The Rainmaker

We all know that to make a good joke, you've got to exaggerate the right elements while ignoring what isn't funny. John Grisham creates a slapstick winner with a book about a bumbling young lawyer who isn't going to Wall Street . . . in fact, he has to declare bankruptcy before he passes the bar exam.

But don't confuse this book with a humorous book about the law. This novel would have to be toned down by about 60 degrees before that would be possible. This is a comic book version of a funny story about "what if" a law student didn't have a job, any money, or any connections after three years of torts and briefs.

Rudy Baylor is dragged by his professor to a meeting of senior citizens to give out free advice. He meets the meeting's hostess who wants to change her will to favor a television evangelist with her millions. Rudy also meets the parents of a young man who will die from leukemia because the insurance company wouldn't pay for a bone marrow transplant.

This all seems like a pleasant way to spend a few hours finishing a class until Rudy's promised job evaporates in a shotgun law firm merger. Now, he tries to trade off his leads into some cash and some work. The complications are unexpected, unrealistic, and slapstick funny. There's a sweetness to Rudy's character that you won't find in many real lawyers that makes the book work.

I found myself wondering what pratfalls John Grisham would foist on poor Rudy next. That was a major part of the attraction of the story.

If you hate lawyers and insurance companies, you'll find nothing to discourage either view in this jaundiced critique of the legal profession.

But you'll have some smiles and chuckles along the way, neither of which would happen if there were any real lawyers around.

Plenty of plot reviews about this book -it's Grisham, so I won't go any further to describe it. The plot was thin, IMO, hardly much struggle (conflict), with not much of a climax. But it read so, so well! I was completely entertained on every page. I wanted to know what would happen next, and I can't even explain why. I just know I liked it!

The rainmaker was my second Grisham (after The Testament), my expectations from the book were very high (particularly after reading the so many five star reviews and knowing that it seems Grisham's most popular work). I found the book was entertaining, fun to read nevertheless lacked of something, for example in the beginning of the book Rudy faces an event which later in the book is not even mentionned, he is pursued by the police for suspicion of having burnt down a building, this makes a big fuss in the start of the book but then is completely forgotten? What happened there I don't know? Did Mr. Grisham forget to continue that part of the story...? Also a similar thing happens with Mrs. Birdy, a woman who seems the center of attention quiet regularly throughout the book, as she is a ''millionaire'' and the young Lawyer advices her a lot about her will and how she should share her money after her death, towards the end of the book it seemed to me at some point that the author barely gave any attention to her story and merely disclosed the affair by saying that she was after all not a millionaire but thought she was and actually had barely any money.. I found that a bit strange as well.

In the end the young Lawyer wins the case, but nothing much happens, he ends up leaving the town with the young girl he has met at the Hospital, the closing line being that he will not practice Law as a career but prefer to teach History (a simple life rather than a complicated one), ok fair enough but the decision seemed a bit sudden, and the final note of the book was also a bit suprising.

Entertaining, but I had found it dissapointing and most of all surprising that so many people praise the book so much.

This isn't a mystery, nor is it a thriller. There are no sadistic serial killers slinking through the night, no wondering who the killer is, no car chases, etc. Despite that, this is a suspenseful book that had me cheering for the little guy to prevail.

A newly minted lawyer in Memphis takes on a mega insurance company, represented by a pack of lawyers who have initials in front of their names and Roman numberals behind. And lest I forget, expensive clothes and haughty smirks. The issue: the insurance company arbitrarialy turned down coverage for a bone marrow transplant that would have saved the life of a young man with cancer. Every trick is used to reject coverage, to obfuscate, to delay. As an aside, I worked in insurance for over 26 years, and Mr. Grisham's version represents what I saw and sometimes did. I'm not proud of it.

Apparently some other reviewers read a different book from the one I read. One said that the characters were not well drawn. I thought they were excellent. Some doubted the plot. Don't doubt it. Grisham stacked the cards, but that's the nature of fiction. This book along with the movie "Sicko" give an accurate picture of how insurance companies often operate. Adjusters are not promoted for how fairly they settle claims by the terms of the policy but by how many claims they can deny or settle for a sum below what the policy promises. "We're on your side" and "good hands" are what all companies promise, one way or another, but they are promises that are not always delivered.

I've not always been fond of Grisham's novels, but this one is a winner. It also has some nice surprises, ones I certainly didn't expect. That added to the pleasure in reading this.

This is a can't-miss Grisham! This is one of his best books. Classic.

Who doesn't love a thriller with an underdog chasing the greedy and corrupt insurance company, to make them pay for cheating their customers? Especially one that is so dirty that they would rather lose a life than to pay out benefits. Great characters, story and ending. It was fast-paced but thorough in the story and development. Loved it!!