reading

Disadvantages: Weak characterisation

Having been an avid John Grisham fan for a number of years I?ve enjoyed his diversity through his ability to write stunning courtroom dramas as well as modern day tales like Skipping Christmas, that sees a couple struggling to overcome the commercial pressures of the festive season. So, when his latest novel is published in paperback, I?m usually given it as a present or buy it as soon as possible. The King of Torts was published in paperback in December 2003, and I received it as a gift at Christmas, although I only just got round to reading it a few months ago.

The central character in this drama is Clay Carter, a ?burnt out? lawyer at the tender age of 31, based in political Washington DC.

?If Clay Carter had ever been attracted to a career in OPD (Office of the Public Defender), he could not now remember why. In one week the fifth anniversary of his employment there would come and go, without celebration, and, hopefully, without anyone knowing it. Clay was burned out at the age of thirty one, stuck in an office he was ashamed to show his friends, looking for an exit with no place to go, and now saddled with another senseless murder case that was growing heavier by the minute.?

In the beginning, Grisham portrays Clay as an all round American nice guy with a conscience, who takes his responsibilities seriously, and who is trying to do his best by his ?clients?, even where the odds and the evidence are stacked against them.

Whilst investigating his most recent murder case that apparently has no motive, he stumbles upon a number of similar motiveless murders against a range of street kids with little in common, other than the fact that they?ve been in residential rehabilitation centres to clean up their act. This, in turn, leads to Clay being headhunted by a guy who claims that
his name has interested a number of clients who are recruiting new lawyers. The guy, Max Pace, turns out to be a ?fireman?, someone who takes the heat out of potentially explosive litigation claims, and matches lawyers to corporations to arrive at a mutually beneficial conclusion.

***This was my first problem with this novel. Grisham had portrayed Clay Carter, as a man with a sense of morality, a man with a conscience, and although suspicious about the ?fireman?s? motives, Clay seems to sell himself short to the devil, virtually at a drop of a hat. Quite literally, we move from one day Clay is an over worked lawyer at OPD, to the very next day he?s working in a suite of offices fit for a King, spending millions to make millions. To be fair though, who wouldn?t be tempted at the thought of making millions of dollars? However, I was disappointed that the character didn?t seem to question the reason had been chosen to any significant degree, or appear to struggle with this ?moral dilemma?.***

Clay looks after his friends and takes some of his colleagues with him with the lure of money they could only previously dream off. His firm goes from strength to strength and becomes a major player in the mass tort market, settling claims for thousands of individuals against poorly tested and marketed drugs.

Throughout the story there is a love interest in the form of a young ?socially superior? young lady, whose parents aspire for her to marry someone worthy and give them grandchildren. Clay loses Rebecca and hooks up with Ridley, a European model with a figure to die for, who it is rumoured ?prefers women?.

***In my opinion both female characters are poorly defined, lack depth of character and fail to add impetus or value to the underlying storylines.***

To say any more about the story itself would be too revealing of the plot,
and I would hate to spoil it for anyone who does decide to read it. As you wade your way through this book, the ending becomes very predictable, never something that I?ve found to be a problem with Grisham before.

My final comments are thus:-

***Where was the depth of character that one can normally expect of this author?***

***Underlying threads through the tale fail to materialise and develop, and I found myself wanting to know what had happened to someone or something, only to discover by the end, I was never going to find out!***

***The ending is predictable, but weak.***

This is definitely one I won?t be reading again, which is quite unusual for me.

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What are Torts?

Torts are a large subject area in litigation, where an individual seeks compensation from an individual or company who may have caused them harm. This type of litigation is more commonly referred to as ?mass tort? law in the USA when individuals or groups of individual sue corporations for damages. Mass torts tend to differ from individual torts in that they are distinctly different from personal injury claims. Large numbers of claims are submitted, but all have common factual and legal elements.

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486 pages
Available in paperback published by arrow books
Price £6.99
ISBN 0-09-941617-4

Thanks for reading.

Cheers

Christina ;-) x

Summary: It was OK and I got to the end, but not an experience to be repeated.