The Client

By: John Grisham

Narrated by: Blair Brown

Length: 5 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's Summary

This is the story of 11-year-old Mark Sway, who witnessed the bizarre suicide of a New Orleans attorney. Just before he dies, the lawyer tells Mark a deadly secret concerning the recent murder of a Louisiana senator whose accused killer, Mafia thug Barry Muldanno, is about to go to trial. The police, the federal prosecutor, and the FBI pressure Mark to tell them the attorney's last words, but Mark knows that with the mob watching his every move, revealing his secret will almost surely get him killed. So Mark, streetwise and old beyond his years, hires a lawyer: Reggie Love, a 52-year-old divorcee who's been through more than anyone could imagine and survived, basically because she's tough. And feisty. And loves helping kids overlooked or abused by the system. When Mark's life is threatened, and Reggie discovers her office has been bugged, and even the juvenile court judge says Mark has no choice but to talk, she realizes that this time she's in way over her head. But then Mark comes up with a plan...a crazy plan, in Reggie's opinion, but it's their only hope. And it just might work.

©1993 John Grisham (P)1993 Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio Publishing, Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio Publishing, A Division of Random House Inc.

Great story but..............

What did you love best about The Client?

The story line was good and the characters were well described and fun to get to know.

What did you like best about this story?

The characters and the fact that it was based on a child (Mark) as the main character.

What three words best describe Blair Brown’s voice?

clear, pleasant, appropriate for the story

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

It made me smile often due to the character traits of Mark. He's a cool kid.

Any additional comments?

I listen to quite a few audio books and the only thing I did not like about this one was the music that continued to play over the narration. It was distracting and did not add to the story. I would not have minded hearing some music between chapters or before a turn in the story line for emphasis, but music should never be playing while the narrator is speaking. It was annoying and almost made me stop listening to this book.

9 of 9 people found this review helpful

Thin storyline, jarring music

This is one of the worst Grisham books I've listened to. Very thin storyline, little action, no suspense. Maybe it's because I listened to the abridged version, which is something I never do. Still, I was grateful when it was over. I don't know if I could have listened to the entirety of the unabridged version.

The characters were tired caricatures, especially the cranky judge. No substance to any of them.

This reading also had some loud, obnoxious musical interludes sprinkled in. The music didn't fit the story and was quite annoying.

I'm not a big fan of Blair Brown but she was okay in this instance.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Decently abridged, but not Grisham's most exciting

For once, a decently abridged book. While there are still bits of the story not perfectly explained, and a few characters missing some background, the story almost flows like a regular book - far better than any other book I've heard. The narrator is easy to understand.
On the down side, it's not Grisham's most exciting book. A little slow based and unusually predictable. And the annoying music between chapters and occasionally in the background doesn't help.

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

Easily Made Into a Movie

Any additional comments?

This book could obviously be made into a movie. A ton of pointless details, a ton. Although the best courtroom scenes in this book were somehow the ones that they left out of the movie.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

The Client

I was not satisfied with the book, it was to unbelievable, it did not hold my interest like other Grisham Novels.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

A Must Read!!!

This was a great book!! It was a really good movie, but the book waaaaaaaay better!!

Quick Read

Book itself was good. However, I could have done without the cheesy, unnecessary musical interludes throughout the performance.

Not the best...

This was slow and disappointing. Predictable at every turn. 👎🏼 not the best Grisham I’ve read.

Abridged or Not

Very unhappy with Audible. This recoding must be abridged. Why do they not offer an unabridged copy. Don’t waste your credit or money. I’m going to return this title now.

Great Story

I love John Grisham...I love The Client...I loved Blair Brown’s narration...but I hate the music interludes! They were in The Pelican Brief, too, and very distracting!