You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by dimitypee
The Litigators by John Grisham
2.0
I won this book as a First Reads giveaway. In high school, I loved John Grisham but haven’t returned to him since reading [b:The King of Torts|5356|The King of Torts|John Grisham|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320488139s/5356.jpg|3137817] as a college sophomore. I couldn’t tell if my tastes had matured or his quality had diminished but I was not impressed at all and he’s fallen off my radar since then. (In fact, I didn’t realize he was back to writing legal fiction.) The Litigators started out rather promising; it lacked the intensity of earlier Grishams but it was also surprisingly hilarious. I enjoyed most of this book until about chapter 25 of 30-something when the magic wore off. The rest of the book has none of the charm it starts with and one can almost hear the crackling on the line reading the last few chapters as Grisham phones it in. At least one other reviewer suggested a ghost writer was at work and I can see where they got that opinion from, because it’s an abrupt, almost 180 degrees turn in tone. It’s like someone decided this book could only be 385 pages long and there was a major “oh shit” moment at page 300.
His female characters suck, but I seem to remember them generally existing in three forms; fat and matronly, hot and bitchy or the generally unremarkable youngish woman known as “wifey”. I probably shouldn’t complain too much about the female stereotypes as his legal books are generally more about the story than the characters. The male major characters in The Litigators are also rather wooden, and the plot, although entertaining in points, is not a gripping page turner like his 1990s thrillers , making it hard to dismiss the crappy characters.
The Litigators started out promising but the end of it was so disappointing, I’m only giving it 2 stars. This is a fine book to grab in the airport concourse (well, its mass market paperback edition will be) during a day of travel but not really a book I’d recommend carving out a cozy afternoon to read.
His female characters suck, but I seem to remember them generally existing in three forms; fat and matronly, hot and bitchy or the generally unremarkable youngish woman known as “wifey”. I probably shouldn’t complain too much about the female stereotypes as his legal books are generally more about the story than the characters. The male major characters in The Litigators are also rather wooden, and the plot, although entertaining in points, is not a gripping page turner like his 1990s thrillers , making it hard to dismiss the crappy characters.
The Litigators started out promising but the end of it was so disappointing, I’m only giving it 2 stars. This is a fine book to grab in the airport concourse (well, its mass market paperback edition will be) during a day of travel but not really a book I’d recommend carving out a cozy afternoon to read.