Customer Reviews

The Litigators

A thoroughly enjoyable outing from the master of the legal thriller. Our hero, David Zinc, walks out of his high-pressure career in a huge, high-flying law firm; and walks into the firm of Finley & Figg, ambulance-chasers extraordinaire. Oscar, Wally and their secretary Rochelle (to say nothing of the dog) only just manage to keep their heads above water by pursuing injury cases and divorces, and their tactics are not the most ethical. David is a Harvard graduate and son of a judge but has never actually been inside a courtroom. This mismatched group suddenly finds itself handling a potentially massive lawsuit against a major pharmaceutical giant, being represented by David's former employers.

This book is much more light-hearted than some of Grisham's other novels and has lots of humour. Wally dreams of making it rich with one massive settlement, Oscar dreams of being rich enough to divorce his wife, while David dreams of having enough energy left at the end of the working day to start a family with his lovely (and very understanding) wife, Helen.

Well-written, as Grisham's novels always are, this time we get an insight into the distinctly unglamorous and uncertain life of the lower echelons of legal life and while it might not be much fun for the lawyers, it certainly is for us. Despite their flaws, all three of the lawyers are enjoyable characters that we warm to more and more as the book progresses. My only complaint is that Grisham's books are usually stand-alone, so we probably won't get to meet with them again. All the more reason to enjoy this outing. Highly recommended.

The basic story is hopelessly improbable. A stressed-out Harvard Law School corporate law associate at a major firm gets drunk, literally falls into a two-partner, no associates, no - ethics litigation firm and goes to work for them merrily signing pleadings, bank guarantees and promises of huge damages to contingency fees clients. BUT it is a hugely enjoyable story which had me laughing out loud at times. I was absolutely gripped, desperate to know what would happen next, read it through mealtimes, cut the dog's walk short and was half-surprised by the ending. It is a great fun read.

I remember the joy of reading John Grishams best books: The Runaway Jury, The Client, The Firm, The Rainmaker and the underestimated The Chamber, maybe his finest work IMHO.

Compared to these masterpieces, The Litigators falls brutally through. The story is weak and predictable, the characters cardboard clichées. The plot is straightforward and utterly boring, and without the twist and turns one might predict from a seasoned thriller writer's hand.

I am sorry, mr Grisham: This was a major disappointment.

This is not Grisham's best novel - not by a long distance.

Whilst some familiar themes crop up (social justice being the most obvious), Grisham seems to have devoted little effort or imagination on his story and consequently the characters assume a rather hackneyed quality: one hundred pages in and I no longer cared for the fate of the protagonists and I found myself hoping that Finley & Figg's lovely nemesis (Ms Karros) would dispense with them quickly. Alas, no such luck! In fact, she proves to be disappointingly accommodating. Moreover, the sub-plot designed to extricate Zinc from the surreal world of street law, remained under-developed and, when the end finally (mercifully?) comes, feels rushed and somewhat contrived; it really did deserve better treatment than Grisham gave it.

In fairness, Grisham has authored another highly readable (if unchallenging) tale and even dares flirt with humour and situational comedy. Nonetheless, given the quality of some of his recent works (for instance, The Confession & Ford County Stories), The Litigators really does fail to meet his usual high standard.

A short review: I paid �7 for this and have just read it through in just less than 7 hours. All the main characters are portrayed as decent people especially Mr and Mrs Zinc. As someone else said the ending is easy to guess from about a third of the way in but that does not stop this being a cracking story. If your favourite film is (like me) "A Wonderful Life" I think that there is every chance you'll enjoy reading this. Not a five star effort but well worth four I think !

Oscar Finley an ex cop, and Wally Figg a recovering alcoholic run a law firm in Chicago with the help of their assistant Rochelle. Their speciality, ambulance chasing, hustling injury cases and any other scam they can find proves to be not too profitable, this small company who call themselves a "boutique firm" are always looking for their big break. Along comes David Zinc, a Harvard graduate who has been working for a lucrative law firm, very high salary with too much pressure. No longer able to cope David decides on a whim to leave, after spending a drunken day in a bar reassessing his life he finds himself walking into a new job working for the incorrigible Finley and Figg. The story unfolds as the opportunity arises for these three dynamic men to take on a large pharmaceutical company who appear to be selling a lethal drug. A thoroughly interesting, well written and enjoyable read.

After the disappointment, as reviewed, of John Grisham's `the Associates', I did tend towards the belief that Mr. Grisham had perhaps lost his writing `edge', a problem not unknown in the creative world.

But my interest and admiration for this craftsman has been rekindled by his latest offering, `The Litigators' because in that novel, Mr, Grisham is back on top form. His dialogue is crisp, and in places extremely funny.

His plotlines were brought from real life, his writing about the small boy, damaged beyond all help by a negligent toy manufacturer is both real and understanding; his characters weren't cardboard cut-outs, but real, imperfect human beings.

I liked the manner of his hero's awakening to the drone-like truth of his existence, and especially the scenes in Abner's bar, with one of the strangest walk-on parts ever crafted being the 93 year-old millionairess who just liked getting sozzled.

A triumphant return to the best-seller listings from this wordsmith and craftsman

In the beginning of his writing career, I very much enjoyed Grisham's books, however, books like "The testament" I found amazingly boring and flat.
And then he writes the beautiful "The painted House" and the very amusing "Playing for pizza". But I have not read anything very interesting until "The confession" and now "The litigators".

"The Litigators" is a funny, passionate book about the workings of the legal worlds in the US. We read about the partners at Finley & Figg and their tough secretary and let's not forget the dog. Then David Zinc stumbles in thoroughly drunk after having fled the morning of the same day from an enormous legal corporation and 100-hour workweeks.

Figg hears about a potentially huge torts lawsuit against a pharmaceutical manufacturer of an alleged dangerous drug and he starts signing up clients. He nor his partner has any experience to speak of in litigation and eventually is up to a formidable army of the most talented lawyers in a lawsuit that was not expected.

Grisham always points out the horrible, despicable way most? big corporations conduct their business.
Anyway, I found myself laughing on lots of occasions and it left me feeling good, thus, shoppers, buy and read the book and have fun.

I read this in 24 hours - so I'd have to say it gripped me. However the characters never had any depth, and certainly didn't develop much as individuals. And a quarter of the way through the bok you'd have guessed exactly how it would end.

I love John Grisham, he's usually such a polished writer with stories that flow so well and keep you reading. This one turned out to be a chore to read and I kept having the feeling that the author must have been bored writing it or that someone else had ghost written it. The self-seeking and corruption that constituted the main theme made grim reading and there wasnt a single character that I liked or felt myself rooting for. Wouldnt recommend it - read one of his others instead, they are a different class.