The Appeal

Critics

• The Appeal By John Grisham

  Making a move that is guaranteed to delight his fans, John Grisham returns to form with his first legal thriller in three years, The Appeal. The novel finds Grisham in familiar territory—the courtroom—but it begins in an unconventional way: with the ... (read full critics)

  bookpage published on Sat, 18 Sep 2010

• Uncivil Action

  Thrillers thrive on villains and heroes, and usually these characters are not overly complicated; writers don’t want to confuse or slow the plot. In John Grisham’s page turners the villains are corporate titans and their lawyers, and the plucky, idea ... (read full critics)

  nytimes published on Sat, 18 Sep 2010

12 Reviews

• 1 person find this helpful

  

  Typical legal story. Small and near-bankrupt law firm fought against big corporation for dumping harmful chemical. Small firm won at trial, and big corporation needed to buy a seat in Supreme Court to reject the verdict.

  The political battle behind the judicial election was intense and thought-pr ... (continue)

  Typical legal story. Small and near-bankrupt law firm fought against big corporation for dumping harmful chemical. Small firm won at trial, and big corporation needed to buy a seat in Supreme Court to reject the verdict.

  The political battle behind the judicial election was intense and thought-provoking. The author argued that money can really buy a seat in the Supreme Court and hence, he preferred an appointment system.

  In Hong Kong, we follow the UK tradition and judges are all appointed. It never occur to me, and it is certainly difficult for me to imagine, judges can be elected. The author presented a fierce attack on judicial election. However, most of the drawbacks he described in the book can, and certainly will, apply to all election (e.g. his argument is that huge amount of money can create a very effective propaganda campaign. Remember how much Obama spent on his election campaign?)

  Apart from the above debate, the rest of the book is boring. The author is not doing a good job in developing the characters, especially the poor husband-and-wife lawyers who fought against the big corporation. They have great potential to be developed into fascinating character while the author only managed to present them in a dull and flat way.

  Can read it to kill time, especially if you are interested in election campaign and political battle.

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  EL said on Aug 11, 2010 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

• 1 person find this helpful

  

  I knew about the plot of the novel from a friend to whom I gave the book as a birthday gift. But I still decided to buy and read it because the premise on which John Grisham built his story is too real, shocking and nothing short of possible.

  I have always wondered how judges who are officers ... (continue)

  I knew about the plot of the novel from a friend to whom I gave the book as a birthday gift. But I still decided to buy and read it because the premise on which John Grisham built his story is too real, shocking and nothing short of possible.

  I have always wondered how judges who are officers of the court can be elected and the judiciary is not corrupted and keeps its impartiality. For a judicial system which entitles all people to fair and reasonable trials to work, the judges cannot be affected or swayed in any way by public opinions, let alone have the personal baggages of returning verdicts that are desired by those who elected them.

  This is exactly what happened in the Mississippi Supreme Court in 'The Appeal'. John Grisham has made it clear in the author's note that this is fiction, but the judicial process and the election mechanism and dynamics depicted in the book are all true. Election is all about money and justice can be bought.

  This is not the end of the story. The most scary thing I read from the book is how the supreme court judges were so predisposed by their election platforms that they ruled a case not on the merits of the case, but on their political beliefs.

  Not only is justice not done, but it is not seen to be done if the system is allowed to work that way. It's horrendous, rotten and unconscionable.

  You've got to read the book.

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  Tracy W said on Sep 15, 2008 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

• 

  Legal, but not court-room, and not so satisfying

  A good, pleasant, entertaining legal story, but the end result though probably more true to life is not so satisfying. The involvement of the Christian Right and the church in this case makes for fascinating reading and reveals just how different the legal system in American is to that in Britain. I ... (continue)

  A good, pleasant, entertaining legal story, but the end result though probably more true to life is not so satisfying. The involvement of the Christian Right and the church in this case makes for fascinating reading and reveals just how different the legal system in American is to that in Britain. I liked it, but much prefer those cliff-hanger courtroom scenes!

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  GraJon said on Jun 30, 2010 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

• 

  Surprise! the bad guys won this time.

  I guess Grisham was trying to make his point that money can buy everything in the politics. You can control the media, brain wash the voters and forge the public opinions the way you would like to. The tools are available for the politics all cost money, a lot of money. It is sad to say that whoever ... (continue)

  I guess Grisham was trying to make his point that money can buy everything in the politics. You can control the media, brain wash the voters and forge the public opinions the way you would like to. The tools are available for the politics all cost money, a lot of money. It is sad to say that whoever spends more, get much better opportunity to win.

  Maybe the Internet could change this, at least, make the economic scale big enough to ward off the big spenders from buying their positions. We have seen the power of Internet to Obama's campaign.

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  artie said on Jan 8, 2009 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

• 

  The first 1/3 is good plot set up but the rest deteriorate into a boring chronicle of legal cases of some sort. A big disappointment.

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  Wslching said on Dec 27, 2008 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

• 

  It upsets me is to see the poor plaintiffs lost.

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  S.E. said on Nov 2, 2008 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

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Book Details

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• English Books
• Audio CD
• ISBN-10: 1856868907
• ISBN-13: 9781856868907
• Publisher: Random House Audiobooks
• Pub date: Jan 29, 2008
• Also available as: Mass Market Paperback, Paperback, Hardcover, Others and eBook
• In other languages: other languages Livres Français, Deutsche Bücher, Libros en Español, Libri Italiani, Nederlandse Boeken

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