| |
Nabaza.net-The MarketPlace - The Appeal
|
List Price: $27.95
Our Price: $18.45
Your Save: $ 9.50 ( 34% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Doubleday
|
Average Customer Rating:  
|
|
Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780385515047
ISBN: 0385515049
Label: Doubleday
Manufacturer: Doubleday
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 368
Publication Date: 2008-01-29
Publisher: Doubleday
Release Date: 2008-01-29
Studio: Doubleday
|
|
|
|
|
|
Editorial Reviews:
|
Politics has always been a dirty game.
Now justice is, too.
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 worst “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 readers unable to think about our electoral process or judicial system in quite the same way ever again.
|
|
|
Spotlight customer reviews:
|
Customer Rating:
Summary: Palin?
Comment: The rise of this judge reminds me an AWFUL lot of Palin's recent entry to the political scene. Out of nowhere, with a wholesome background and almost no political experience, she gets propped up by the good ol' senator and a smarmy political team...hmmm...did McCain read this?
Customer Rating:
Summary: Modern Day David and Goliath story
Comment: Jeannette Baker is a meek woman living in a small town Mississippi trailer park smack in the heart of a place called "Cancer County." Within eight months, she had watched her husband, and then her only child, die of cancer caused by drinking water contaminated by Krane Chemical's illegal dumping of toxins. Jeannette uses up all her remaining courage and strength to sue Krane Chemical, the prototypical multinational conglomeration run by a filthy-rich-yet-still-insatiable Carl Trudeau. And when an appeal is filed, the case goes all the way to the state Supreme Court. Like Krane Chemical itself, John Grisham uses Jeannette Baker as a mere pawn to tell the story of how absolutely anything, even a seat on the state Supreme Court, is for sale in America.
Grisham's twentieth novel presents yet another modern day David and Goliath story. The common person against the corporation. Poor vs. rich. Main Street vs. Wall Street. Good vs. greed. This moral tug-o-war is common territory for the author of The Firm, The Pelican Brief, and The Rainmaker, to name but a few of his fast-paced thrillers of this ilk. Certainly if you are among the many fans of Grisham's favored themes, you will get your fill with The Appeal. It's all there: juicy courtroom scenes, good-hearted small town lawyers, cold-blooded big city lawyers, bureaucratic corruption, Supreme Court justices, a rigged election. Although not nearly as fast-paced and gripping as some of his best work, The Appeal remains a satisfying read.
What saves this book from being just more of the same from Grisham is its timeliness. Within the context of today's age of hyper-bureaucracy, when the average shopper must make a real effort to buy something that isn't produced by a mega-corporation, The Appeal feels eerily perceptive. It asks (and answers) the question, "Can a major election be bought?" In this book, Grisham illustrates a campaign's effective use of "truthiness," a concept that means appealing to a voter's gut feeling as opposed to actual fact. In doing so Grisham comments on an American superficial inclination to elect the candidate they would rather have a beer with. Grisham utilizes common ploys in today's political playbooks in order to illustrate how easy it is to convince the majority of voters to support the less capable candidate. In doing so, the author prompts readers to wonder in fear if powerful people are as devious, callous and cunning as Krane Chemical's CEO Carl Trudeau.
What do you think? Can a major election be bought? You won't get John Grisham's answer until the very end of The Appeal.
Quill says: Read it before you vote!
Customer Rating:
Summary: 3/4 is trite filler - Wouldn't sell if it weren't Grisham
Comment: What happened to Grisham? This seems like something churned out by a kid in a week. Nothing happens that's unexpected (except maybe the bad ending). After the start, at least 3/4 of the book could be summarized in a page and you would lose nothing.
You could dream up the plot line yourself in less than 10 minutes. Real life is more interesting than this. So my advice: don't read this book--you'll get more enjoyment out of just about any other activity.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Very good plot and also relevant (warning I talk plot)
Comment: This is one of Grisham's better works of the past few that he has put together. It comes down more for being relevant rather than offering a super plot twisting story so if you're looking for a shocking ending, you will not like this one. For one thing, the bad guys do seem to win in the end. This ranks as more of a political novel rather than a legal one and it is nice to see Grisham spreading his wings.
If you're a fan of Grisham and like his writing style and are comfortable with him spreading his wings you will like this work. If you think he's just good for cranking out legal books I am afraid this is not the one for you!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Very slow and predictable.
Comment: I am a big John Grisham fan. This is his only novel I did not like at all. I have read all his books.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| | |
