The Rainmaker

A Novel

De: John Grisham

Narrado por: Frank Muller

#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.

Reseñas de la Crítica

“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

One of his best

Haven't read a Grisham novel yet that I didn't like, but this one was exceptionally good. I rode around the block a few times so I didn't have to stop listening.

wow

What a cool story. Learned a lot about insurance and lawyers. I don't like either.

Not Totally Disappointed

I decided to give Grisham another try, and truthfully it was the tone of the narrator's voice on the sample that helped me to make the decision. I became fully bored after about 4 or 5 hours of listening -- too much fluff. I was tempted to give up listening, but plodded on. Yes, I like a story to have texture and believability but too many extraneous characters and too many subplots makes me frustrated when I have not been given good reasons to care about them. Nevertheless, the story wrapped up well. Honestly, I struggled to finish because the main story did not start to grab my attention until about 8 to 10 hours of listening. However, I did like the main character almost from the beginning (I tend to cheer for the underdog!) My next favorite character is Dex, an interesting and resourceful person. I am not sure how the title of the story fits except in a vague kind of way, the word rainmaker was only mentioned once (unless I missed it), it could be in reference to the old adage, "when it rains it pours" because the main character struggled for the first 4/5 hours of listening just to find a job and like another old adage says, "if it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have any luck at all." I have heard that rainmaker refers to the lawyer who brings "big bucks" into a law firm. I don't want to give anything away so I will stop writing. But I still think the story could have been tightened up a good bit.

The narrator's voice was nice and soothing. He has good acting abilities. Muller's performance exceeded enjoyable. Another criticism is that 10 to 12 times during the 16 hour listen, sentences are repeated which was a distraction but didn't take away from the narration or story in any way.

Terrific book

Muller is a great reader and Grisham is a wonderful writer. The story is well crafted and the book is suspenseful. I highly recommend it.

Grisham at his very best!

By far and away my favorite Grisham Book! Has both tears and laughter. A good lesson about what is wrong with the Health Care / Insurance mess in the states.

Totally entertaining.

Would you listen to The Rainmaker again? Why?

Yes. The story was rich with interesting characters and was gripping from one scene to the next. Frank Muller was an excellent narrator and brought all the characters to life.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Rudy, the main character, was my favorite. In the beginning of the book, he makes some bad decisions and is overly trusting and naive. But as the story progresses, he learns from his mistakes and ends up outsmarting the bad guys. He's an easy going guy with a sense of humor and a very caring side, but he's also smart and calculating. It's easy for the bad guys to underestimate him and his performance in the court room during the big trial is very impressive.

Which character – as performed by Frank Muller – was your favorite?

Frank Muller did an excellent job with all the characters. He even did a great job with the female ones, which often does not work very well with a male reader.

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

This book is gripping and very entertaining. I was drawn in quickly and was anxious to find out what would happen next.

Any additional comments?

My only complaint about this book is that it is recorded off the audio CDs and some of the text between chapters is repeated and you hear a "insert disk 8" or something like that. Too bad audible did not check the recording and edit these mistakes out. But, these mistakes do not take away from the overall story and performance enough to complain too much.

My all time favorite John Grisham novel.

I loved this book when I first read it in the mid ninetys and still was glued to the story two decades later. highly recommended.

Very good but not great

A good read but not top notch for John Grisham. It follows his theme of victims wins over big business.

Great book!!!

Another great book but a head scratcher ending!!! One thing I know about John Grisham the good guy doesn't ride off in the sun set he wins the fight but loses the war!!! I can't wait to read another book by him though.

Much more than the movie

The narrator was very skillfull in the way he depicted all the different characters. Suspencful ---couldn't quit listening!