Rogue lawyer by John Grisham

"Rogue lawyer" by John Grisham. This book is published by Hodder & Stoughton in Oct 2015 and has 480 pages. 

Sebastian Rudd, an unconventional defense lawyer operates out of his car. He uses less than conventional means to fight his cases and his clientele include innocent to petty criminals to cage fighters to shady characters to mafia dons and so on.

This book is a collection of various cases handled by Rudd, his personal life and his fights with his divorced wife over their son.

Some of the cases are: Gardy who has a very low IQ and is accused of murder of two girls, Tadeo, a cage fighter, who in a fit of rage has inadvertently killed the referee, Link Scanlon, a mobster, who is on a death row for killing a judge. An old man accused of firing on police during home invasion by SWAT team, a crook who has kidnapped and sold young daughter of assistant Chief of police etc. In addition to that there is kidnapping of his son,  spats with his divorced wife for their son and his love life etc. He even goes to jail for contempt of court.

Rogue, here, means one who challenges the system, uses unconventional means and is controversial. He uses less than conventional, less than legal and sometimes less than moral means to fight his cases. He is not afraid of bargaining with the judicial system and cutting deals.

Sebastian is a lovable, though controversial, character. In all the under hands tactics he employs, there is a steak of a good human being.

The book is a mishmash of stories strung together in a garland by the thread called Sebastian Rudd. Although you don't get bored while reading the book, at the end of it you wonder what it was? and what did I take away? and the answer is 'Nothing'. What was the purpose of this novel?

The end of book is also abrupt and leaves the reader clueless as to why it ended where it ended.

Read it if you have time otherwise give it a miss.

Gray Mountain by John Grisham

"Gray Mountain" by John Grisham. This book is published by Hachette India And Hodder & Stoughton in 2014 and has 416 pages.

Despite being graduate of Ivy league law school and working as associate in a high profile law firm, Samantha is laid off after Lehman Brothers goes down. She decides to work as legal associate in Braidy, a small town in the south, in coal county. She hates trials. In Braidy, she meets Donovan, a handsome, brilliant, dashing and reckless lawyer and his brother and side kick Jeff. She also comes across people in need, the meth addicts, black lung cases and rape of mother nature by coal mining companies.

Will Samantha like her new job? Can she adjust to the slow life? Will there be a romance? Will she take help from her high flying father or powerful mother? Will she return?

Author has portrayed blatant abuse of mother nature by strip mining for coal. Strip mining is a process of shaving off a mountain top and extracting coal. How powerful coal companies steamroll the laws, regulations & miners and how a number of miners suffer from black lungs. Black lung is a situation where fine coal dust is deposited in lungs causing breathing problems and eventual death. Once coal dust enters lung there is no way to remove it.

It's a fight between rich-poor, powerful-weak and have's-have not's. Here it is presented from lawyers perspective.

The story is good and evenly paced. The twist in the tale is predictable. The story shows that there are also a few lawyers who do not run only after money and power.

Experienced readers can guess the end of this book by the time they have read 20-25%. So then on its not 'what happens' but but 'how does it happen'.

It's a good book. Read if you are interested in lawyers.

The Partner by John Grisham

"The Partner", by John Grisham.

This is the story of Patrick Lanigan, a brilliant attorney and partner in law firm, with a beautiful but unfaithful wife.

Patrick learns about a conspiracy by his partners to get 30 million $ in fees and removing him before the money comes. He hatches a brilliant plan and steals 90 million $ by faking his death and is on a run.

He is captured. Who captures him? How did he plan all this? Does he have any more surprises up his sleeve?  Who is his partner? Do they succed?

The story is set up in US and Brazil. Its a brilliant plan. Execution is flawless but then he is captured. Grisham has kept up the pace and excitement till the end. Book starts with Patrick's capture and flash back is used liberally. This book is not a lengthy one and does not allow you to get bored.

This being a John Grisham book is a legal thriller alright, but there is hardly any court room drama. World of legal settlements is presented well. The social, political, publicity & reputation considerations are shown in detail and without being sarcastic.

Patrick does everthing right, however book ends on a very very sad note and you feel really bad.

Recommend reading.