Another legal thriller from the assembly-line pen of John Grisham. This time we are back in law school, one of Grisham’s favourite haunts, where a young law student prepares a paper – called a "brief" – that looks at the untimely deaths of two Supreme Court Justices. It’s a clever idea. Why are these Justices being killed? Who is behind it? Is it the Government; Big Business? The Mob? Your guess may be as good as mine, but in this novel, it is the guess of an inexperienced law student, Ms Darby Shaw, that really hits the mark! Unfortunately for those who know about it, this is not the sort of information you want to share – these confidants start to die! And so the chase is on – Darby flies around the country, changes her hair colour, and feeds information to a Washington reporter (remember there was a chase in "The Firm" too?). And the murders are nothing pretty! One takes place in a porno movie house, the other in a majestic Washington home. And so begins the cover-up and the chase for the law student who can blow the villains out of the river. This is the stuff that so many of us love – murder, politics, the Law in the highest places, conspiracy, mystery, suspense, and a resourceful amateur who is taken to task by professionals. And it’s hard not to like a novel that takes every shot it can at big business lawyers and their bosses. If you're sympathetic to an attack on corporate lawyers, you'll be pleased to know that Mr Grisham has absolutely nothing good to say about them either!! Grisham sets up an interesting premise – two Supreme Court Justices are murdered, and no-one can really work out why, or whether there is a connection. The fact that it is a young law student, and not an investigative reporter, who comes at the truth is interesting in itself and provides plenty of plot twists. This looks too much like it was written with the movie in mind, particularly with Julia Roberts as the hero Darby Shaw. And there is perhaps a little too much that is not believable here. Could a young law student REALLY do what the hero in this book has to do? Well, maybe not, but let’s face it – who cares? After all, it’s a book, not real life. But if you like your thrillers attached to reality, this may not be for you. The United States Supreme Court is the highest court in the land. In many ways it's similar to the Australian High Court, but it’s real power lies in the importance of the American Constitution. There is nothing elsewhere quite like the place that the Supreme Court holds in the American consciousness, which might explain why a popular novel can be built around its activities. This is probably because Americans have a deep commitment to their Constitution, and the Supreme Court is the protector of that sacred document. Ask the average Australian what they think of their Constitution and you will most likely get a blank stare – in America the Constitution is drummed into citizens from their early school days. The Constitution rules many aspects of American life, and the Supreme Court has the final say on what it means. This gives you an idea of the sureness of Grisham’s plot, that someone might be willing to assassinate Justices to affect future decision-making of the Supreme Court. Cases are not argued at the Supreme Court in the usual fashion – there are no witnesses or jury, just a lawyer standing before the Justices, putting his/her case on a 30 minute time limit. The Justices are not interested in the facts of a case on appeal, they want to know about the question of law. The Supreme Court is located in Washington, the main entrance faces the Capitol. There you will find the words, "Equal Justice Under The Law". You know that bank that John Grisham was laughing all the way to? – he bought it!! He’s the Bill Gates of legal fiction; the Rupert Murdoch of thriller writers; the Stephen Spielberg of… well, you get the idea! By any standards, he has achieved a remarkable success, so much so that his publishers proclaim him the world’s best selling author. He was born in Arkansas (pronounced "Arkansaw"), the same state that Bill Clinton calls home. He got a degree in accounting (handy now that he has all that money to count!) and (tick, tick, tick…) yes, Law, from the fabled "Ole Miss" (a University in Mississippi). Now, most lawyers go on to practice in a pretty dull routine – surrounded by wills and land titles, they spend their days buried in more paper than a recycling centre. This might be good enough for your everyday hack, or even your ego-driven corporate type, but Grisham had different ideas. Like the actor that longs to direct, there is an author deep inside many trial lawyers. In some ways it goes with the territory – after all, most legal arguments are a fiction in themselves. You strut the stage of the court, pulling the threads of a plot together to make a persuasive story. Isn’t that what they say a novel is from the reader’s point of view – a willing suspension of disbelief? In other words, if you connect the dots, and make it seem real, the reader will go along for the ride. And as any trial lawyer will tell you, that’s pretty much the same thing you want from a judge and jury. Grisham was born in 1955, which makes all those baby-boomer lawyers with a mid life crisis all the more sick with envy! He worked as a criminal and personal injuries lawyer for 10 years, and as a sideline, got himself elected to the State House of Representatives to boot! But it was not law or politics that really challenged his overactive intellect – in 1984 he started to write his first novel, and three years later "A Time To Kill" was finished. By the time that first novel was published he was well into "The Firm". He could not have imagined how this enterprise would forever change his life, and would set the trend for the new wave of legal fiction. And if he saw himself as the alter ego of Mitch, the hero in "The Firm", who better to star in the film role than Tom Cruise? From there it was one roller-coaster success after another. Each new novel goes straight to the top of the best-seller list, to be closely followed by a hit movie. "The Pelican Brief" was published in 1992, "The Client" in 1993, "The Chamber" in 1994, "The Rainmaker" in 1995, "The Runaway Jury" in 1996, "The Partner" in 1997. It seems like an annual event nowadays – if it’s Spring, there must be a new Grisham on the shelves! Often the paperback is released at the same time as the new hardcover – and they both occupy the number one spots on their respective best-seller lists. This is the recurring Grisham theme: the innocent bystander against the System, against the odds. Like his other books, the pace never lets up, this is the classic "page-turner". Maybe it’s a little too long, and like too many movies nowadays, it could have been cut a fair bit.
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