Publication Date: May 15, 2001 | Series: John Grisham
Five CDs,6 hrs. Performance by Blair Brown
In a weedy lot on the outskirts of memphis, two boys watch a shiny Lincoln pull upt ot the curb...Eleven-year-old Mark Sway and his younger brother were sharing a forbidden cigarrette when a chance encounter with a suicidal laywer left Mark knowing a bloody and explosive secret: the whereabouts of the most sought-after dead body in America.
Now Mark is caught between a legal system gone mad and a mob killer desperate to cover up his crime. And his only ally is a woman named Reggie Love, who has been a lawyer for all of four years. Prosecutors are willing to break all the rules to make Mark talk. The mob will stop at nothing to keep him quiet. And Reggie will do anything to protect her client -- even take a last, desperate gamble that could win Mark his freedom... or cost them both their lives.
Mark Sway, age 11 but years wiser thanks to a drunken dad who abused his mom, is out in the woods behind his Memphis trailer park teaching his kid brother, Ricky, how to smoke Virginia Slims heisted from Mom's purse. He's a pretty upright kid--he's determined to protect his brother from drugs, and he once defended his mom with a baseball bat.
The dangers of smoking rapidly escalate when Mark glimpses a guy trying to commit suicide by carbon monoxide in his car nearby and tries to stop him. The guy is Jerome, a lawyer who tells Mark that his Mafia client has murdered Senator Boyd Boyette and buried him in the concrete under his garage in New Orleans. Then Jerome puts a bullet in his own head. Little Ricky flips out, and so does Barry the Blade Muldanno, who doesn't want blustery U.S. attorney Reverend Roy Foltrigg to find the corpse and bust him. Caught in a ruthless game between the Mob and the amoral authorities, Mark's family has no defense in the world except Reggie Love, a 50ish divorcée who has just turned her life around by becoming a lawyer. Does she have what it takes to help Mark beat the system? The life-or-death chase is on!
Mark has seen a lot of movies, and he sees life in cinematic terms. So does Grisham. Even if this novel had never been filmed, it would still be a really good, fast-paced movie. Its literary limitation is also its filmlike virtue: The Client is a rush.
--This text refers to the
Mass Market Paperback
edition.
From Publishers Weekly
Fans of the bestselling Grisham will be pleased to note that he is once more on Firm ground: his latest legal thriller offers a clever, compelling plot coupled with two singular protagonists sure to elicit readers' empathy. Eleven-year-old Mark Sway, taking his kid brother for a smoke behind their Memphis trailer park, witnesses the suicide of a lawyer "driven crazy" by a lethal secret. Before he dies, the man confides to Mark where the body of a recently murdered U.S. senator lies buried, and the game's afoot. Trailed by the police, the FBI and assorted Mafia types (the deceased politico was the victim of "a successful New Orleans street thug"), Mark retains--for one dollar--the services of Reggie Love, a 50ish female lawyer. This uncommon attorney-client relationship adds an affecting, unusually humanistic layer to the novel's tension-filled events. Mark, raised by a divorced mother and wise beyond his years, thinks chiefly in terms of movies and TV; Reggie, a street-smart survivor of an acrimonious divorce, is often unsure whether to hug or slug her precocious client. True to form, Grisham employs just enough foreshadowing to keep the suspense rolling ("Neither of them could know that . . . "), and propels his action at the requisite breakneck pace. Occasional plot improbabilities and stylistic quibbles--a few fuzzy characterizations; overstatement of already obvious points; Mark's sporadic adult phraseology--will not deter readers from enjoying a rousing read. 950,000 first printing; Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club main selections; Reader's Digest Condensed Book selection. Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
Long before his name became synonymous with the modern legal thriller, John Grisham was working 60-70 hours a week at a small Southaven, Mississippi law practice, squeezing in time before going to the office and during courtroom recesses to work on his hobby--writing his first novel. Born on February 8, 1955 in Jonesboro, Arkansas, to a construction worker and a homemaker, John Grisham as a child dreamed of being a professional baseball player. Realizing he didn't have the right stuff for a pro career, he shifted gears and majored in accounting at Mississippi State University. After graduating from law school at Ole Miss in 1981, he went on to practice law for nearly a decade in Southaven, specializing in criminal defense and personal injury litigation. One day at the DeSoto County courthouse, Grisham overheard the harrowing testimony of a twelve-year-old rape victim and was inspired to start a novel exploring what would have happened if the girl's father had murdered her assailants. Getting up at 5 a.m. every day to get in several hours of writing time before heading off to work, Grisham spent three years on A Time to Kill and finished it in 1987. Initially rejected by many publishers, it was eventually bought by Wynwood Press, who gave it a modest 5,000 copy printing and published it in June 1988.That might have put an end to Grishams hobby. However, he had already begun his next book, and it would quickly turn that hobby into a new full-time career. When he sold the film rights to The Firm to Paramount Pictures for $600,000, Grisham suddenly became a hot property among publishers, and book rights were bought by Doubleday. Spending 47 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list, The Firm became the bestselling novel of 1991.The successes of The Pelican Brief, which hit number one on the New York Times bestseller list, and The Client, which debuted at number one, confirmed Grisham's reputation as the master of the legal thriller. Grisham's success even renewed interest in A Time to Kill, which was republished in hardcover by Doubleday and then in paperback by Dell. This time around, it was a bestseller. Since first publishing A Time to Kill in 1988, Grisham has written one novel a year (his other books are The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, The Chamber, The Rainmaker, The Runaway Jury, The Partner, The Street Lawyer, The Testament, The Brethren, A Painted House, Skipping Christmas, The Summons, The King of Torts, Bleachers, The Last Juror, The Broker, Playing for Pizza, and The Appeal) and all of them have become international bestsellers. There are currently over 225 million John Grisham books in print worldwide, which have been translated into 29 languages. Nine of his novels have been turned into films (The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, A Time to Kill, The Rainmaker, The Chamber, A Painted House, The Runaway Jury, and Skipping Christmas), as was an original screenplay, The Gingerbread Man.
