The Appeal

• "The Appeal." Grisham's first legal thriller since the Broker (2005) is a gripping and compelling read that will be hard to put down. It is also timely since it highlights the underbelly of today's election politics.
  
  The story centers on a small Mississippi law firm who wins a big verdict over a chemical giant, Krane, that has spread carcinogenic pollutants. Krane, fearful that this verdict, if not overturned, would set a precedent that would eventually destroy it, goes into action.
  
  It files an appeal that will find its way to the state supreme court, and hires a "dirty tricks" firm to unseat a sitting justice believe to be unfriendly. This is a viable strategy since Mississippi elects their Supreme Court justices and 69% of its voters know little about the court's candidates.
  
  The "Appeal" provides a believable primer on how to rig an election - pick a victim; promote an unknown candidate with no visible record; and ambush the victim by painting him/her as a extreme ideologue (this liberal judge will destroy the family). Done well...and the election process is subverted.

• In this book (I wouldn't call it a novel) Grisham exposes the nexus between big business, politics and the law. While these have always been recurring themes in his books, this time in "The Appeal" it is the sole focus of the book.
  
  The book starts with a chemical and environmental pollution case in small town Bowmore, Mississippi, now nicknamed Cancer County, where Krane Chemical is the accused and Jeanette Baker the plaintiff.
  
  Jeanette has lost both her husband and son to cancer. This makes hers the strongest case to start with for her lawyers - Wes and Mary Payton.
  
  There are plenty of mass tort specialists and ambulance chasers waiting in the wings for the decision on this case, so they can all get themselves a piece of the pie (30% to the lawyers) while the Paytons themselves are over 400,000$ in debt by virtue of working and following up on this case (to the exclusion of all others).
  
  The jury orders damages of 41 million dollars to be paid to Jeanette and here is where the plot actually takes off.
  
  It is an intriguing ride that Grisham takes us on and is an excellent medium to learn how the Supreme Courts in the US work. Most states choose their Supreme Court justices by election, which leaves plenty of room for interested parties to skew the process. How that happens, is the meat of this book.
  

• Mary Grace and Tom Payton are a husband and wife legal team and for years they've been representing a woman in Bowmore, Mississippi who lost both her husband and child to cancer which was supposedly caused by Krane Chemical's deliberate chemical spills into the town's water supply. The cancer rate in Bowmore is fifteen times the national average, everyone in town drinks bottled water, even the public pool has been closed.
  
  On the face of it one would think the case was open and shut and that Krane Chemical should settle and be down with it, but the chemical company is a subsidiary of a conglomerate which is run by Carl Trudeau and he's just not the settling kind. There is nothing nice, good or even remotely likable about Trudeau. He's a corporate insider who buy and spits out companies like licorice.
  
  Wes and Mary Grace have been working the case for years, taking on everything Trudeau throws at them. They've gone the extra mile for the cause, they've had to let other clients go, they've sold their house, they lives have become this case. They believe in their client, in what they're doing, but when they win, Trudeau's attorneys are not worried, because they believe they'll win on Appeal.
  
  Trudeau will stop at nothing, the Payton's are determined and there you have the setup for this might versus right, good versus evil story that will keep you glued to your chair, eyes pinned to the pages, heart pounding as you pour through this story. Nobody does suspense and intrigue the way John Grisham does.