A Guide to John Grisham Books

The Camino series follows a bookseller and a novelist who always manage to find trouble in paradise. In the third book of the series, the deep secrets of the past are about to collide with the enormous ambitions of the present, and the fate of Dark Isle, a sliver of a barrier island not far off the North Florida coast, — and Camino Island, too — hangs in the balance.

For a young lawyer on the make, it was an offer Mitch McDeere couldn’t refuse: A position at a law firm where the bucks, billable hours, and benefits are over the top. It’s a dream job for an up-and-comer — if he can overlook the uneasy feeling he gets at the office. Then an FBI investigation into the firm’s connections to the Mafia plunges the straight and narrow attorney into a nightmare of terror and intrigue. Left with no choice, he must pit his wits, ethics, and legal skills against the firm’s deadly secrets — if he hopes to stay alive … The Firm series continues with The Exchange.

Two families. One courtroom showdown. John Grisham’s most gripping thriller yet. This is the riveting story of two sons of immigrant families who grow up as friends, but ultimately find themselves on opposite sides of the law. Grisham’s trademark twists and turns will keep you tearing through the pages until the stunning conclusion.

John Grisham is the acknowledged master of the legal thriller. In his first collection of novellas, law is a common thread, but America’s favorite storyteller has several surprises in store. By turns suspenseful, hilarious, powerful, and moving, these are three of the greatest stories Grisham has ever told.

The books in The Whistler series are high-stakes thrill rides through the darkest corners of the Sunshine State. We expect our judges to be honest and wise. Their integrity is the bedrock of the entire judicial system. But what happens when a judge bends the law or takes a bribe? Lacy Stoltz is an investigator for the Florida Board on Judicial Conduct. It is her job to respond to complaints dealing with judicial misconduct. When a corruption case crosses her desk she immediately suspects that this one could be dangerous. Dangerous is one thing. Deadly is something else.

John Grisham takes you to a different kind of court in his first basketball novel. Samuel “Sooley” Sooleymon is a raw, young talent with big hoop dreams — and even bigger challenges off the court. Gripping and moving, Sooley showcases John Grisham’s unparalleled storytelling powers in a whole new light. This is Grisham at the top of his game.

A Time to Kill probes the savage depths of racial violence in this searing courtroom drama featuring the beloved Jake Brigance. The life of a ten-year-old black girl is shattered by two drunken and remorseless white men. The mostly white town of Clanton in Ford County, Mississippi, reacts with shock and horror at the inhuman crime — until the girl’s father acquires an assault rifle and takes justice into his own hands. For ten days the streets of Clanton, and the nation, sit spellbound as defense attorney Jake Brigance struggles to save his client’s life — and then his own.

In a small Florida town, a young lawyer named Keith Russo was shot dead at his desk. The killer left no clues. There were no witnesses. But the police soon came to suspect Quincy Miller, a young Black man who was once a client of Russo’s. Quincy was tried, convicted, and sent to prison for life. For twenty-two years he languished in prison, maintaining his innocence. In desperation, he writes a letter to Guardian Ministries, a small nonprofit run by Cullen Post, which fights wrongful convictions. With Quincy, though, he gets far more than he bargained for. Powerful, ruthless people murdered Keith Russo, and they do not want Quincy exonerated. They killed one lawyer twenty-two years ago, and they will kill another without a second thought.

This thrilling mystery series for young readers follows Theodore Boone, a thirteen-year-old aspiring lawyer who uses his legal knowledge and investigative skills to solve crimes and seek justice in court. Join Theo’s adventures from the beginning in this deluxe box set collection of the first six Theodore Boone books!

Pete Banning was Clanton, Mississippi’s favorite son — a decorated World War II hero, the patriarch of a prominent family, a farmer, father, neighbor, and a faithful member of the Methodist church. Then one cool October morning he rose early, drove into town, and committed a shocking crime. Pete’s only statement about it — to the sheriff, to his lawyers, to the judge, to the jury, and to his family — was: “I have nothing to say.” Reminiscent of the finest tradition of Southern Gothic storytelling, The Reckoning is, “a murder mystery, a courtroom drama, a family saga” (USA Today).

Mark, Todd, and Zola came to law school to change the world, to make it a better place. But now, as third-year students, these close friends realize they have been duped. They all borrowed heavily to attend a third-tier, for-profit law school. And when they learn that their school is one of a chain owned by a shady New York hedge-fund operator who also happens to own a bank specializing in student loans, the three know they have been caught up in The Great Law School Scam. But maybe there’s a way to escape their crushing debt and expose the bank and the scam. But to do so, they would first have to quit school. And leaving law school a few short months before graduation would be completely crazy, right?

