Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Good, but Preachy
I really enjoyed King of Torts, even if half-way through the audio version of this novel, I realized the ending. My main problem, is I felt a tad preached to. I mean, sure mass tort is bad if handled improperly. But would half of these people get ANY money if it weren't for the attorneys? Also, the message "Crime Doesn't Pay" I mean, seriously, it MUST pay occasionally, otherwise there wouldn't be big wigs like Mr. French hanging around. I don't need to watch the character get deconstructed and brought low to get this message across. I got it loud and clear once Clay started making millions, and his friends started deserting him like rats off a rooster.Personally, I think this would've been much more exciting novel if Clay had spent his time trying to prove that the drug which had been used on Tequila actually existed, rather than becoming the next Joe Millionaire. Also, I felt Clay acted exceedingly out of character by ignoring Tequila's plight, and allowing himself to be swayed by a huckster like Max. Overall, I liked King of Torts. But the message was delivered with the subtlety of a sledge hammer. Alright, I get it: Small town = good, big city = bad, rich people = bad. Tort lawyers = evil. If you can deal with the preachiness, you might like this book. I did.
Rating:  - Better than Grisham's most recent works
In this book, the hero starts out as your typical Grisham protagonist - young hard working lawyer, toiling away in the Office of the Public Defender in DC. In a twist, however, our hero, Clay Carter, grabs at the brass ring and jumps into the sleazy world of mass tort litigation. His ethics are questionable, his motive is greed, and his rationality vanishes. He spends money like mad, selling out his clients in the process.You don't like the guy for most of the book, a point that is driven home by Grisham time and time again. I won't give away the ending here, but I'm glad Grisham didn't turn things around all rosy and happy - that would not have been realistic. The book is a quick and easy read. I enjoyed it more than I have more of Grisham's recent efforts. It's not as good as his early works (Time to a Kill and The Firm) so I can't give it five stars. Four will have to do.
Rating: - 4 1/2 Stars...Maybe He Hasn't Lost It!
Should I risk another legal thriller by the dethroned king? That was my question as I bought "The King of Torts." Reviews of this book range from one extreme to the other, and, after laboring through "The Summons" (thin plot) and "The Brethren" (no protagonist), I feared this latest would be a disappointment too.What a pleasant surprise. Grisham opens with a random killing, drags in an unwilling public defendant, then mixes it up with a global corporate coverup and millions of dollars at stake...I was hooked. Clay Carter is our sympathetic hero, a man wrestling for recognition and love. He rises meteorically to the status of multi-millionaire when he uses insider information to file a class-action lawsuit against a pharmaceutical giant. Despite the sudden riches, he despises the greed in the mass tort law industry, and he also bemoans the loss of his girlfriend. Soon, however, the temptations drag him down into the very quagmire he despises, and Clay finds himself to the be one of the villains he swore never to be. "The King of Torts" takes on the form of a modern morality play, a bit preachy but effective. At times, it reads more like a nonfiction account...very believable, but clinical in its presentation of facts. Other times, Grisham reconnects with the passion and emotion of his earlier classics. Although he leaves a few plot threads hanging--whatever happens to Max Pace, for example?--he swings mightily and accurately in this latest novel. Maybe he hasn't lost the legal touch after all!
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