Must-Read John Grisham Novels: The Top 5 Essentials

While most of his novels were set in the Deep South around the ‘80s, ‘90s, and even earlier, reading them today brings out a silent gasp. The use of the ‘N-word’, somewhat weakly written and largely ignored female characters, disturbs the new generation. The objectified and one-dimensional female characters are a pill hard to swallow. But putting perspective on the setting and period in which most of his stories are set, the language problem is justifiable, if not the casual sexism.

Another issue identified with his writing is the similarities in some of his novels. For instance, courtroom drama, big corrupt firms, wrongful convictions are recurring themes in his work. Nevertheless, his stories are compelling and he tried his hands at other genres as well with novels such as Bleachers, Skipping Christmas, A Painted House, and Playing for Pizza.

Discussed further are some of his works that piqued my interest for a few reasons.

1. The Confession (2010)

A riveting page-turner with courtroom scenes makes one feel like jumping into the book.

‘An innocent man is days from execution. Only a guilty man can save him.’

The Confession follows the story of Donte Drumm, a wrongfully convicted black man for the murder of a white high school cheerleader. He is days away from death penalty and the racially charged town of Slone, Texas is on the brink of riots. The actual murderer, Travis Boyette who is also a serial predator, is revealed early-on while being on parole he confesses to a pastor named Keith Schroeder who further falls in a dilemma whether to keep this vicious secret to himself or help prevent massive injustice from taking place miles away.

By taking Boyette to Slone, Keith would be breaking the rule of law and faith. But Schroeder was not the only one trying to help Drumm. Robbie Flakk, Donte’s lawyer, worked his fingers to the bone, first to prevent the death penalty from taking place. Second, to catch Travis and bring him to justice. He succeeds only in one of the two.

This book is a personal favourite read. A riveting page-turner with courtroom scenes makes one feel like jumping into the book. Robbie’s unconventional and rebellious personality, integrity, and the drive to carry out justice against the flawed legal system makes him a hero of some sort, a man of principles standing up for what’s right.

The Reverend’s heartwarming and responsible personality added emotional touch to the story. This book has a high chance of triggering your emotions and making you question the very bearers of justice. But it might also reaffirm the faith in people like Robbie and Keith, among others who tried to help an innocent man from falling into the trap of injustice, even though Donte was already a victim of one for nine years and the worst awaited him.

While some of the central characters were well written, there was a lack of more nuanced characters as the plot had the potential of comprehensive character arcs of others since it’s a story that drags into more than four-hundred pages book.

2. A Time to Kill (1989)

First book written by John Grisham, fiction in nature but inspired by true events.

John Grisham’s first book, A Time To Kill, is one of the most powerful stories he’s ever penned. Inspired by true events with characterisation reversed, the book revolves around Carl Lee, father to Tonya Hailey- a ten year old who was brutally raped and beaten by ‘two rednecks’ – Pete Willard and Billy Ray Cobb. Carl Lee is accused of murdering Willard and Cobb and is now facing the death penalty.

Jake Brigance a white lawyer sympathetic to the ‘underdogs’ and famous for representing the minorities, defends Carl Lee against capital punishment. The book grows with the involvement of KKK and its confrontation with the black community. The white supremacist group also causes various notorious incidents, trying to disrupt the case proceedings and bending it their way. 

The build-up of discrimination, conflict, and resistance are skilfully blended into the story, making one feel the emotions as the author would have intended. Despite the book’s failure upon its launch, it aged well with the later readers.

The film adaptation of the book with the same name starring Matthew McCaughney, Sandra Bullock, and Samuel L. Jackson did relatively better than the novel. The movie, like the book, received mixed reactions for its stance on the death penalty and extension of the right to self defense.

3. The Firm (1991)

Adapted into a movie starring Tom Cruise and Gene Hackman, the book was seen as a blockbuster only to be compared with the former.

The Firm is Grisham’s second novel and first commercial success. It follows the story of Mitch McDeere, a bright Harvard graduate who becomes a part of a prominent and acclaimed law firm. Soon he discovers the sinister schemes pulled by the firm to stay relevant in the market and its ties to the underworld.

Further he discovers the reason behind the dead lawyers who once worked at the firm. The involvement of the FBI adds complication to his situation. Mitch gets caught up in a bind as he tries to evade the firm as well as the FBI.

The story clearly portrays how Mitch’s ambition gets him in hot water but with his wit he manages to topple everything off. The problem with the novel lies in the treatment of the female characters. Mitch’s wife, Abby, is shown as nothing more than a somewhat (submissive) trophy wife who is further sexualised and objectified.

The other women in the novel are described based solely on the level of attractiveness, a very limited perspective. The cheating and not confessing was another issue that needed resolvent. The movie based on the book had minor differences from the book, like in the former Mitch confesses to the cheating.

Adapted into a movie starring Tom Cruise and Gene Hackman, the book was seen as a blockbuster only to be compared with the former. The movie brings out a good ending ignoring the several controversial themes and issues with the plot.

4. The Rainmaker (1995)

The novel was a hit and was adapted into film, with an upcoming series set to release in 2025.

The Rainmaker is another commercially successful legal thriller by John Grisham. It incorporates and questions idealism, success, corruption, and the flawed justice system. Rudy Baylor, the protagonist, is a fresh law school graduate who has just passed his bar exam.

He finds himself in confrontation with a big company being accused by a couple claiming that the company has denied insurance which is necessary for their child’s life-saving treatment. Rudy is an inexperienced and broke young man who dreams of becoming rich. But the case with this big company could be a pivotal event in his fresh career. He is faced with experienced and ferocious lawyers who could eat him up alive. But with his few supporters and moral compass he carries on. 

‘The end was predictable’ as Entertainment Weekly noted but the story and character writing is strong enough for the readers to be persuaded to continue reading the book up until the end.

Corruption and flaws in the justice system is a seed sowed in most of Grisham’s novels and The Rainmaker is no exception. The detestable lawyers, big companies against the poor and innocent civilians is a common villainous trait of his books. This novel stands true to this characterisation as well. 

A film was released in 1997 based on the book starring Matt Damon, Danny Devito, Danny Glover, among others. An upcoming namesake series based on the novel is also set to release in August 2025.

5. Playing for Pizza (2007)

The book is a good steer away from regular Grisham books, giving readers a glimpse of a little town in Italy.

Apart from his legal thrillers, John Grisham wrote few light hearted books and Playing for Pizza is one of them. It’s a novella inspired by some real aspects like the Parma Panthers team in Italy.

The story depicts NFL quarterback Rick Dockery who gave his worst performance in the last game before being kicked out of the team and his already smeared image was further tainted by the press. His agent Arnie gets him to play for Parma Panthers of Italian Football League which he readily accepts.

Despite being new to the country and its language and culture, he tries to fit in and eventually gets serious about his new team. He develops a romantic relationship with an American college girl, Livvy Galloway, who was studying in Italy. The deliverance of Dockery from his past reflected the personal growth he went through.

The book is a good steer away from regular Grisham books, which generally deals with the legal and justice system and the underlying corruption. 

The story is simple yet well written sneak-peek into Italian culture – the food, wine, and relaxed lifestyle. Rick Dockery redefines himself, building his confidence and his character arc makes the book more interesting. Grisham wrote extensively about Italian food which makes it a delight for the readers to explore the culture.

In an interview with NPR Grisham revealed that he “enjoys writing about food”. The fact that the players of the Parma Panthers were awarded with pizza after every game is a notable take on how different the football game culture is in Italy compared to America.

(The writer is an intern with indianexpress.com)