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Book Reviews of The Client

The Client
The Client
Author: John Grisham
ISBN-13: 9780440213529
ISBN-10: 0440213525
Publication Date: 3/1/1994
Pages: 576
Rating:
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 1091

3.8 stars, based on 1091 ratings
Publisher: Dell
Book Type: Paperback
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

102 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

Poncer avatar reviewed The Client on + 8 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
This book is one of the reasons he is a best selling author
KimsClub avatar reviewed The Client on + 53 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
Compelling...Absorbing...Wildly Original...Magical...John Grisham continues to dazzle with each legal thriller. The Client is richly textured, cunningly crafted, and poignant, and boat a refreshingly different hero: an 11 year old boy. Mark Sway is unforgettable...Everything rings true, from the authentic milieu and vividly portrayed supporting cast to the behind the scenes view of the criminal justice system.
scrapbooklady avatar reviewed The Client on + 472 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Grisham has once again crafted a thriller. His portrayal of the eleven year old boy is masterful as he jumps into the kid's head in every chapter. Absolutely gripping and highly believable.
Royalesque avatar reviewed The Client on + 2 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
For me personally, the book was a little hard to get into at first. But of course, thats probably just because of my broken reading tendencies because as the story unfolded, I got more and more hooked on the story; on the edge of my seat, anxious to find out what would happen next!

Mark Sway is a kid you cant help but admire and fall in love with. At 11 years old, he is experiencing something NO child should ever be face with. Yet, hes determined to protect his family at all costs, proving to be wiser than his years.

Reggie Love is a feisty lawyer who helps kids (who she refers to as clients) overlooked or abused by the system. She definitely goes above and beyond her call of duty when it comes to her little clients. When danger arose after meeting Mark Sway she would do anything to protect him; even if that meant putting her own life in the hands of an 11 year old boy with a crazy plan

Overall, I REALLY enjoyed this book. The book, although law-related, is easy to read because of Grishams writing style. It contains a great story with unique characters and unbelievable suspense. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good suspense, thriller. I also recommend the movie if you haven't already seen it!

DISCLAIMER: This review although my own, contains some rephrasing of the original blurb written by the author. Specifically, the character descriptions.
reviewed The Client on + 204 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Once again Grisham proves he can build characters that you feel you have a relationship with. The ending had me teary eyed. This was moving and sensitive book. I wanted to finish the book as quickly as possible just so I could find out what would happen to Mark and his mother.
reviewed The Client on + 34 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This book about a young boy who sees something he shouldn't It is scary biscuits! Prosecutors are willing to break all the rules to make Mark talk. The mob will stop at nothing to keep him quiet. Engrossing!
reviewed The Client on
Helpful Score: 1
This book is another example of John Grisham's excellent writing. It has ups and downs all the way to the end. Even you readers who usually figure it out half way through wont have a clue until the end.
Mellowreader avatar reviewed The Client on
Helpful Score: 1
This was one of the most enjoyable thrillers I've read in a long time. It kept me on the edge of my seat during the entire book and I was sorry when it ended.
reviewed The Client on + 211 more book reviews
Far superior to the movie!
reviewed The Client on + 210 more book reviews
Prosecuters are willing to break rules to make him talk. The mob will stop at nothing to keep him quiet. And Reggie will do anything to protect her client-even take a last, desperate gamble that could win Mark his freedom...or cost them both their lives.
reviewed The Client on + 15 more book reviews
Good read.. suspenseful and entertaining!
reviewed The Client on + 57 more book reviews
Eleven-year-old Mark Sway and his younger brother were sharing a forbidden cigarette when a chance encounter with a suicidal lawyer left Mark knowing a bloody and explosive secret: the whereabouts of the most sought-after dead body in America. Now Mark is caught between a legal system gone mad and a mob killer desperate to cover up his crime. And his only ally is a woman named Reggie Love, who has been a lawyer for all of four years.
reviewed The Client on + 7 more book reviews
Good Grisham thriller.
reviewed The Client on + 12 more book reviews
Another Grisham thriller. Very enjoyable!
reviewed The Client on
I really enjoyed reading this book and almost could not put it down. The ending was kind of surprising for me, but I almost guessed the ending before I got there. Overall, great reading material to pass the time.
reviewed The Client on + 6 more book reviews
I really enjoy reading Grisham.
lipslady avatar reviewed The Client on + 101 more book reviews
I stayed riveted throughout this book!
reviewed The Client on
This is a good suspense book. I fyou have seen the movie you will like to read the book too.
Jess77 avatar reviewed The Client on + 66 more book reviews
Interesting story...
reviewed The Client on + 16 more book reviews
Mark Sway, age 11 but years wiser thanks to a drunken dad who abused his mom, is out in the woods behind his Memphis trailer park teaching his kid brother, Ricky, how to smoke Virginia Slims heisted from Mom's purse. He's a pretty upright kid--he's determined to protect his brother from drugs, and he once defended his mom with a baseball bat.

