The Litigators [Kindle Edition]

John Grisham (Author)

Book Description

The partners at Finley & Figg often refer to themselves as a “boutique law firm.” Boutique, as in chic, selective, and prosperous. Oscar Finley and Wally Figg are none of these things. They are a two-bit operation of ambulance chasers who bicker like an old married couple. Until change comes their way—or, more accurately, stumbles in. After leaving a fast-track career and going on a serious bender, David Zinc is sober, unemployed, and desperate enough to take a job at Finley & Figg.
 
Now the firm is ready to tackle a case that could make the partners rich—without requiring them to actually practice much law. A class action suit has been brought against Varrick Labs, a pharmaceutical giant with annual sales of $25 billion, alleging that Krayoxx, its most popular drug, causes heart attacks. Wally smells money. All Finley & Figg has to do is find a handful of Krayoxx users to join the suit. It almost seems too good to be true . . . and it is.

Includes an excerpt of John Grisham’s Calico Joe and a special preview of his upcoming novel The Racketeer .

Editorial Reviews

Review

PRAISE FOR THE CONFESSION

“Brilliant . . . Superb . . . the kind of grab-a-reader-by-the-shoulders suspense story that demands to be inhaled as quickly as possible.” —Washington Post

“One of Grisham’s best efforts in many seasons . . . a rous­ing return to his dexterous good-guy-faces-corrupt-system storytelling.” —People magazine

“Packed with tension, legal roadblocks, and shocking rev­elations.” —USA Today


From the Hardcover edition.

Review

Praise for John Grisham:'The best thriller writer alive' -- Ken Follett, Evening Standard 'His stories are ferociously plot driven: they will keep you awake all night' -- Independent on Sunday 'Grisham is a superb, instinctive storyteller' -- The Times 'Few writers have so much to say, the skills to make reading what they say an irresistible pleasure - and the clout to say it to an audience of millions' -- Independent 'Enthralling characters and mesmeric plot' -- Time Out 'As exciting as a car chase with a load of dynamite thrown in' -- Daily Mail 'Grisham reigns supreme' -- Sunday Express 'No one does it better than Grisham' -- Daily Telegraph 'Grisham knows what he's doing. The book is crisply written (with some agreeably sly one-liners) and the narrative canters along.' -- Andrew Taylor, The Spectator '...entirely gripping...' -- The Evening Standard 20111201 'Grisham in reliable form.' -- The Weekend Gold Coast Bulletin 20111126 'The Litigators is Grisham at his very best, fast-paced, funny and packed with living and breathing characters that you'd love to share an after-court beer with. Set aside a weekend for this one, because you won't want to put it down'. -- Irish Examiner 20111112 'This is the master of the legal thriller at his best. You won't want to put it down!' -- Press Association 20111112 'After a slow build setting the scene, the case turns pear-shaped; and by the time we get to court, there's a compelling argument for readers to demolish this classic page-turner in one epic sitting.' -- Townsville Bulletin 20111119 The Litigators reminds fans of this genre just what a creative genius Grisham is. A very entertaining read.' -- Launceston Examiner 20111112 'Grisham is back on top form with this courtroom thriller... Unusually for Grisham he is injecting quite a lot of humour into this book which I found worked really well... 'The Litigators' is a courtroom battle that will keep you turning the pages until the end, wanting to see the big guns fail, but you will have to wait until the last few pages until you find out who wins. A welcome return to form for Grisham.' -- Crimesquad.com 20111112 'Grisham hasn't lost his deft touch. What a rollicking ride it turns out to be.' -- Sunday Telegraph and Sunday Herald Sun 20111204 'A tremendously entertaining romp, filled with the kind of courtroom strategies, theatrics and suspense that have made John Grisham America's favourite storyteller.' -- Gympie Times 20111203

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• File Size: 2057 KB
• Print Length: 401 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1444729705
• Publisher: Doubleday; Limited edition (October 25, 2011)
• Sold by: Random House Digital, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B004LROUNG
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Not Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,045 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #13 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Thrillers > Legal
  • #13 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers > Legal
  • #98 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Thrillers > Suspense