A startling courtroom drama that is the prequel to Grisham’s legal thriller, The Whistler. A judge’s first murder trial. A defense attorney in over his head. A prosecutor out for blood and glory. The accused, who is possibly innocent. And the killer, who may have just committed the perfect crime.

On the right side of the law — sort of — Sebastian Rudd is not your typical street lawyer. His office is a customized bulletproof van, complete with Wi-Fi, a bar, a small fridge, and fine leather chairs. He has no firm, no partners, and only one employee: His heavily armed driver, who also happens to be his bodyguard, law clerk, confidant, and golf caddie. He defends people other lawyers won’t go near. Why these clients? Because Sebastian believes everyone is entitled to a fair trial — even if he has to bend the law to secure one.

And in this standalone prequel to the #1 bestseller Rogue Lawyer, Partners tells the story of how Sebastian Rudd finally found someone he could trust to be his driver, bodyguard, law clerk, and partner.

The year is 2008 and Samantha Kofer’s career at a huge Wall Street law firm is on the fast track — until the recession hits and she is downsized, furloughed, and escorted out of the building. Samantha, though, is offered an opportunity to work at a legal aid clinic for one year without pay, all for a slim chance of getting rehired. In a matter of days Samantha moves from Manhattan to Brady, Virginia, population 2,200, in the heart of Appalachia. But some of the locals aren’t so thrilled to have a big-city lawyer in town, and soon Samantha is engulfed in litigation that turns deadly. Because like most small towns, Brady harbors big secrets that some will kill to conceal.

In the history of the United States, only four active federal judges have been murdered. Judge Raymond Fawcett has just become number five. One man, a former attorney, knows who killed Judge Fawcett, and why. But that man, Malcolm Bannister, is currently residing in the Federal Prison Camp near Frostburg, Maryland. Though serving time, Malcolm has an ace up his sleeve. He has information the FBI would love to know. Malcolm would love to tell them. But everything has a price — and the man known as the Racketeer wasn’t born yesterday.

A riveting story of suspense from John Grisham’s #1 New York Times bestseller Ford County — now available as a standalone ebook short. Inez Graney and her two older sons, Leon and Butch, take a bizarre road trip through the Mississippi Delta to visit the youngest Graney brother, Raymond, who’s been locked away on death row for eleven years … and it could well be their last visit.

A surprising and moving novel of fathers and sons, forgiveness and redemption, set in the world of Major League Baseball…

After leaving a fast-track legal career and going on a serious bender, David Zinc is sober, unemployed, and desperate enough to take a job at Finley & Figg, a self-described “boutique law firm” that is anything but.

In 1998, in the small East Texas city of Sloan, Travis Boyette abducted, raped, and strangled a popular high school cheerleader. He buried her body so that it would never be found, then watched in amazement as police and prosecutors arrested and convicted Donté Drumm, a local football star, and marched him off to death row. Now nine years have passed and Travis suffers from an inoperable brain tumor. For the first time in his miserable life, he decides to do what’s right and confess. But how can a guilty man convince lawyers, judges, and politicians that they’re about to execute an innocent man?

After providing what is arguably the worst single performance in the history of the NFL, third-string quarterback Rick Dockery becomes a national laughingstock. Cut by the Cleveland Browns, and shunned by every other team, Rick insists that his agent find a team that does need him. Against enormous odds, Rick lands a job — as the starting quarterback for the Mighty Panthers … of Parma, Italy.

If you thought Mitch McDeere was in trouble in The Firm, wait until you meet Kyle McAvoy, The Associate.

Imagine a year without Christmas. No crowded malls, no corny office parties, no fruitcake, no unwanted presents. That’s just what Luther and Nora Krank have in mind when they decide that, just this once, they’ll skip the holiday altogether. A classic tale for modern times, John Grisham offers a hilarious look at the chaos and frenzy that have become part of our holiday tradition.

In his first collection of short stories Grisham takes us back to Ford County, Mississippi, the setting of his first novel, A Time to Kill. Often hilarious, frequently moving, and always entertaining, this collection makes it abundantly clear why John Grisham is our most popular storyteller.

In a 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 chemical company — owned by a Wall Street predator named Carl Trudeau — appeals to the Mississippi Supreme Court. But Mr. Trudeau is convinced the Court is not friendly enough to his interests and decides to try to purchase himself a seat on the Court. 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.

