Eight Must-Read Grisham Novels
Eight Must-Read Grisham Novels
John Grisham is one of my favorite authors. His books hold my attention from beginning to end. He has several novels which have courtroom drama, but almost all contain suspense. Get your no spoiler recommendations and buy the book here.
#8 Must-Read Grisham Novel – The Racketeer
If you are looking for courtroom thrills and suspense, then John Grisham is the right choice. And, The Racketeer is a good first Grisham novel. It is riddled with plot twists and will leave you longing for another John Grisham book, the very best of which are listed here.
“The Racketeer is guilty of only one thing: keeping us engaged until the very last page.”—USA Today
Eleven thousand and eighty-one (11,081) verified Amazon buyers gave The Racketeer 4.2 out of 5 stars, 70 percent gave it either four or five stars.
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#7 – The Chamber
This novel was one of the very few John Grisham did not outline before he began writing. However, it does have courtroom drama and suspense like many of his other books. The opening of this book is strong, which brings the reader into the story quickly so that they want to continue to find out what happens. Set once again in Clanton, like several of his other novels, The Chamber is a must read for Grisham enthusiasts.
Two thousand, four hundred, and eight verified Amazon buyers gave The Chamber 4.2 out of 5 stars, 74 percent gave it either four or five stars.
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#6 – The Rooster Bar
In 2017, The Rooster Bar hit the shelves. This novel seems to examine many areas of social injustice that would interest millennials, like for-profit colleges, lying or exaggerating college recruiters, fake law firms, immigration, and the student loan hustle. It is about four friends who are graduating from law school; they are loaded down with student debt, each with around $150,000 and no job prospects, or more appropriately, no good job prospects. Soon, they hit the streets hustling jobs without having passed the bar or having a license to practice law. They hang a fake shingle and take DUIs and simple traffic ticket cases…until they get caught. But they have a way out of that too. Read it now.
Five thousand and twelve verified Amazon buyers gave The Rooster Bar 3.7 out of 5 stars, 59 percent gave it either four or five stars.
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#5 – The Reckoning
Published October 23, 2018, The Reckoning takes us back to Clanton, Mississippi (the author’s favorite fictitious southern town). The story’s plot centers around the ‘46 murder and trial of the town’s prominent patriarch Pete Banning, who is a war hero recently returned from the Philippines and World War II. Grisham’s fictional Ford County has been the site of six Grisham novels, A Time to Kill (his first novel), The Summons, The Chamber, The Last Juror, and Sycamore Row. If you like historical fictions, this will be more to your liking than Grisham’s usual courtroom dramas.
Four thousand and eighty verified Amazon buyers gave The Reckoning 3.7 out of 5 stars, 57 percent gave it either four or five stars.
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#4 – The King of Torts
Published in 2003, The King of Torts deals with too much greed and too much excess in the life of an attorney. Once a person gets an excess of something, they will become greedy with the pursuit of more. Greedy lawyers, needy clients…a classic combination.
Eight hundred and thirty-four verified Amazon buyers gave The King of Torts 4.0 out of 5 stars, 58 percent gave it either four or five stars.
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#3 – The Pelican Brief
1993. In this book, two supreme court justices got murdered. The circumstances surrounding their deaths, as well as the deaths themselves, shock and confuse a politically divided nation. A law student believes she knows why the justices got killed. This is Grisham’s third novel after A Time to Kill and The Firm.
Five hundred and seven verified Amazon buyers gave The Pelican Brief 4.5 out of 5 stars, 82 percent gave it either four or five stars.
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#2 – A Painted House
2001. Gossip and suspicion surround a murder – and a young boy knows some of the secrets about the crime but does not know if he should tell anybody about them. Set in late summer and the early Autumn of ‘52, it is a story told through a seven-year-old, Luke Chandler’s eyes. His family is cotton farmers, struggling to take in their crops to earn enough money to settle upon debts. The novel depicts the experiences which bring him out of an innocent world into the harsh realities of life.
One thousand, six hundred, and eight verified Amazon buyers gave A Painted House 4.4 out of 5 stars, 78 percent gave it either four or five stars.
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#1 Must-Read Grisham Novel – The Firm
If you want courtroom drama, savvy lawyers, and brilliant villains, and why wouldn’t you if you are reading John Grisham? Isn’t that basically what we all seek from his work? From the first few pages to the very end – it is well-written and robust. The Firm also became a multimillion-dollar film starring Tom Cruise. It’s a remarkable story. If you haven’t read it for a while, try again.
Two thousand, four hundred, and eight verified Amazon buyers gave The Chamber 4.2 out of 5 stars, 74 percent gave it either four or five stars.
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John Grisham weaves his crafty stories in the courtroom in most of his stories, some like Playing for Pizza, Calico Joe, and a few others are sports stories. All of his novels have suspense in them, some more than others. Besides being a novelist, John is also an attorney, activist, and politician.
Many of the must-read Grisham novels are sold worldwide and translated into 42 different languages. As of 2018, John’s net worth has been said to be around $350 million. He has attended Mississippi State University, the University of Mississippi School of Law School, and Delta State University.
Read some of my book reviews and other recommendations.
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