Top Ten Tuesday – My favourite John Grisham Novels #Law #Courtroom #TopTenTuesday #Reading #Books

Welcome to #TopTenTuesday here on Always Trust In Books. I am going to share with you my first fully fledged author addiction. This is personal so all of you Grisham haters out there keep it to yourself! I have been addicted to courtroom dramas since I could read and Grisham just satisfied that craving. Along with David Baldacci I was able to get stuck into American law and it fascinates me so much. I think that American law is so much more complex compared to our British ways and I have spent many an hour reading Grisham and the like learning about how the judicial system works over the pond. So I have put together my top ten all time favourite Grisham novels and I hope you enjoy the list and I hope I can inspire you all to pick at least one up!

Top Ten John Grisham Novels

10. The Client

The Client focuses on a young boy who witness a murder of a government official. When he is pressed for information (pressed being a polite word) the young lad seeks council to protect himself. It is a rather intense novel and it definitely piles on the tension and pulls at the heart-strings too. I was captivated by the lead character and his bravery in the face of danger.

9. Rogue Lawyer

Rogue Lawyer was just a cool novel with an interesting protagonist. Juggling cases that no-one else will handle whilst also dealing with his hectic personal life, the Rogue Lawyer is a solid read that certainly entertains.

8. The Last Juror

I think The Last Juror was an interesting alternative for Grisham. The story is told from outside the all the chaos for once and it shows a different dimension to Grisham’s writing. A journalist protagonist is a departure from the norm and the story it follows is deep, conflicting and moving at times.

7. The Pelican Brief

This was the first John Grisham novel I ever read. My wife bought it for me for Christmas (thanks wife!) and I was hooked. It was nothing like I imagined it would be and the abstract nature of the case really hooked me and made me a Grisham fan for life.

6. A Time To Kill

A Time To Kill is an unforgettable novel. A black man stands accused of gunning down two white males in a state that is riddled with white supremacy. A lawyer stands up for the man and in doing so brings both hope to his community and hate to his doorstep. I read this novel about 4 years ago and it is still vivid in my mind today. Brilliant!

5. Sycamore Row

The long anticipated sequel to A Time To Kill that I couldn’t wait to get my hands on. It wasn’t what I was expecting but I enjoyed the high-stakes case explored within. A home-keeper who has inherited a fortune. Another tale surrounding race and unpredictable reactions. I read furiously to the end to find out the truth behind this unusual turn of events.

4. The Rainmaker

Another Christmas treat from Wifey! This was the first huge book I had read in my life! 700+ pages was a lot to me back then but it taught me that bigger novels that set out to build up huge stories are worth the time. I sank into this novel and let it reel me in with its larger than life tale of a young lawyer who sets out on his own.

3. The Testament

I could not believe this novel. I picked it up for 50p in a second hand bookshop and I loved it. When a billionaire leaves his fortune to an estranged missionary daughter in the Brazilian jungle everyone scrambles to object. The man has a large family who was expecting huge pay-outs when he passed and they contest his unfair will with all their might. Meanwhile a lawyer makes the long trip out to her camp and in doing so finds a deeper part of himself buried away. So good! I was glued to the page all the way through The Testament. Top-notch!

2. The Litigators

I loved The Litigators because it is an unconventional lawyer novel. A lawyer who decides that all money is not worth the stress so he quits his high-profile job and sets out to work as a small time lawyer. It is the absolute reverse ideology that I had come to expect from Grisham’s work and I couldn’t get enough of it.

1. The Street Lawyer

This hands down one of my favourite novels of all time. I couldn’t believe how profoundly moving it was and it really taught me to become a more emotionally involved reader. A lawyer is held in a room with a homeless man who is strapped with a bomb. After a long, drawn out hostage situation the man is killed and the bomb is found to be fake. The lawyer is shaken to the core and decides to quit the high profile law business and becomes a lawyer for those in need. A case he picks up takes him back to his firm and he finds himself investigating them for unspeakable acts. I was moved to tears by this novel and I think of it as a novel that really opened me up as a reader. Thanks Grisham for writing this stellar novel.

Thanks for stopping by to check out this Grisham packed list. I am having a lot of fun doing these top ten lists as they let me talk about books incessantly which is something very close to my heart. I have a lot of time and appreciation for John Grisham. I know he is a main stream author but his novels all stand out to me and I can always rely on Grisham for a grand and thought-provoking read which I don’t get consistently with other authors. I hope you enjoyed the list and if you are a Grisham fan either openly or secretively (DM me on Twitter :D) then get in touch and we can chat!

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