The King of Torts

A Novel

By: John Grisham

Narrated by: Michael Beck

Length: 11 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

The office of the public defender is not known as a training ground for bright young litigators. Clay Carter has been there too long and, like most of his colleagues, dreams of a better job in a real firm. When he reluctantly takes the case of a young man charged with a random street killing, he assumes it is just another of the many senseless murders that hit DC every week.

As he digs into the background of his client, Clay stumbles on a conspiracy too horrible to believe. He suddenly finds himself in the middle of a complex case against one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, looking at the kind of enormous settlement that would totally change his life - that would make him, almost overnight, the legal profession’s newest king of torts....

©2003 Belfry Holdings, Inc. (P)2003 Random House, Inc., Random House Audio, a Division of Random House, Inc.

A little bit of a let down . . .

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but was a little disappointed by the ending. I kept expecting a bang and it ended with a whimper.

King of Torts is worth the price

From the start I was hooked, I would find myself sitting in my car an extra 10 minutes when I got to work and again when I got home, because I wanted to find out what was going to happen next.

The first 99% of the book was perfect, at least in my opinion. But the ending was very weak. Grisham could have written another 5 chapters explaining how Max had manipulated Clay Carter from the first day they met. That?s what I was expecting to happen, I wanted Grisham to walk us through how it was Max that was the true genius and Clay was just an easy mark. But it did not turn out that way; maybe Grisham is writing another book to explain what Max is all about.

King of Torts - Classic Grisham

This book was extremely well written. The plot was both interesting and even better made since as you wound your way through it. The surprise ending did not leave you down but you felt the man was finally to have the life he wanted. Grisham drew from The Summons and pulled in the big tort lawyer he spoke to late in that book. This book was a great, attention holding listen. This man can write. Like The Summons it has movie written all over it

Love Reading (Grisham)? Listen to this!

Yet another entertaining Grisham legal-ethics conumdrum. The legal profession, situational ethics and rampant excess come as no suprise in this genre. But the story is definitely worth listening to.

And therein lies the value of this Audible offering. The unabridged oral version, as a passive form of entertainment, seems to be the best, most righteous, cost effective format in which to consume this new story. At least when the other options involve either the ultimate waste of bookshelf space (paper?) or the inevitable wait and torture of sharing the experience with a cinema full of strangers.

Moral quandries aside, I really did enjoy the tale!

It's all about the money

This book was enjoyable. The beginning was a little slow. I was left wondering why for the first 2 hours were spent delving in to his family melo-drama but quickly this changed to the pursuit of money. And what big money it is. These lawyers don't give a damn about thier clients of the harm done to them. This is about doing 6 months of work and walking away with a fat commission.
It's hard to care about people who's smallest purchase is a $2.3 million dollar beach house and who's most painfull soul-searching involves whether to buy the $32 million dollar personal jet, or the $45 million dollar model.
The wealth being thrown around is unimaginable and that all of this comes from the backs of innocent victims is alarming. The world is clear and interesting. I felt as if I were sitting along side the main characters. The ending seemed a little sudden. I think this will make a good movie. It might do for mass Tort law what Oliver Stone's "Wall Street" did for the stock market. I do know that now every time I see an advertisement on TV by a big law firm looking for clients (who took bad medications), I laugh.

An awakening of Class Torts

After listening to this book & knowing the story is fiction, the concept of class action is truly a disgusting way to make living...

Thank you, again, Mr. Grisham!!!

I love love love this narrator!

great story had me on the edge of my seat. The ending seemed a little abrupt though I wish it continued a little bit longer to finish up the story. overall really really good book. one of my favorite narrators

Good novel, but not a Grisham best

This book is a good novel, but I do not think it is one of Grisham's best. It does not keep your attention as well as most of Grisham's do. I think he has done better on his "non-law fiction" books lately (Skipping Christmas and The Painted House). It is still a good book to listen to!

An Entertaining Story to listened too!

Excellent entertainment. The reader did a great job reading, using expressions, different voices, and tone to enhance the story.

Fine read but not up to the reputation of a Grisham novel

Having read and or/listened to many John Grisham novels I was constantly waiting on the twist, the cleaver attorney running from advisories and outwitting everyone. The book began with a feeling that there would be investment in the success of the lead character and I expected a mystery to begin to unfold in true Grisham fashion. What occurred instead was a timeline of events that lead our character down a path that not only was not invested in his success but ultimately lost any interest in what happens to him at all. As it became more evident there would be no twist or intrigue that make our character the hero I realized that there were going to be absolutely no winners in this at all. It seamed to be the authors personal indictment of tort litigation, which was still an interesting topic, but not what I expected when I bought the book. I can’t say I was disappointed as the author is still a great story teller but I finished the book feeling as though I should have bought a different book.