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Reviews

Rogue Lawyer by John Grisham

thevictorianarchivist's review against another edition

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2.0

I guess I picked the wrong Grisham novel to start with. I picked it up on a whim, and while I liked the narrative style and tone, the structure of this book totally confused me. It's more like a series of vignettes about this lawyer's cases, some of which seem totally unrelated. Some of the main character's back story/info about his home life are repeated a couple of different times in different places as if the reader needs a refresher on something already explained just 75 pages ago, and the timeline is totally unclear. At times it feels like the events are not sequential, but then the narrator will briefly refer to something that happened at the beginning, and the timeline shifts again. Overall, it just didn't have a traditional narrative arc, which I didn't really like--I thought I was picking up a book with a set beginning, middle, thrilling action scene and great climax, and end, but this book does not have that.

b00kpusher's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5, if I could. I enjoyed this book, but there was no great story arc - just a series of mini-stories - so I felt like it just ended in the middle.

mountainmary's review against another edition

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2.0

Not what I was expecting at all. Parts were tedious, others moved. This book is really more about the attorney rather than any one case.

socalvillaguy's review against another edition

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4.0

I'd give it a 4.2. More entertaining than I thought it would be when I started it.

conran_g_jeffrey's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Somehow my the first Grisham book I've read, although I am very aware of the impact of his other works. Whilst I wouldn't say this was the greatest book, it certainly won't be the last of his I read. 

Well written, the story kept me engaged from start to finish, following a morally grey rogue lawyer and the different mix of clients that he represents; from those who you root for entirely, to those that you would rather see behind bars for life. The cases are interesting, although sometimes feel like they veer too much towards the unbelievable, feeling very 'Hollywood court room drama'. Nonetheless, they are fun to read. 

However, the book very much felt like a snapshot of someone's life rather than a typical story arc. It starts in the middle of things and it ends in the middle of things. Multiple story threads are left open and not fully explored, as if we just stopped following the lawyer midway through his story. Although I enjoyed my time with the book, I did feel quite underwhelmed when it ended. This might be to set up future instalments following the same protagonist, but even then, it was somewhat disappointing. 

Overall though, I would still recommend this book for a fun quick read

hgbush's review

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

birdmanseven's review against another edition

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2.0

This barely made it past 1 star. This was bad. It felt like a bunch of predictable episodes from a crappy TV show. No cohesion, no conclusion. Total misfire.

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cptmoo's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

davefoolery's review against another edition

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3.0

The first section has almost nothing to do with the rest of the book. Same rogue lawyer, but a totally different case. I get the feeling it was just in there to pad the page count. Weird.

However, once I got over the annoyance of that structural anomaly, I enjoyed the Rogue Lawyer. It was pretty classic Grisham, the main character seemed a little grittier than some of his others, but still mostly believable.

It was a good quick read.

berit08's review against another edition

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4.0

This book was pretty good, but it felt more like a bunch of short stories all thrown together, rather then a novel. Sebastian is a rogue lawyer, who really strongly resembles another lawyer in a series of books that works out of his vehicle cough cough Mickey Holler cough cough.
I did really like Sebastian and his partner whose name is actually Partner.. Actually I liked all the characters in this book, they were really well developed. What I didn't like about this book as much was the plot, it was all over the place, and I felt disconnected throughout most of the book. I've read most of this authors books, and I'd have to say this is probably not near the top of my list of his best.