Tom

It was one of those books that, once I put it down, I couldn't pick it back up again. Like one of the other reviewers, about the only thing interesting about the book was its title. Otherwise terrible plot, unsympathetic characters...I've liked other Scottoline books, but this was her worst.

This book is so terrible that halfway through the book I started rooting for someone to kill Jason Bource and put ME out of my misery.
If you must read it, read the abridged version; you won't want to be stuck with this pig any longer than absolutely necessary.

Grisham writes a long and tedious story about a character who is not particularly likeable in a profession that's not particularly likeable doing things that are not particularly likeable and ends up with a book that's not particularly likeable. The story was predictable (thus effectively over) after the first dozen or so chapters. If we have to follow the main character on his way down, the story of his demise could at least have been entertaining, but it's not. I struggled to listen to the last third of the book, and dogged determination got me to the end of the book.

In Grisham's early books (Pelican Brief, Client, Firm, Street Lawyer, Testament, etc) one is encouraged to actually like (thus care about) the main characters. This keeps the reader in the story. He seems to have lost this critical component in his later books (King of Torts, Summons, Bretheren). These stories suffer badly as a result.

This book would have been panned if Grisham had not written it (or had written it under a pen name). His early books have earned him a loyal readership, who will make a best seller out of just about any book he writes. I wish he would reward that loyalty with good stories.