John Grisham as a child dreamed of being a professional baseball player. After graduating from law school at Ole Miss in 1981, he went on to practice law for nearly a decade, specialising in criminal defense and personal injury litigation. One day, Grisham overheard the harrowing testimony of a twelve-year-old rape victim and was inspired to start a novel exploring what would have happened if the girl's father had murdered her assailants. Getting up at 5 a.m. every day to get in several hours of writing time before heading off to work, Grisham spent three years on A Time to Kill and finished it in 1987. His next novel, The Firm, spent 47 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list and became the bestselling novel of 1991. Since then, he has written one novel a year, including The Client, The Pelican Brief, The Rainmaker and The Runaway Jury. Today, Grisham has written a collection of stories, a work of non-fiction, three sports novels, seven kids' books, and many legal thrillers. His work has been translated into 45 languages. He lives near Charlottesville, Virginia.
Invites comparisons with the Godfather trilogy - it spans two generations and several postwar decades - and has a vast cast and a winning energy * The Sunday Times * No one . . . writes courtroom dramas like Grisham . . . As ever with Grisham there are corkscrew twists and turns as he ratchets up the suspense. It is exceptional story-telling, which leaves the reader begging for the novel never to end. Grisham has sold more than 300 million copies of his work. This shows exactly why * Daily Mail * Grisham nails a thriller with a great human backstory once again * Peterborough Telegraph * Grisham has been stretching his wings in recent books. Having ventured into cosy crime, he now takes on a full-blown Godfather-type saga . . . It's a story that spans half a century and ends inevitably in a courtroom showdown. A morally complex, compelling and illuminating read * Mail on Sunday * Captivates the reader from the off . . . Grisham's trademarks abound: a talent for storytelling that whips the plot along, a vivid cast of characters - testy judges, put-upon mothers, corrupt cops and vicious thugs . . . He writes with verve and skill. A cracking read * Irish Independent * Grisham took over Turow's mantle as America's legal thriller master and he is on good form in this story about childhood pals who take different paths as adults . . . Slick * The Sun * a hair-raising legal showdown by the brilliant, prolific master of the courtroom drama * Saga Magazine * A white-knuckle courtroom drama * Irish Independent *