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The Appeal | 
 enlarge | Author: John Grisham
Publisher: Dell
Category: Book
List Price: $14.00
Buy New: $11.20
You Save: $2.80 (20%)
Avg. Customer Rating:  425 reviews
Sales Rank: 70161
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 496
ISBN: 0385342926
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780385342926
ASIN: 0385342926
Publication Date: November 18, 2008 (In 82 Days)
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Not yet published
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Amazon.com
As the author of twenty bestselling books, John Grisham has set the standard for legal thrillers since the debut of The Firm in 1991. Enjoy this Q&A--as well as a personal note to Amazon readers--from John Grisham. 1. Your new novel starts off where most courtroom dramas end--with the verdict. Where did you get the idea to reverse the usual order of events this time around?
The actual trial is not a terribly significant part of the story. Most all of the action and intrigue begins after the trial is over, with the verdict and the subsequent appeal.
2. The Appeal overtly suggests that elected judges can be bought. If the novel is meant as a cautionary tale, what's next--the Presidential primaries?
Why not? Over one billion dollars will be spent next year in the Presidential primaries and general election. With that kind of money floating around, anything can be bought.
3. Speaking of electoral politics, you've been more vocal recently about your political views ... first supporting Jim Webb for Senate and now endorsing Hillary Clinton for the White House. Have you given any thought to running for office yourself?
No. I made that mistake 25 years ago, and promised myself I would never do it again. I enjoy watching and participating in politics from the sidelines, but it's best to keep some distance.
4. This is your first legal thriller in three years. How did it feel to get back to the genre that started it all, and can fans expect another thriller from you next year?
I still enjoy writing the legal thrillers, and don't plan to get too far away from them. Obviously, they have been very good to me, and they remain popular. I plan to write one a year for the next several years.
5. Your nonfiction book The Innocent Man continues to be a bestseller in paperback. In your ongoing work with The Innocence Project, have you come across another story of the wrongfully convicted that begs to be written as nonfiction?
There are literally hundreds of great stories out there about wrongfully convicted defendants. I am continually astounded by these stories, and I resist the temptation to take the plunge again into non-fiction.
6. What's on your bedside reading list at the moment?
1. The Nine by Jeffrey Toobin
2. Eric Clapton's autobiography
3. East of Eden by John Steinbeck.
Product Description
In a crowded courtroom in Mississippi, a jury returns a shocking verdict against a chemical company accused of dumping toxic waste into a small town’s water supply, causing the worst “cancer cluster” in history. The company appeals to the Mississippi Supreme Court, whose nine justices will one day either approve the verdict or reverse it.
Who are the nine? How will they vote? Can one be replaced before the case is ultimately decided?
The chemical company is owned by a Wall Street predator named Carl Trudeau, and Mr. Trudeau is convinced the Court is not friendly enough. With judicial elections looming, he decides to try to purchase himself a seat on the Court. The cost is a few million dollars, a drop in the bucket for a billionaire like Mr. Trudeau. Through an intricate web of conspiracy and deceit, his political operatives recruit a young, unsuspecting candidate. They finance him, manipulate him, market him, and mold him into a potential Supreme Court justice. Their Supreme Court justice.
The Appeal is a powerful, timely, and shocking story of political and legal intrigue, a story that will leave listeners unable to think about our electoral process or judicial system in quite the same way ever again.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 420 more reviews...
 Great Entertainment August 27, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Mary Grace and Tom Payton are a husband and wife legal team and for years they've been representing a woman in Bowmore, Mississippi who lost both her husband and child to cancer which was supposedly caused by Krane Chemical's deliberate chemical spills into the town's water supply. The cancer rate in Bowmore is fifteen times the national average, everyone in town drinks bottled water, even the public pool has been closed.
On the face of it one would think the case was open and shut and that Krane Chemical should settle and be down with it, but the chemical company is a subsidiary of a conglomerate which is run by Carl Trudeau and he's just not the settling kind. There is nothing nice, good or even remotely likable about Trudeau. He's a corporate insider who buy and spits out companies like licorice.
Wes and Mary Grace have been working the case for years, taking on everything Trudeau throws at them. They've gone the extra mile for the cause, they've had to let other clients go, they've sold their house, they lives have become this case. They believe in their client, in what they're doing, but when they win, Trudeau's attorneys are not worried, because they believe they'll win on Appeal.
Trudeau will stop at nothing, the Payton's are determined and there you have the setup for this might versus right, good versus evil story that will keep you glued to your chair, eyes pinned to the pages, heart pounding as you pour through this story. Nobody does suspense and intrigue the way John Grisham does.
Reviewed by Vesta Irene
 SAVE YOUR MONEY August 24, 2008
I have read all of Grisham's previous books. This is his first true loser. If you pay $1.00 for this book, you are not only out the $1.00 but also the endless hours it will take you to get through this boring story hoping something surprising or exciting might happen. His characters are bland, and the political statement Grisham is trying to make could have been said in a 500 word newsparer editorial column. He must have been badly in need of a payday.
Fragmented Storry and Simplistic Characters August 19, 2008
The premise of this book sounded great and it certinaly lured me to buy it. I've read other Grisham books in the past, The Last Juror, being my favourite.
I have a few problems with what could have been an excellent book:
1) Too Short
Why do Grisham's ending always end way too quickly? He has a problem with this, and while he stalls the book right before the climax the eventual resolution is so short it really left me in shock. Probably one of the worst endings ever in a book for so many reasons.
2) Too Fragmented
Grisham was trying to cover a lot of territory in this book over a 2 year period. There are about 10 characters that interplay with different intertwining plots. For me it made a very unenjoyable reading experience. I got bored with a lot of characters quickly.
3) Really Poor Character Development
As other reviewers have said, the protagonists in the book are simplistic and only serve the superficial purpose of advancing the story. They were boring as a result.
Overal the original idea was interesting, but it was just so poorly done, and the ending is what really was disappointing that it left me in disgust.
 Annoying - but with a powerful message August 17, 2008
John Grisham rings a warning bell with this sordid tale of corporate bigwigs going to lengths to screw people. As the story begins, a small Mississippi community has won a large verdict against Krane Chemical, whose illegal dumping contaminated the town's water supply and brought many cancer deaths. Annoyed by the verdict, Krane's billionaire CEO conspires with sleazy political operators to "fix" the appeal. How? By defeating a State Supreme Court judge at the polls with a candidate they'll control. They pick a well-meaning but stupid attorney named Ron Fisk to run on a family values, anti-gay marraige platform. The operators pour millions into Fisk's campaign, attacking the better-qualified incumbent with misleading, negative ads. If they can elect Fisk, they may get the verdict reversed on appeal.
THE APPEAL is rather contrived, and falls short of Grisham's top efforts. Yet it has a powerful message about slimey operators and corporate money buying elections via sham issues like gay marraige and family values. Don't laugh, it worked for Bush. A side issue not addressed in these pages is why corporate polluters that kill (not unlike priests that molest) seldom face criminal charges.
Goodbye Grisham August 17, 2008
I have just wasted a portion of my life reading this book with an ending we readers do not deserve. I tried to rate it 0 but can't go less than 1.
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