Sunday Synopsis

Rogue Lawyer by John Grisham
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Disappointing. I've read most of Grisham's books, and I am a huge fan, but I like this one the least. His latest books have taken longer to get into, but this one's plot is so choppy, it never reached the point where I really cared about the characters.

The main character is Sebastian Rudd, defense attorney. He represents the criminals no one else will. Everyone deserves a good defense, no matter their crime. He works out of his office, a bulletproof van equipped with a bar and WiFi (a la Lincoln Lawyer). Rudd occasionally has fatherly duties when his ex-wife and her new wife allow it. He doesn't seem fond of his own son or seem to take his parental job seriously.

The first half of the book reads like a series of short stories. There is no continuity, each chapter a different case. The second half of the book follows an actual plot line, albeit preposterous. The ending leaves the reader unsatisfied because, although the conflict is resolved for the secondary characters, the situation with the main character is in suspension, likely leaving things open for a sequel.

The cases are definitely interesting: an innocent man accused of murder; a cage fighter claiming insanity in an aggressive, senseless killing; a mob boss on death row whose appeals have run out. Grisham touches on topics such as kidnapping, prison escape, jury tampering, and sex trafficking. All of the elements of a good legal thriller are present, but they just don't integrate into the kind of novel for which Grisham is known.

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