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1,149 of 1,173 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Having Fun Again? October 25, 2011

By Eric Wilson TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

Early on in Grisham's career, he wrote with fire. He went off against the ills of the legal and political systems, kicked greed between the legs, and did it all with some memorable, believable characters. His success was not surprising. Then, he stumbled. He lost the fire. I barely hung on through books like "The Brethren" and "The Broker." But last year's "The Confession" showed him kindling some new heat over a subject he is passionate about, and I applauded it, even if it was a bit stale at times.

"The Litigators" is the first Grisham book I've had fun reading in a long time. I get the feeling he had fun writing this one. We meet grouchy Oscar Finley and plucky, unethical Wally Figg, partners at Finley & Figg. These are some humorous, annoying, even likable guys scraping to make a living through any client and situation possible. They're propped up a the tough secretary. They're bottom feeders. Along comes David Zinc, who can no longer stomach the hundred-hour work weeks at a legal firm where 600 other lawyers are employed. He goes off the rails, decides to check out one fine morning, and ends up drunk hours later on the steps at the ignoble Finley & Figg. Despite his recent bender, he's actually a guy who loves his wife, albeit not always well, and still retains some ethical and legal standards, since he's not yet stepped foot into a court or heard the way things go down between a rascally attorney and a leering judge.

With Finley & Figg adding Zinc to their recipe, the mixture bubbles over. Figg stumbles into a potentially huge torts lawsuit against a pharmaceutical manufacturer (while scraping for clients at a funeral home, no less), and he starts signing up other clients (ones who are alive, thank goodness). In his enthusiasm, he drags along Zinc and senior partner Finley, eventually landing their tiny firm in court against a formidable armada of attorneys.

As I whipped through the pages, I found myself laughing out loud on more than one occasion--and for all the right reasons this time. Grisham gives us some great characters, three-dimensional, likable, understandable, despicable, and everything in between. This is the Grisham I remember, one who was passionate, even fiery, but who also loved people and never forgot they were the driving force in his stories. Something has shifted. That fire is back. And this is easily my favorite Grisham in years.

254 of 271 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Another blah title, another excellent legal thriller! October 25, 2011

By Suz

Format:Hardcover

Without the Compelling economic and political sidelights of the excellent Chaos and Kingdom, The Litigators is by far one of the best from one of the greatest legal thriller writers of all time. In his latest installment, Grisham introduces a quarter-life crisis uptown lawyer who's found new energy in an ratty-tatty ambulance-chaser law firm in the wrong part of town. There are a lot of problems with this struggling firm, not the least of which is they don't have enough money to even purchase an "¿Accidentes?" billboard.

Their opportunity comes in the form of a class action lawsuit against a big Pharma company who's latest cholesterol drug is killing people (maybe). What ensues is a compelling struggle to uncover the truth in an balanced tale that addresses the pros and cons of corporate and legal America. Grisham brings the story full circle when the protagonist and his rag-tag bunch of litigators take the class action all the way to the supreme court and face off against a legal team led by the same company the protagonist left.

If you had given up on Grisham recently, this might be a good book to get back into his work. It's a unique take on the legal thriller and a well-crafted story. Highly recommended!

176 of 190 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read !! October 25, 2011

By Billwpp

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I have been a Grisham fan for a long time. Some of his books I loved and some not so much. The Litigators was one I loved. The characters come to life and are each an interesting study in human dynamics. With charaters that seem alive and with a gripping, entertaining story, what was not to like ?? I found the book in my mailbox on Monday, October 24th and finished it today the 25th. A book you cannot put down is a book worth reading.

More About the Author

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.

Photo credit Maki Galimberti

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#50 Overall (See top 100 authors)

#19 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers

#21 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Thrillers

#26 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

#31 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers

#50 in Books

#19 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers

#21 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Thrillers

#26 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

#31 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers

#50 in Books