I'd actually give it 4.5 stars. The Client is, overall, an excellent book. Although it does drag in places and some of the "lawyer jargon" can get annoying, the characterization and plot are quite extrodinary. It is a very suspenseful and unpredictble novel which kept me up till 4 am reading. What makes the book so good is the complex charcters. Mark Sway--an eleven year old, trailor-trash, kid is brilliant and foolish all at the same time which keeps the book moving well because every time he gets himself out of a situation, he always manages to get himself into another. He talks like hes 45 and will stop at nothing to get what he wants. He also questions alot about society and the legal system in such a childlike matter that it really makes you stop and think about your position on the topic and what you would tell an 11 year old kid. Reggie Love is definitely the most complex character. After a painful divorce, attempted suicide, and commitment into various mental facilities, she begins a new life as a smart-talking, witty, clever, and absolutely crazy lawyer who you just have to love. They call it her "second life" and she lives it to it's fullest. Only a 4 year lawyer and shes able to outsmart the FBI. She cares so much, too much, about her "little clients" and although she denies it, is willing to risk her life for some of them. Shes a very strong character, but still very vulnerable, which makes for a great story. Foltrigg (sp?), is the opposing, big-headed, stuck up, U.S. prosecuting attorney who is absolutely determined to win the case no matter the extremes. Completely engrossed in his job, he really helps display the infamous view of the lying, cheating, snake-like lawyers which we all hate so dearly, yet, Grisham also makes it seem like he is just trying to do his job. The plot, which is outlined in every other review, therefore pointless for me to elaborate :), is eigther full-blown action, or boring, drag along lawyer stuff and mob talk. Basically, at some parts you can't put the book down and then at others you are just waiting in agony for something exciting to happen, but its well worth the wait. Overall--I'd only read it if you have a lot of time becasue you might not be able to put it down. Then rent the movie. Then join a antismoking organization---read the book and youll know why :)
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John Grisham's books are perfect for reading on extended airplane trips or in other situations where all one desires is a readable "page-turner" to help while away the hours. The particular novel is formulaic from start to finish, complete with shallow, stereotyped characters (including a boy protagonist who apparently is eleven going on thirty in terms of his outlook and behavior). The "bad guys" are unrelentingly bad, while the "good guys" are practically saints. Perfect, eh?
Grisham is a master of the "easy read," and the book is excellent in terms of its basic function, which is to entertain. Great literature it isn't, however, so don't begin this novel with unrealistic expectations in this regard.
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John Grisham's, The Client was extremely thrilling and kept me on the edge of my seat. It was suspenseful and humorous several times throughout the book. I enjoyed it all the way through, it kept asking so many questions to where I had to keep reading. I could barely even put it down. John Grisham put so much emotion into the book I could almost feel the characters feelings. Grisham illustrates in such a way I admired it from the beginning. I recommend this book to anyone who likes books about lawyers and to anyone who likes suspenseful and emotional books. This book was an easy read and I hope you enjoy it.
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First Sentence:
MARK WAS ELEVEN AND HAD BEEN SMOKING OFF AND on for two years, never trying to quit but being careful not to get hooked. Read the first pageKey Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New Orleans, Mark Sway, Momma Love, Jerome Clifford, Reggie Love, Boyd Boyette, Roy Foltrigg, Barry Muldanno, Harry Roosevelt, United States, Jack Nance, George Ord, Gill Teal, Larry Trumann, Dianne Sway, Senator Boyette, Slick Moeller, Thomas Fink, Director Voyles, Reverend Roy, Cal Sisson, Fifth Amendment, Memphis Press, Tucker Wheel Estates, Yellow Pages
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