• The Pelican Brief

  • By: John Grisham
  • Narrated by: Anthony Heald
  • Length: 5 hrs and 36 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (1,152 ratings)

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The Pelican Brief  By  cover art

The Pelican Brief

By: John Grisham
Narrated by: Anthony Heald
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Publisher's summary

In suburban Georgetown a killer's Reeboks whisper on the front floor of a posh home... In a seedy D.C. porno house a patron is swiftly garroted to death... The next day America learns that two of its Supreme Court justices have been assassinated. And in New Orleans, a young law student prepares a legal brief...

To Darby Shaw it was no more than a legal shot in the dark, a brilliant guess. To the Washington establishment it was political dynamite. Suddenly, Darby is witness to a murder - a murder intended for her. Going underground, she finds there is only one person she can trust - an ambitious reporter after a news break hotter than Watergate - to help her piece together the deadly puzzle.

Somewhere between the bayous of Louisiana and the White House's inner sanctums, a violent cover-up is being engineered. For someone has read Darby's brief. Someone who will stop at nothing to destroy the evidence of an unthinkable crime.

©1992 John Grisham (P)1992 Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio Publishing, Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio Publishing, A Division of Random House Inc.

Featured Article: The Essential John Grisham in Audio


John Grisham is best known for his fast-paced legal thrillers and mysteries, many of which have been adapted for television and film. Because he’s so prolific and has been writing for decades, it can be difficult to know where to begin when selecting a title from his impressive back catalog. And Grisham is definitely a jack-of-all-trades: he’s written not only legal thrillers, but nonfiction, a series for kids, some humorous novels, and recently, a new mystery series outside of the legal thriller genre. To help you decide which Grisham gem to download next, we’ve compiled a list of the very best.

What listeners say about The Pelican Brief

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
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Outstanding oration!

I have loved this book from the moment my daddy gave it to me in the 90s to read. John grisham from this book on Created An in during and forever fan.Audible did wonderful In selecting The narrator.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Met Expectations. I guess.

As one of Grisham’s most popular books, this was a little disappointing. The story was good, but many characters and events (thugs, assassinations) were unimaginative. Narration was fine but character voices did not have a ton of differentiation.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Too many cheesy sound effects and music

too many cheesy sound effects and music. But otherwise a good story, just sounds like someone is messing with a sound board while reading the book.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Good Entertainment

Watch the movie first then listen to the book. Some slight differences but was very good.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great!

Very welll written novel. Could not put it down and i wanted more of it.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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An excellent listen

I enjoyed this story immensely,although it was a little bit over the top at times. It had a happy ending.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Poorly Abridged

After listening to Grisham's unabridged titles on Audible, this one is a little disappointing. The book is comparatively hard to follow, with characters easily confused or not developed - presumably due to the abridged nature of the text. I'd recommend this only for Grisham fans who've run through everything else.
Capably narrated, though by a different narrator than any of the other Grisham books.

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39 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great story with annoying breaks

I love this book. But the musical breaks kill momentum faster than thinking about Grandma during sex.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Darby Shaw Is a great Investigator...

I have been listening to the same book for years, The Pelican Brief. I just enjoy hearing the story lines, over, and over again. Right now my tapes are worn out. So I'm replacing them with Audible. oh my god the audio goes on forever. I fell asleep, and when I woke up we were In Chapter 6. So I just picked up there. Thank you!!!

AKIBA Moorjah

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Books are better than movies

I really enjoyed this book. They movie was great too. But while remodeling a home this is something that you can get lost in.

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