The burnt-out partners of Finley & Figg are in a good position in one sense - their offices are placed by a dangerous junction which sees its fair share of fender benders.
So they don't so much chase ambulances as amble out and scoop up cases.
John Grisham does not shy away from the grim horse-trading that is the lifeblood of the US tort bar and Oscar Finley and Wally Figg earn our grudging sympathy because they are (a) tenacious in their quest for the unpalatable and (b) out-and-out losers.
Into this squalid world comes David Zinc - bright, idealistic and fed up with the factory farming that is corporate law.
His rebirth as a good-hearted hustler coincides with the potential jackpot case when popular drug Krayoxx appears to kill its overweight users.
Finley, Figg and Zinc are convinced Big Pharma will settle and it will never see the inside of a courtroom. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Grisham, as usual, is strong on legal procedure and knows how to knot and twist a plot. While this book lacks the high concept of previous stories his thorough and workmanlike exploration of life under a stone is nonetheless absorbing.
– From November, 2011
