The Rainmaker

A Novel

By: John Grisham

Narrated by: Frank Muller

Length: 16 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • Grisham returns to the courtroom and weaves a riveting tale of legal intrigue and corporate greed.

Grisham's sixth spellbinding novel of legal intrigue and corporate greed displays all of the intricate plotting, fast-paced action, humor, and suspense that have made him the most popular author of our time.

In his first courtroom thriller since A Time To Kill, John Grisham tells the story of a young man barely out of law school who finds himself taking on one of the most powerful, corrupt, and ruthless companies in America -- and exposing a complex, multibillion-dollar insurance scam. In his final semester of law school Rudy Baylor is required to provide free legal advice to a group of senior citizens, and it is there that he meets his first "clients," Dot and Buddy Black.

Their son, Donny Ray, is dying of leukemia, and their insurance company has flatly refused to pay for his medical treatments. While Rudy is at first skeptical, he soon realizes that the Blacks really have been shockingly mistreated by the huge company, and that he just may have stumbled upon one of the largest insurance frauds anyone's ever seen -- and one of the most lucrative and important cases in the history of civil litigation. The problem is, Rudy's flat broke, has no job, hasn't even passed the bar, and is about to go head-to-head with one of the best defense attorneys -- and powerful industries -- in America.

Don’t miss John Grisham’s new book, THE EXCHANGE: AFTER THE FIRM!

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

Critic reviews

"Great fun to read.... The complex plotting is Grisham's major accomplishment." (Los Angeles Times)

"A taut and terrific page-turner." (Entertainment Weekly)

Wow. Just wow.

So, how I missed this title by Grisham all these years is beyond me. I'll scold myself later. But for now - the review. First and foremost, Frank Muller could make the Declaration of Independence sound interesting. For real. He narrates with such passion, he's seriously one of the best in the business. He makes all the characters come to life. Now, the story. Fabulous tale of good vs evil. The evil world of corruption in the insurance industry that actually exists. I like the fact that this book is older and set in days before the internet ruined the universe. Fax machines, pay phones, libraries all are mentioned. I did not want this book to end. I stayed on treadmill and extra 32 minutes just so I could finish it. Thought I'd die, but I couldn't let Rudy's story go unfinished another day. Grisham's intermingling of humor with drama is perfection. I found my jaw dropping in some parts, and found myself laughing out loud in others. Get this book. Today.

Hard to believe

This story about a good attorney to be is hard to swallow. The story is compelling in that things like this due happen.

A great, creative novel about a young lawyer

Extremely well written and very enjoyable. I wanted to keep listening to it and got through it very quickly. The first book of John Grisham that I read, and it won’t be the last!

One of Grisham's Best

This is a great story that takes us from a law student's last year in school through a gripping trial. The twists and turns keep us guessing. You are not going to predict what is coming next easily. I cannot say enough about this work.

The characters are believable really easy to like (and dislike.) The writing keeps the listener interested all the way through. This one makes the miles go by fast.

At this point there needs to be a note on the technical side of creating this audio book. The process to convert this title to Audible format is very sloppy.

It is reasonably certain Audible took this audio book from commercially produced CD's available in book stores. This book treats the listener to the fade out and fade in between disk changes. At one point we hear an announcer tell us "This is disk 8."

The production glitches are not distracting enough to take all that much from the story, but they are distracting. Technical issues really affect some listeners so it needs to be mentioned here.

It also wouldn't hurt Audible to get some feedback on the their production standards.

the best so far

i have only read a few of his books and this by far is the best. I love books that take you where you are not expecting. Narrator is great too. I definetly didnt want this book to end.

All-time Fav

One of my favorites. I must have listened to this book 20 times.

Terrific listen

A good story by the BEST narrator.

Have you listened to any of Frank Muller’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I've listened to almost all of Frank Muller's other performances. I specifically looked up some old books that he did just for the joy of hearing his voice again. He was one of the greats and his story makes me sad. Enjoy a great book read by the GREAT Frank Muller.

One of Grisham's Best

Would you consider the audio edition of The Rainmaker to be better than the print version?

Quite focused without a lot of side stories. More focused than some of his later books.I found myself laughing out loud quite a number of times during the reading. Just finished two other Grisham books this weeks and there was no humor at all. Makes me wonder if the same person wrote all these books. Lots of interesting information and the ending was unpredictable which is always fun. Problem I found in 2 recorded audio books this week was poor editing because of repetition of the same line at least 6 times.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Rudy was my favorite because he is the head of the pack. The story is definitely about him and his beginnings as a lawyer.

What three words best describe Frank Muller’s performance?

Very excellent narration. Voices of characters were believable and different with a very large range of accents and tonalities. Very different from the narration of the Whistleblower which I read earlier this week and which narration was not enjoyable and it distracted me from the story.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. I couldn't do it all in one sitting but I had a bad flu this week and this was the perfect answer to keep me in bed and getting better by plenty of hot tea and bedrest. Very absorbing and I read 3 of his novels this week in bed, got very much better. A pleasant way to get bed rest and get over the flu.

Any additional comments?

I was hapy to read some reviews before I bought. I think these are very helpful and I do always read them before buying.

John Grisham "The Rainmaker"

If you could sum up The Rainmaker in three words, what would they be?

Super Super Super

Who was your favorite character and why?

Don't have a favorite character

Have you listened to any of Frank Muller’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This was the first one I have listened to by Frank Muller. I like it.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I like the book.

Any additional comments?

None

Riveting

My husband & I listened to The Rainmaker on our last trip. Loved it, had to finish listening once we arrived home.