The dangers of smoking rapidly escalate when Mark glimpses a guy trying to commit suicide by carbon monoxide in his car nearby and tries to stop him. The guy is Jerome, a lawyer who tells Mark that his Mafia client has murdered Senator Boyd Boyette and buried him in the concrete under his garage in New Orleans. Then Jerome puts a bullet in his own head. Little Ricky flips out, and so does Barry the Blade Muldanno, who doesn't want blustery U.S. attorney Reverend Roy Foltrigg to find the corpse and bust him. Caught in a ruthless game between the Mob and the amoral authorities, Mark's family has no defense in the world except Reggie Love, a 50ish divorcée who has just turned her life around by becoming a lawyer. Does she have what it takes to help Mark beat the system? The life-or-death chase is on!

Mark has seen a lot of movies, and he sees life in cinematic terms. So does Grisham. Even if this novel had never been filmed, it would still be a really good, fast-paced movie. Its literary limitation is also its filmlike virtue: The Client is a rush.
reviewed The Client on + 6 more book reviews
The movie stayed very true to this book, even duplicating exact dialogue. Thrilling book, just like the film.
reviewed The Client on + 44 more book reviews
This Grisham book is an exciting read.
reviewed The Client on + 15 more book reviews
An 11-year-old boy and his little brother see a murder and the younger brother goes into shock. The book is the story of the 11-year old and his attorney as the boy battles legal problems and the syndicate. Grisham at his best legal eagle story telling.
KaysCMAlbums avatar reviewed The Client on + 97 more book reviews
Legal thriller. 11-year old Mark Sway and his younger brother chance upon a suicide lawyer and Mark witnesses a gruesome scene. He is left knowing a "bloody and explosive secret." The mob will stop at nothing to keep him quiet. Complex crime adventure.
reviewed The Client on + 5 more book reviews
I love this book and all John Grisham books. You just fall in love with the little boy who witnessed a murder.
DanielleFM avatar reviewed The Client on + 177 more book reviews
Great book love john grisham
reviewed The Client on + 4 more book reviews
This is one of my favorite authors - and he didnt let me down
reviewed The Client on + 43 more book reviews
This is one of my favorite Grisham novels. The boy hero is incredible.
reviewed The Client on + 9 more book reviews
Two young brothers are witness a suicide that changes their lives forever. They become caught between the legal system and a mob killer, both desperate for their information. A great suspense and Gresham continues to entertain.
reviewed The Client on + 49 more book reviews
This was one of my favorite movies as a kid, as like usual, the book is always better. It's about a boy and his brother who witness a suicide. But before the guy kills himself, he tells Mark (the main) that he is a high profile attourney that knows where a body of a senator is, and who killed him. It's about the authorities questioning Mark, and about his laywer that he confides in and how they work together to make things work out.
almavida avatar reviewed The Client on
AS always Grisham uses very interesting characters. It was a great reading during my vacation. I am currently reading "The summons" another one of his books and i am enjoying it as well.
reviewed The Client on + 2 more book reviews
Awesome book!
reviewed The Client on
i loved this book. tight, fast paced, and filled with wonderfully intense drama
Hophead avatar reviewed The Client on + 285 more book reviews
Grisham is OK.
reviewed The Client on + 35 more book reviews
a good read.
mrrob avatar reviewed The Client on + 83 more book reviews
Great story! This is the type of writing that keeps the reader wanting to know what's next from the first page. I actually felt like I was reading a story about actual people and events, it was written so well.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes great writing with a bit of suspense.
I give it 5 stars!
freeverse071681 avatar reviewed The Client on + 609 more book reviews
