Sample
  • The Rainmaker

  • A Novel
  • By: John Grisham
  • Narrated by: Frank Muller
  • Length: 16 hrs and 59 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (4,180 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Rainmaker

By: John Grisham
Narrated by: Frank Muller
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $20.25

Buy for $20.25

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “A taut and terrific page-turner” (Entertainment Weekly) from the master of the courtroom thriller

In development as a USA Network series starring John Slattery

It’s summer in Memphis. The sweat is sticking to Rudy Baylor’s shirt and creditors are nipping at his heels. Once he had aspirations of breezing through law school and punching his ticket to the good life. Now he doesn’t have a job or a prayer—except for one: an insurance dispute that leaves a family devastated and opens the door for a lawsuit, if Rudy can find a way to file it.

By the time Rudy gets to court, a heavyweight corporate defense team is there to meet him. And suddenly he’s in over his head, plunged into a nightmare of lies and legal maneuverings. A case that started small is exploding into a thunderous million-dollar war of nerves, skill, and outright violence—a fight that could cost one young lawyer his life, or turn him into the biggest rainmaker in the land.

©1995 John Grisham (P)1995 Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio Publishing, Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio Publishing, A Division of Random House Inc.

Critic reviews

“A mighty narrative talent and an unerring eye for hot-button issues . . . Grisham also reveals for the first time a surprising knack for comedy.”Chicago Sun-Times

“Great fun to read . . . The complex plotting is Grisham’s major accomplishment.”Los Angeles Times

“Passages in The Rainmaker are reminiscent of Pat Conroy. . . . This is Grisham’s most barbed book since The Firm, and it is by far his most entertaining.”People

“Melding the courtroom savvy of A Time to Kill with the psychological nuance of The Chamber, imbued with wry humor and rich characters, this bittersweet tale, the author’s quietest and most thoughtful, shows that Grisham’s imagination can hold its own in a courtroom as well as on the violent streets outside.”Publishers Weekly

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 Rainmaker

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2,896
  • 4 Stars
    972
  • 3 Stars
    238
  • 2 Stars
    49
  • 1 Stars
    25
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2,454
  • 4 Stars
    592
  • 3 Stars
    158
  • 2 Stars
    43
  • 1 Stars
    29
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2,373
  • 4 Stars
    695
  • 3 Stars
    162
  • 2 Stars
    32
  • 1 Stars
    13

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Really?

Waited 12 hours for such an anticlimactic ending. Kind of disappointing. The rest of the story was great. Way too many loose ends left untied.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

After "the firm" my favorite Grisham book

After the firm my favorite John Grisham book. Great storyline. At times a bit predictable

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Captivating

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

One of the best audiobooks I've ever listened to. Excellent narration, satisfying storyline. Highly recommend it!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Story good, narrator bad

Loved the story. I always root for the underdog, and this checks all the boxes. The narrator leaves much to be desired for me, though. I have tried listening to other audio books he has narrated, and I have had to quit the book after a chapter.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Felt like 3 books in 1, but great stuff.

At times the story felt like it was all over the place. Ms. Birdie's will, Kelly Ryker's abuse, and Donnie Ray Black's denied insurance claim were all interesting and I think Grisham could've written three shorter separate novels about each of them if he wanted to, but instead threw them all together in one. Still, Grisham doesn't dissapoint. The Rainmaker is another of Grisham's underdog lawyer stories that stands on par with The Firm and A Time to Kill.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A nail biter!!

This was a great story of lil guy beats the big guy!! Big guy goes down!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

The Rainmaker

One of Grisham's best.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Outstanding Story

I am solitary loved this book! I used to work for a medical facility so a story about an insurance company doing shady things was definitely up my alley. This book was very well written, the pacing was good, the narrator was excellent.

The only issues were some of the story could have been edited out and it still would have been great. I felt like there was a lot of unnecessary parts.

The second issue was that occasionally the narrator would repeat lines. I believe this was dubbed over from the CD so that might have something to do with it.

This book is outstanding and I will be suggesting it to everyone!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Good story but........

Poor editing. Many areas are repeated twice. The reader sounds too old for the part. Otherwise I enjoyed the story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent

Very interesting with many unexpected twists. I the reader is very good, but the story is intriguing

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!