Helpful Score: 1
Highly suspenseful fictional book that brings reality of election of jurists and present day issues to be revisted. Through Mr. Grisham powerful story is told a scenerio involving the system of electing individuals for the State Supreme Courts, greed of big business and many trial lawyers, and the struggles to represent and protect the citizens with many agendas. This book is definitely a timely and shocking "plot twisting" story which will leave the reader with inability to think of the judicial system in the same "innocent" way again.
Well written and well read. If you're listening in the car the miles will fly by. Grisham is a master of plot and character development.
I enjoyed this audio-book...mostly. At times the plot rambled a bit, but during the long drive I took while listening to the 10 CDs, it was interesting enough for me to keep going with it. I did find the reader's voice and southern accent a bit annoying at times. If you like Grisham, you will not be disappointed.
Michael Beck is one of my favorite Narrators and he does a superb job on this one as well. Characters are distinguishable by their voices and his timing and cadence made this a delight to listen to. The story however, my opinion is love/hate. Grisham's writing was on target as always, but this book should make you HATE big business and how they can negatively impact our lives on so many levels. In a few states in this country, Mississippi being one of them, supreme court justices are elected rather than appointed - which means the seat is available to whomever has the most money.
My husband and I listened to this book on a recent trip to the Smokey Mountains. Here is the entire back description:
In a crowded courtroom in Mississippi, a jury returns a shocking verdict against a chemical company accused of dumping toxic waste into a small town's water supply, causing the worse "cancer cluster" in history. The company appeals to the Mississippi Supreme Court, whose nine justices will one day either approve the verdict or reverse it.
Who are the nine? How will they vote? Can one be replaced before the case is ultimately decided?
The chemical company is owned by a Wall Street predator named Carl Trudeau, and Mr. Trudeau is convinced the Court is not friendly enough. With judicial elections looming, he decides to try to purchase himself a seat on the Court. The cost is a few million dollars, a drop in the bucket for a billionaire like Mr. Trudeau. Through an intricate web of conspiracy and deceit, his political operatives recruit a young, unsuspecting candidate. They finance him, manipulate him, market him, and mold him into a potential Supreme Court justice. THEIR Supreme Court justice.
"The Appeal" is a powerful, timely, and shocking story of political and legal intrigue, a story that will leave listeners unable to think about our electoral process or judicial system in quite the same way ever again.
In a crowded courtroom in Mississippi, a jury returns a shocking verdict against a chemical company accused of dumping toxic waste into a small town's water supply, causing the worse "cancer cluster" in history. The company appeals to the Mississippi Supreme Court, whose nine justices will one day either approve the verdict or reverse it.
Who are the nine? How will they vote? Can one be replaced before the case is ultimately decided?
The chemical company is owned by a Wall Street predator named Carl Trudeau, and Mr. Trudeau is convinced the Court is not friendly enough. With judicial elections looming, he decides to try to purchase himself a seat on the Court. The cost is a few million dollars, a drop in the bucket for a billionaire like Mr. Trudeau. Through an intricate web of conspiracy and deceit, his political operatives recruit a young, unsuspecting candidate. They finance him, manipulate him, market him, and mold him into a potential Supreme Court justice. THEIR Supreme Court justice.
"The Appeal" is a powerful, timely, and shocking story of political and legal intrigue, a story that will leave listeners unable to think about our electoral process or judicial system in quite the same way ever again.