In a weedy lot on the outskirts of Memphis, two boys watch a shiny Lincoln pull up to the curb...Eleven-year-old Mark Sway and his younger brother were sharing a forbidden cigarette when a chance encounter with a suicidal lawyer left Mark knowing a bloody and explosive secret: the whereabouts of the most sought-after dead body in America. Now Mark is caught between a legal system gone mad and a mob killer desperate to cover up his crime. And his only ally is a woman named Reggie Love, who has been a lawyer for all of four years. Prosecutors are willing to break all the rules to make Mark talk. The mob will stop at nothing to keep him quiet. And Reggie will do anything to protect her client--even take a last, desperate gamble that could win Mark his freedom...or cost them both their lives.
reviewed The Client on + 2 more book reviews
My favorite Grisham novel.
reviewed The Client on + 134 more book reviews
Excellent... He's at his best here!
Tunerlady avatar reviewed The Client on + 581 more book reviews
One of the best Grisham's EVER! I fell in love with the main character, an 11 year boy. What a great story - held me riveted until the very end!
sfc95 avatar reviewed The Client on + 686 more book reviews
I read this only because it is on my daughter's 4th grade reading list and I figured that it wasn't appropriate for a fourth grader and I think I was right. Maybe written at that level, but the material is too much. For me it was ok, I am not a huge fan of Grisham and so that probably had alot to play into it, but to me it was too wordy and just wrapped up in a few pages after hundreds of pages leading up to what I felt was nothing.
reviewed The Client on + 6 more book reviews
good read
reviewed The Client on + 60 more book reviews
Eleven year old Mark Sway and his younger brother were sharing a cigarette when a chance encounter with a suicidal lawyer left Mark knowing a bloody and explosive secret:the whereabouts of the most sought-after dead body in America.
reviewed The Client on + 124 more book reviews
Awesome book and movie
reviewed The Client on + 73 more book reviews
Love this one!! Love the movie too.
reviewed The Client on
My favorite of all Grisham's novels.
reviewed The Client on + 204 more book reviews
Once again Grisham proves he can build characters that you feel you have a relationship with. The ending had me teary eyed. This was moving and sensitive book. I wanted to finish the book as quickly as possible just so I could find out what would happen to Mark and his mother.
icesk8tr avatar reviewed The Client on + 363 more book reviews
Mark Sway, age 11 but years wiser thanks to a drunken dad who abused his mom, is out in the woods behind his Memphis trailer park teaching his kid brother, Ricky, how to smoke Virginia Slims heisted from Mom's purse. He's a pretty upright kid--he's determined to protect his brother from drugs, and he once defended his mom with a baseball bat.
The dangers of smoking rapidly escalate when Mark glimpses a guy trying to commit suicide by carbon monoxide in his car nearby and tries to stop him. The guy is Jerome, a lawyer who tells Mark that his Mafia client has murdered Senator Boyd Boyette and buried him in the concrete under his garage in New Orleans. Then Jerome puts a bullet in his own head. Little Ricky flips out, and so does Barry the Blade Muldanno, who doesn't want blustery U.S. attorney Reverend Roy Foltrigg to find the corpse and bust him. Caught in a ruthless game between the Mob and the amoral authorities, Mark's family has no defense in the world except Reggie Love, a 50ish divorcée who has just turned her life around by becoming a lawyer. Does she have what it takes to help Mark beat the system? The life-or-death chase is on!
reviewed The Client on + 13 more book reviews
Much better than the movie!
reviewed The Client on + 2 more book reviews
This was the first book of Grisham's that got me hooked on him. It was such a great story, and I couldn't put it down. There were many late nights I stayed up reading (followed by very tired mornings at school), but it was well worth it.

