Amazon.com Review
Rudy Baylor, a new law school graduate, once dreamed of the good life as a corporate attorney. Now he faces joblessness and bankruptcy--unless he can win an insurance case against a heavyweight team of lawyers, a case that starts small but mushrooms into a frightening war of nerve and legal skill that could cost Rudy not only his future, but also his life.
From Publishers Weekly
Grisham's intricate, spellbinding sixth novel differs from his last few?it's his only book with first-person narration and his first since his debut to be set in a courtroom?but the trademark Grisham touches are in place. Rookie attorney Rudy Baylor is the customary David fighting a legal Goliath (here a multibillion-dollar insurance company), and the suspense builds with impeccable pacing despite workaday prose. When the modestly sized law firm that contracted for his future services unexpectedly merges with a tony Ivy League firm, Rudy finds himself without a job and bankrupt. Filing a $10 million lawsuit takes away some of the sting, as does a lonely elderly woman's offer of low rent on a small apartment in exchange for rewriting her will. To make a living, Rudy finds himself chasing ambulances for a racketeering shyster, leading to his becoming enthralled with a beautiful young woman hospitalized by her husband's murderous attack. When Rudy agrees to represent the parents of a dying 22-year-old denied insurance coverage for a bone-marrow transplant, he finds that he is up against the firm that broke contract with him. 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. Major ad/promo; large-print edition, ISBN 0-385-47512-8; audio rights to BDD Audio.
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Durin on July 26, 2009
“The Firm” still remains John Grisham’s best novel, but “The Rainmaker” is his funniest. I have never read a book that better managed to hit my funny bone straight on without tipping over the edge into farce (i.e., John Irving). This time around Grisham’s hero is Rudy Baylor, in his final semester of law school and required by one of his professors to provide free legal advice at a Senior Citizens home. There he meets Miss Birdie, an old lady who apparently has millions of dollars salted away and who definitely needs a new will, and Dot Black, who’s son Donny Ray is dying of leukemia while their insurance company refuses to pay for medical treatment. In the legal world a “rainmaker” is someone who brings in big clients (i.e., big money) to a law firm. When Rudy’s future job suddenly disappears in the wake of a surprise merger, these cases might be his ticket to a promising legal career.
The villains are lawyers from a giant firm and a heartless insurance company, which is certainly stacking the deck but part of the fun. As with “The Pelican Brief” there is a bit of misdirection at the beginning in terms of getting a read on the main character. Rudy is broke and has some shady friends in the legal profession, but the bottom line is he is a good guy and he will do the right thing. Even if it means playing David against Goliath in a stacked courtroom where the presiding judge is best buds with the great Leo F. Drummond of the giant law firm Trent & Brent, representing the Great Benefits Insurance Company. But then Rudy gets a break. The presiding judge suddenly drops dead and his replacement, Judge Kipler, is a plaintiff’s dream. Better yet, Rudy has the truth on his side.
The joy of this book is watching Rudy beat the bad guys. Every single lawyer’s trick used by Drummond fails with Judge Kipler. Every dirty trick by the insurance company is exposed by Rudy, who comes up with some little twists of his own. Sure, all the rabbits getting pulled out of the hat is a bit excessive, but that is what makes this such a fun read. At the heart of this book is the quest for justice, but that does not mean we can not enjoy a little payback along the way. The romantic subplot between Rudy and Kelly comes across as something of a diversion from the main story, but at the end it gives the hero someone with whom he can ride off into the sunset. “The Rainmaker” is one of those books where you pick it up from time to time to read the good parts. If you saw the movie and enjoyed Rudy sticking it to the bad guys, then you should enjoy much more of the same in this novel.
Maddy on July 26, 2009
After ‘A Time to Kill’, and ‘The Runaway Jury’, ‘The Rainmaker’, is my third favourite John Grisham novel. These particular Grisham books all have one thing in common: courtroom drama.
There’s nothing I like better than a David and Goliath story and that’s just what Grisham delivers in ‘The Rainmaker’, in which he pits Rudy Baylor, a lawyer fresh out of law school, against Great Benefit Insurance and its lawyer Leo Drummond in a bad-faith claim lawsuit. What really made this book is the Black vs. Great Benefit case, and how an insurance company would bend over backwards to not get caught in its own lies.
Prior to the court case, the book goes into some detail about the life of Rudy Baylor, law student, and his struggles to get himself through school and into the labour market. However, this insight isn’t really necessary and the book could’ve easily lost 50 pages without the reader noticing a difference.
The movie ‘The Rainmaker’, with Matt Damon as Rudy Baylor and Danny DeVito as Deck and John Voight as Leo Drummond, does an excellent condensed version of the book. It’s time well spent on either reading the book or watching the movie.
Valerian on July 27, 2009
After The Firm, John Grisham stumbled through low quality efforts The Pelican Brief, The Client & The Chamber. He got away from crisp writing and strong character studies of his first two books and threatened to lapse into hackdom. On The Rainmaker, he gets back to those original traits. Rudy Baylor is a young lawyer who looses his job with a promising firm and has no other prospects. He worked at a bar where shady characters frequented and the owner who likes him hooks him up with a small law firm. It is a less than scrupulous firm, with an ambulance chasing attitude. Rudy is schooled in the art of hanging around hospitals from Deck, a squirrelly little guy. In the meantime he moves into an apartment over the garage of a lonely old widow, Miss Birdie. He tends to her yard and starts working with her on her will. He also gets a case for a young man whose dying and his health insurance company refuses to pay for his medical treatments. While hanging around the hospital, he meets Kelly, who turns out to be a victim of spousal abuse. He gets involved with her while working on his cases. The case against the insurance company is a classic David vs. Goliath scenario. Mr. Grisham expertly weaves all these plot lines together and keeps the pages turning with bright, vivid and entertaining writing. The Rainmaker is the best book of his career.