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Title: The Pelican Brief by John Grisham ISBN: 0-553-71279-9 Publisher: Random House Audio Pub. Date: 29 January, 2002 Format: Audio Cassette Volumes: 4 List Price(USD): $17.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.73 (172 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: The Pelican Brief
Comment: When one thinks of the name John Grisham, the image of an author of legal thrillers more than likely comes to mind. John Grisham has been knocking off about a book a year for the past decade, and all of them in some way have been related to the law.
The Pelican Brief is no exception. While it has to do more with the Supreme Court and law students than with practicing lawyers, law is a major topic in the book. Joining law are the topics of assassination, cover-ups, and brilliant theories.
The Plot
Darby Shaw is a second-year law student at Tulane. She is a brilliant student, and enjoys a relationship with Thomas Callahan, her Constitutional Law professor. Thomas has a particular liking for Supreme Court Justice Abe Rosenberg. Rosenberg is one of the most hated men in the country, so it is not much of a surprise when Rosenberg is murdered-any number of people and groups could be suspects.
What is a surprise is when another Supreme Court Justice, Glenn Jensen, is murdered on the same night. The two judges have almost no viewpoints in common and seem like an unlikely pair. Soon, every FBI agent is on the case, and hundreds of eager-beaver law students are scouring the court dockets, looking for a case that might disclose a possible motive.
Among these student researchers is Darby Shaw. She comes up with a unique theory of her own, and even goes so far as to write up a brief about it. It becomes known as "The Pelican Brief." Darby gives her writing to Callahan, who passes it off to Gavin Verheek, a high-ranking friend of his at the FBI. From there, Darby forgets about it.
A week later, Darby and Callahan go out to dinner, and Callahan becomes drunk. Darby refuses to ride home with him, which means that she sees Callahan's car explode. Callahan is dead-and she was supposed to be with him. Suddenly, it appears to Darby that her brief was right on target. I'll let your imagination take it from there.
So, what'd I think of it?
Why did I like this one? First of all, It is a mystery involving death. That always means a few points on the scorecard. Second, enough details were given that I could follow each of the main characters' trains of thought. Third, I liked the inclusion of the newspaper reporter (didn't mention that, did I?) once Darby's other sources are, um, no longer available. I learned a lot about the process of law through Grisham's books, and in this one, I got to learn some about the process of news writing in this book as well.
So should someone read it?
Sure, why not? Seriously, if you're into lawyer stories or stories of bringing down the bad guy, it's a fun book. It's also a decently simple read. The pages go quickly. The Pelican Brief, book and movie, is a fun story that's worth the time invested.
Rating: 4
Summary: The all-action novel
Comment: Pelican Brief isn't one of Grisham's strongest novels but it's certainly a page-turner, it moves with amazing speed, and it's a heck of a lot better than some of his later stuff, like The Street Lawyer or A Painted House. Many of Grisham's novels rely upon courtroom drama - on one lawyer versus another, with some clever legal or psychological trick thrown in for good measure. Pelican Brief relies almost totally on action. Two Supreme Court justices die on the same day. Darby Shaw, a law student comes up with an ingenious theory - they were shot and strangled by an international terrorist so that the conservative president would appoint new, conservative justices who will help out a case involving an industrialist who's no friend of the tree-huggers. Darby's boyfriend, Thomas, gets dissected by a car bomb meant for Darby. She uses her 'get out of hospital free' card and hooks up with a Washington Post reporter, Gray Grantham. But bad guy terrorist is after her and everyone starts dying...
Pelican Brief's a fun story - not to be taken too seriously - and will provide an entertaining few hours while the dinner's cooking. But don't expect too much else.
Rating: 5
Summary: Not your usual legal thriller.....
Comment: The Pelican Brief by John Grisham is by far THE BEST JOHN GRISHAM novel I have read so far. The Pelican Brief starts out with the deaths of two Supreme Court judges, who get assassinated by a mysterious assassin named Khamel. Now law student Darby Shaw takes a shot in the dark and writes a brief on who killed the two Supreme Court judges. Now once she finishes it, she then gives it to her lover and professor to read it, then the FBI get their hands on it, and also the President who is intrigued by this little brief.
Now as the brief gets around, Darby's professor is killed by a car bomb which was intended for him and her! But she escapes thanks to his drunken state. Now she is on the run, and the killers want her dead at any cost. Then she runs into a Washington Post writer, and they get into contact. She tells him about the brief and joins the hunt for a mysterious man named "Garcia" who works for this huge firm in D.C.
Now escaping death many times, Darby then finds out who "Garcia" really is, they then discover the whole thing, and they report it in print, and now everyone is going down; including some of the President's men. Why did the huge firm want the Supreme Court judges dead? Simple. It was a case that involved a case involving the marshlands, and oil, the firm wanted to win the case, but they knew that they were going to lose if it went to the Supreme Court, so they hired a trained assassin to kill the two judges so if they can be replaced with two new judges. Interesting? I thought so.
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Title: The Firm by John Grisham ISBN: 044021145X Publisher: Island Books Pub. Date: 04 January, 1992 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: A Time to Kill by John Grisham ISBN: 0440211727 Publisher: Island Books Pub. Date: 01 June, 1992 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: The Client by John Grisham ISBN: 0440213525 Publisher: Island Books Pub. Date: 01 February, 1994 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: The Rainmaker by John Grisham ISBN: 044022165X Publisher: Island Books Pub. Date: 01 January, 1996 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: The Chamber by John Grisham ISBN: 0440220602 Publisher: Island Books Pub. Date: 01 April, 1995 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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