Rogue Lawyer

A Novel

By: John Grisham

Narrated by: Mark Deakins

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the master of the legal thriller comes a “deeply engaging and enjoyable” (USA Today) novel featuring one of John Grisham’s most colorful, outrageous, and vividly drawn characters ever.

ONE OF THE WASHINGTON POST AND NPR’S BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR

On the right side of the law—sort of—Sebastian Rudd is not your typical street lawyer. He drinks small-batch bourbon and carries a gun. His office is a customized bulletproof van, complete with Wi-Fi, a bar, a small fridge, and fine leather chairs. He has no firm, no partners, and only one employee: his heavily armed driver, who also happens to be his bodyguard, law clerk, confidant, and golf caddie.

Sebastian defends people other lawyers won’t go near: a drug-addled, tattooed kid rumored to be in a satanic cult; a vicious crime lord on death row; a homeowner arrested for shooting at a SWAT team that mistakenly invaded his house.

Why these clients? Because Sebastian believes everyone is entitled to a fair trial—even if he has to bend the law to secure one.

Critic reviews

“Terrific . . . inventive . . . John Grisham still makes it look easy [with] distinctive characters, tricky legal predicaments and rogueishly cheating ways to worm out of them.”—Maureen Corrigan, The Washington Post

“With a blunt, rude, gravelly poetic wiseguy voice . . . Rudd comes across as a kind of twenty-first-century Philip Marlowe.”—Benjamin Percy, The New York Times Book Review

“Deeply engaging and entertaining . . . [Grisham finds] intense drama in the little skirmishes that play out across our legal system every day.”—Charles Finch, USA Today

“Grisham has taken a step in an intriguing new direction.”—Janet Maslin, The New York Times

Only if you like short stories

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

This to me is a compilation of short stories, with overused plots and a thin thread of a story connecting a couple. The editors did not even bother eliminate the obvious repetition of introductory type facts that were irrelevant to a single book. Grisham or not, I am disappointed. But how many Firms, Rainmaker, King of Torts, Pelican Briefs, etc. does a single person have in him? Most of his stuff I read and re(watch)read.

Could you see Rogue Lawyer being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Never

Far from Grisham's best

I've listened to all of Grisham's books. I'm not certain I'll listen to the next one. The Rogue Lawyer is just an average book and not up to previous Grisham novels. It's not that it is bad, it's just not that good. It did not captivate me or surprise me with plot twists. It's passable, but far from Grisham's best.

Highly DISAPPOINTED

I was so looking forward to a new Grisham novel - sad to say I'll have to continue "looking forward to...." This one just doesn't meet my Grisham past experiences - just a big letdown

:(

A series of short stories rather than a crime novel, the book is not up to Grisham's usual quality

This was an enjoyable listen but it lacked a plot-line. It felt like a series of short stories about a profoundly unethical lawyer, the only "plot" being the series of trade-offs he makes between the cases within them.

Being a Grisham novel, little time was spent on examining morality of any of this..

Enjoyable

An interesting and different type of lawyer, that you shake your head at sometimes. Very colourful and thought provoking