The Appeal: Surprisingly Unappealing

I admit I haven't had a Grisham novel for quite a while. I was busy reading bits and pieces of everything on the internet and theoretical physics books lately that I haven't had a real novel for a while.

Then when I was shopping for some new Harry Potter books for my daughter's collection, I saw it on the shelves... two new John Grisham novels.

I decided right there and then that however busy I may be, I will try not to miss my time to read a novel again. I bought Grisham's The Appeal, saved the newer novel The Associate for later reading, and an autobiography book of Pablo Neruda.

Regret was the first thing I felt when I opened the first few pages of The Appeal. The copy I got wasn't what I would have wanted. It was a bigger print that was intended, I would assume, for folks who have bad eyesight. It was just too big for me. I also realized that since I have my own Grisham collection of First Edition novels, I should have bought a first edition as well.

I should have seen the sign.

The plot was typical of Grisham's, which would have loved by his loyal fans like me anyway. The plot reads like his previous works of fiction where the common man got entangled in a legal dispute with the Big Corporations, just like we saw in The Rainmaker, Runaway Jury and others.

Here, the whole town and its people were on the brink of collapse due to contaminated water that according to the plaintiff, was polluted by toxics dumped by a giant chemical company.

Forefront is the case of a widow who lost a husband and a son to cancer. She is represented by a local husband and wife law firm, the Paytons, who are now on the brink of bankruptcy. Fighting a case this big against Big Money is just too big for a small town firm. But the prospects are huge.

This case serves as a floodgate for all other cases in town where lots of residents have succumbed to or are fighting cancer. Winning this case means huge money, city-wide clean-up, and endless clients for all the ambulance chasers in town.

But the conclusion of the story is a little bit anti-climactic. I guess here Grisham tried to make the end contrary to most of his fiction novels where the common people, the underrepresented, and the oppressed eventually prevails. The portrayal of Carl Trudeau, who owns the chemical company, and his wife makes me think of Bonfire of the Vanities.

I was waiting for the final pages on the appeal process to see where the giveaway might come, the point where I can see the victim, represented by her now-almost bankrupt lawyers would prevail.

I waited. But it didn't come. I was bummed out.

But it also shows that reality does bite. In some parts of the United States, the judicial system is tainted with politics that self-interests, lobbyists, and Big Money can, in a way unclear to some, buy themselves their own judge.

And well, that is just too bad. That makes for the book too.