A must read for any Grisham fan.
reviewed The Client on + 46 more book reviews
Great Grisham book.
reviewed The Client on + 76 more book reviews
Sometimes stories can be told in less words than it takes to fill 566 pages. This is one such story. The begining is interesting but the middle drags and that is where I am stuck trying to force myself to finish the story. All the villians are already identified so I don't know where else the story can go. I have seen the movie but can't recall any of the details of that or whether or not I enjoyed it.
Groan....let me get back to reading it.

Ok, it got my interest again so was able to finish the book. Not too bad, not too good.
wordyone avatar reviewed The Client on + 112 more book reviews
A young boy witnesses a suicide and is left knowing an explosive secret. His only ally is a young lawyer, Reggie Love, who will do anything to protect him from the unscrupulous prosecutors who want him to talk and the mob, who want him dead.
jennycherie avatar reviewed The Client on + 4 more book reviews
One of my favorite Grisham books ever! He has a real talent for writing authentic, believable dialog for children. I cannot bear to read a book (with a main character that is a child) when it is terribly obvious that an adult is writing what he thinks a child would say. Another gripping plot, written superbly.
reviewed The Client on + 7 more book reviews
This book was really good. Would recommend it for anyone who likes John Grisham.
Sander avatar reviewed The Client on + 55 more book reviews
Good book but I felt that Mark's character was all over the place, one minute he was crying which is understandable, but the next he would be mister Tough Guy, and the next crying like a 5 year old. In my honest opinion the film was way better.
reviewed The Client on + 13 more book reviews
In a weedy lot on the outskirts of memphis, two boys watch a shiny Lincoln pull up to the curb...11 year old Mark Sawy and his younger brother were sharing a forbidden cigarette when a chance encounter with a suicidal lawyer left Mark knowing a bloody and explosive secret: the whereabouts of the most sought-after dead body in America.
reviewed The Client on + 19 more book reviews
I enjoyed this Grisham book despite some graphic descriptions in the first couple chapters.
reviewed The Client on + 59 more book reviews
Love this book! John Grisham is an excellent writter.
reviewed The Client on + 29 more book reviews
One of the best!
reviewed The Client on + 240 more book reviews
Wonderful summer reading.
reviewed The Client on + 247 more book reviews
Wow! John Grisham sure writes a page turner! It was very difficult to put down. Very obsorbing. I love books where a child is the main character. It reminded me much of some of the amazing things my boys did around that age.
reviewed The Client on + 8 more book reviews
Decent crime thriller.
reviewed The Client on + 56 more book reviews
very good
reviewed The Client on + 9 more book reviews
Great thriller, maybe Grisham's best.
reviewed The Client on + 16 more book reviews
If you liked the movie, you will love the book... A page turner!!
cloverluv avatar reviewed The Client on + 129 more book reviews
One of my favorite Grishams.
reviewed The Client on + 170 more book reviews
Great John Grisham tale involving an 11 year-old...a LOT of twists and turns!
reviewed The Client on + 10 more book reviews
Very good read. Great for summer trips or travel. A good plot that makes your knuckles white the whole book.
reviewed The Client on + 141 more book reviews
My faborite Grisham!
reviewed The Client on + 4 more book reviews
Another good read from Grisham.
reviewed The Client on + 8 more book reviews
Excellent book! I didn`t want to stop until I finished.
reviewed The Client on + 58 more book reviews
This was my first John Grisham book. I saw the movie on TV first, and then read the book, I have been hooked on Grisham ever since.
reviewed The Client on + 175 more book reviews
A child hires a lawyer, because he is scared because he and his younger brother saw a suicide and the man spoke with him before he died. Criminals and the FBI and other law-enforcement agencies are after him, and he doesn't know what to do! Plus, his brother is in a coma because he's in shaock, so the family has to live in the hospital room. HOw can he get away? How can he groew up safely??

