In the early 1990s, John Grisham was at the top of the bestsellers lists and I was along for the ride.  Starting with The Firm in 1993 and continuing through The Rainmaker in 1996, I had plowed through four* of his first six novels in four years time.  But then, for some reason, I stopped.  The Runaway Jury was book number seven for Grisham, and, by all accounts, it has been sitting in my To Read drawer for quite some time.  Some 16 years after its release, it was time to give it a chance.

*Although my records indicate otherwise, I’m pretty sure that I read The Client too.  That would put me at five out of six in the same four year time period.

My time away from Grisham seems to have done me well, as I was thouroughly engrossed by this book, the tale of a tobacco trial, the defense operatives trying to ensure a verdict through any means necessary, and the jury led by a man who has a hidden agenda.  Grisham tells an interesting tale of deceit and lawlessness in showing how the tobacco industry will go to any lengths necessary to keep all judgments on their side.  One has to wonder how much of this is truly fiction and if the judicial process can be so easily manipulated.

The Runaway Jury was a fun read and I’ve already moved the movie adaptation to the top of my Netflix queue so I can revisit this story and its characters soon.  I have a strong feeling that it will not be another 16 years before I pick up a John Grisham book again.