Sample
  • The Rainmaker

  • A Novel
  • By: John Grisham
  • Narrated by: Frank Muller
  • Length: 16 hrs and 59 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (4,179 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
    237
  • 2 Stars
    49
  • 1 Stars
    25
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2,454
  • 4 Stars
    592
  • 3 Stars
    157
  • 2 Stars
    43
  • 1 Stars
    29
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2,373
  • 4 Stars
    695
  • 3 Stars
    161
  • 2 Stars
    32
  • 1 Stars
    13

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

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

Good Read


Started off a little slow but got very good in a short time. Something unique was that the lawyer quit the law in the end.

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
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story…but

The story line is great, but multiple times a line is repeated. Very distracting and annoying.

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 story

I truly enjoyed this story as always JG creates interesting characters that I want to hear more about.
Side Note: The Audible editing on this book was horrible.

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

Fantastic story. Well narrated.

Loved the story. Very detailed and interesting. Very well researched.
Twists and turns. Very intelligent.
Perfectly narrated.
A real joy.

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

here's to the Truth!

The last two years in my life were spent battling for disability pay from my employer's insurance provider. It took so long it turned our lives upside down. Rainmaker, although not about disability payoff, still has an uncanny similarity to our experience. Funny thing, a short time ago we saw that real company on tv being interviewed with basically the same scandal of "Great Benefit" in the novel. Great telling, and sorry to tell you it can be the TRUTH

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

26 people found this helpful

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

great storyline

such good characters and great story lines. I really liked the reader. he did good voices. I highly recommend this book.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

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

Loved it

I loved this book. The story is still relevant. It has intrigue, mystery, excitement and throughly captures the listener. The court room scenes are tremendous. I believe narration is award winning, making the book a success.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

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

Another wonderful book...

What made the experience of listening to The Rainmaker the most enjoyable?

The narrator Frank Muller...he always brings the characters to life really well. Great story line too.

What did you like best about this story?

Getting an inside look into the legal system....glad I didn't go to law school.

What does Frank Muller bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Well defined characters...I wasn't confused about anything in the story line. Frank was very good at this. Never gets anywhere near being mono leveled or boring when doing the characters.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

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

captivating

loved the characters and story line. Kept my interest throughout.
Recording has quite a few repeats of sentences, irritating.

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
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

great story but the narration has gliches

periodically the narration would repeat a couple of sentences without my touching the rewind buttons. It's not so frequent that it interferes with the story but it is noticable.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!