This is another Grisham's exciting books that made me stay up waaaay too late reading! It is not light readiing, but involved, enough to work your brain. It involves a mature child in an adult situation. It has so many people after the child that it takes quite a bit of thinking to keep track of who is with whom. Yet, it is all worth it. Enjoy!
reviewed The Client on
This is a great book. I reccomend everyone to read this
reviewed The Client on + 65 more book reviews
I love Grisham's books...this was a very good read.
reviewed The Client on + 10 more book reviews
One of the best courtroom drama's ever written.
reviewed The Client on + 588 more book reviews
FROM THE BACK COVER:
Eleven-year-old Mark Sway and his younger brother were sharing a forbidden cigarette when a chance encounter with a suicidal lawyer left Mark knowing a bloody and explosive secret: the whereabouts of the most sought-after dead body in America. Now Mark is caught between a legal system gone mad and a mob killer desperate to cover up is crime. And his only ally is a woman named Reggie Love, who has been a lawyer for all of four years.
reviewed The Client on + 7 more book reviews
A great legal suspense story!

From Amazon.com
Mark Sway, age 11 but years wiser thanks to a drunken dad who abused his mom, is out in the woods behind his Memphis trailer park teaching his kid brother, Ricky, how to smoke Virginia Slims heisted from Mom's purse. He's a pretty upright kid--he's determined to protect his brother from drugs, and he once defended his mom with a baseball bat.
The dangers of smoking rapidly escalate when Mark glimpses a guy trying to commit suicide by carbon monoxide in his car nearby and tries to stop him. The guy is Jerome, a lawyer who tells Mark that his Mafia client has murdered Senator Boyd Boyette and buried him in the concrete under his garage in New Orleans. Then Jerome puts a bullet in his own head. Little Ricky flips out, and so does Barry the Blade Muldanno, who doesn't want blustery U.S. attorney Reverend Roy Foltrigg to find the corpse and bust him. Caught in a ruthless game between the Mob and the amoral authorities, Mark's family has no defense in the world except Reggie Love, a 50ish divorcée who has just turned her life around by becoming a lawyer. Does she have what it takes to help Mark beat the system? The life-or-death chase is on!
reviewed The Client on + 14 more book reviews
"Eleven year old Mark Sway and his younger brother were sharing a forbidden cigarette when a chance encounter with a suicidal lawyer left Mark knowing a bloody and explosive secret"
reviewed The Client on + 2 more book reviews
i enjoyed this book very much. I like his style of writting
tessa123 avatar reviewed The Client on
I love this book!!
reviewed The Client on + 13 more book reviews
Compelling, Magical - John Grisham continues to dazzle with each new legal thriller.
reviewed The Client on
This is an awesome book! Grisham has a perfect amount of suspense, action, and thought built into this great book!
reviewed The Client on + 134 more book reviews
Eleven-year-old Mark Sway and his younger brother were sharing a forbidden cigarette when a chance encounter with a suicidal lawyer left Mark knowing a bloody and explosive secret:the whereabouts of the most sought-after body in America.

Now Mark is caught between a legal system gone mad and a mob killer desperate to cover up his crime. And his only ally is a woman named Reggie Love, who has been a lawyer for all of four years.