John Grisham’s first work of nonfiction: A true crime story that will terrify anyone who believes in the presumption of innocence. Impeccably researched, grippingly told, filled with eleventh-hour drama, The Innocent Man reads like a page-turning legal thriller. It is a book no American can afford to miss.

High school all-American Neely Crenshaw was probably the best quarterback ever to play for the legendary Messina Spartans. Fifteen years have gone by since those glory days, and Neely has come home to Messina to bury Coach Eddie Rake, the man who molded the Spartans into an unbeatable football dynasty.

In his final hours in the Oval Office, the outgoing President grants a controversial last-minute pardon to Joel Backman, a notorious Washington power broker who has spent the last six years hidden away in a federal prison. What no one knows is that the President issues the pardon only after receiving enormous pressure from the CIA.

In 1970, Willie Traynor came to Clanton, Mississippi, in a Triumph Spitfire and a fog of vague ambitions. Within a year, the twenty-three-year-old finds himself the owner of Ford County’s only newspaper, famous for its well-crafted obituaries. While the rest of America is in the grips of turmoil, Clanton lives on the edge of another age — until the brutal murder of a young mother rocks the town and thrusts Willie into the center of a storm.

In suburban Georgetown, a killer’s Reeboks whisper on the front floor of a posh home … In a seedy D.C. porno house, a patron is swiftly garroted to death … The next day America learns that two of its Supreme Court justices have been assassinated. And in New Orleans, a young law student prepares a legal brief…

They are at the center of a multimillion-dollar legal hurricane: Twelve men and women who have been investigated, watched, manipulated, and harassed by high-price lawyers and consultants who will stop at nothing to secure a verdict. Now the jury must make a decision in the most explosive civil trial of the century, a precedent-setting lawsuit against a giant tobacco company. But only a handful of people know the truth: That this jury has a leader, and the verdict belongs to him.

They call themselves the Brethren: Three disgraced former judges doing time in a Florida federal prison. One was sent up for tax evasion. Another, for skimming bingo profits. The third for a career-ending drunken joyride. Meeting daily in the prison law library, they fine-tune a wickedly brilliant extortion scam. And for the Brethren, things couldn’t be better … because they’ve just found the perfect victim.

In the corridors of Chicago’s top law firm: 26-year-old Adam Hall stands on the brink of a brilliant legal career. Now he is risking it all for a death-row killer and an impossible case.

The office of a public defender is not known as a training ground for bright young litigators. Clay Carter has been there too long and, like most of his colleagues, dreams of a better job in a real firm. When he reluctantly takes the case of a young man charged with a random street killing, he assumes it is just another of the many senseless murders that hit D.C. every week. But as he digs into the background of his client, Clay stumbles on a conspiracy too horrible to believe, with the kind of enormous settlement that would totally change his life — that would make him, almost overnight, the legal profession’s newest king of torts.

In The Rainmaker, Grisham tells the story of a young man barely out of law school who finds himself taking on one of the most powerful, corrupt, and ruthless companies in America — and exposing a complex, multibillion-dollar insurance scam.

A pillar of the community who towered over local law and politics for forty years, Judge Atlee is now a shadow of his former self — a sick, lonely old man who has withdrawn to his sprawling ancestral home in Clanton, Mississippi. Knowing the end is near, Judge Atlee has issued a summons for his two sons to return to Clanton to discuss his estate. But the Judge dies before the meeting can take place, and in doing so leaves behind a shocking secret.

In a plush Virginia office, a rich, angry old man is furiously rewriting his will. With his death just hours away, Troy Phelan wants to send a message to his children, his ex-wives, and his minions — a message that will touch off a vicious legal battle and transform dozens of lives.

In a weedy lot on the outskirts of Memphis, eleven-year-old Mark Sway watches a shiny Lincoln pull up to the curb … 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.

Once he was a well-liked, well-paid young partner in a thriving Mississippi law firm. Then Patrick Lanigan stole 90 million dollars from his own firm — and ran for his life.

Michael Brock is billing the hours, making the money, and rushing relentlessly to the top of Drake & Sweeney, a giant D.C. law firm. One step away from partnership, Michael has it all. Then, in an instant, it all comes undone.

Until that September of 1952, Luke Chandler had never kept a secret or told a single lie. But in the long, hot summer of his seventh year, two groups of migrant workers — and two very dangerous men — came through the Arkansas Delta to work the Chandler cotton farm. And suddenly mysteries are flooding Luke’s world.