Prosecutors are willing to break all the rules to make Mark talk. The mob will stop at nothing to keep him quiet. And Reggie will do anything to protect her client-even take a last, desperate gamble that could win Mark his freedom...or cost them both their lives.
reviewed The Client on + 24 more book reviews
Good thriller- eleven year old Mark Sway and his brother find out a secret that threatens their life.Their only ally is Reggie Love-who has been a lawyer all of 4 years
squeakers244 avatar reviewed The Client on + 67 more book reviews
Good read a story that keeps you reading.
reviewed The Client on + 8 more book reviews
A classic.
reviewed The Client on
I couldn't even finish it... not up to my Grisham standards, apparently.
reviewed The Client on + 175 more book reviews
A child hires a lawyer, because he is scared because he and his younger brother saw a suicide and the man spoke with him before he died. Criminals and the FBI and other law-enforcement agencies are after him, and he doesn't know what to do! Plus, his brother is in a coma because he's in shaock, so the family has to live in the hospital room. HOw can he get away? How can he groew up safely??

This is another Grisham's exciting books that made me stay up waaaay too late reading! It is not light readiing, but involved, enough to work your brain. It involves a mature child in an adult situation. It has so many people after the child that it takes quite a bit of thinking to keep track of who is with whom. Yet, it is all worth it. Enjoy!
Mel avatar reviewed The Client on + 186 more book reviews
I love this book! I have to say that I liked it better than the movie but the movie was good too. I highly reccomend this book.
shorty04 avatar reviewed The Client on
Fun read
reviewed The Client on + 377 more book reviews
I can see why his books turn into movies.
sugarsmom avatar reviewed The Client on + 167 more book reviews
Excellent
WhiskeyBat avatar reviewed The Client on + 28 more book reviews
I'm not a fan of "crime thrillers", but if you are, Grisham's good!
reviewed The Client on + 373 more book reviews
Eleven-year-old Mark Sway and his younger brother were sharing a forbidden ceigarette when a chance encounter with a suicidal lawyer left Mark knowing a bloddy and explosive secret: the whereabouts of the most sought-after dead body in America.

Now Mark is caught between a legal system gone mad and a mob killer desperate to cover up his crime. And his only ally is a woman named Reggie Love, who has been a lawyer for all of four years.

Prosecutors are willing to break all the rules to make Mark talk. The mob will stop at nothing to keep him quiet. And Reggie will do anything to protect her client-even take a last, desperate gamble that could win Mark his freedom...or cost them both their lives.
reviewed The Client on + 9 more book reviews
ADR; Amazing read!
reviewed The Client on + 3 more book reviews
Eleven-year-old Mark Sway and his younger brother were sharing a forbidden cigarette when a chance encounter with a suicidal lawyer left Mark knowing a bloody and explosive secret: the whereabouts of the most sought-after dead body in America. Now Mark is caught between a legal system gone mad and a mob killer desperate to cover up his crime. And his only ally is a woman named Reggie Love, who has been a lawyer for all of four years. Prosecutors are willing to break all the rules to make Mark talk. The mob will stop at nothing to keep him quiet. And Reggie will do anything to protect her client--even take a last, desperate gamble that could win Mark his freedom...or cost them both their lives.
reviewed The Client on + 36 more book reviews
Eleven-year-old Mark Sway is caught between a legal system gone mad and a mob killer desperate to cover up his crime.And his only ally is a woman named Reggie Love,who has been a lawyer all of four years.
reviewed The Client on + 47 more book reviews
I loved this movie!
StealthBunny avatar reviewed The Client on + 32 more book reviews
Includes free "The Client" bookmark
priscillamylove avatar reviewed The Client on + 83 more book reviews
The book does have a clipped corner.

In a weedy lot on the outskirts of Memphis, two boys watch a shiny Lincoln pull up to the curb...
11yr old Mark Sway & his younger brother were sharing a forbidden cigarette whena chance encounter with a suicidal lawyer left Mark knowing a blody and explosive secret: the whereabouts of the most sought-after dead body in America.