Rating  - A good start deteriorating into a boring end ...
I read most of Grisham's book. He is a good story teller, if he chooses to.
This one has a good start. I would say the first 1/3 has a plot that has promises to a great story. Nonetheless, the second and rest of the book simply lets all the leads drop to a boring dead end: there is no fight on the Judge campaign, there is no twist in Carl's manipulating of the share price. There is no threat on the Paton's lives. The final plot on Ron's son provides ingredient for high drama, but instead Grisham just let it pass. So there is no final courtroom battle, no vindication by the small folks, and no 'expected' downfall of Krane and Carl.
As a reader, I read the first 1/3 with interest expecting a lot of intrigue, consipiracy and even murder but at the end I close the book with total disappointment. The hours spent on the book is not even entertainment.
Grisham has made his millions. He probably just wants to write for his own pleasure but probably not to the pleasure of his fans, however.
Rating  - Clarion Call For Judicial Reform
It would be very easy to dismiss this book as being too predictable, with very black and white characters. Although you hope one of them would step out of character for a moment, you know they probably won't. But the value of this book is in its appeal for revamping how judges get their positions. Without appointments, seats can virtually be purchased, and judges essentially owned.
This book very clearly shows how special interests can pervert our legal system, making a mockery of law and reason.
What looks wise, having a system where inept judges can be replaced in eight years, has many shortcomings. Then again, so can appointments.
Rating  - Rather disappointing
I am a John Grisham fan and enjoyed all his fiction books so far - naturally I was looking forward to reading "The Appeal" but have to say that it was a disappointing read - very predictable and rather boring.
Rating  - How much for a judge?
Having lived in the US for almost five years I felt that a main reason why it is one of the best countries on the planet is the separation of powers. This great gift, however, is not a given, and is constantly under threat. An example is to appoint judges with a clear political agenda, thereby mixing the legislative and judicial branches, whereas judges should solely uphold the law. The Appeal, which deals with the meddling with the judicial branch of government is therefore close to my heart. Overall, the story is quite believable. If organizations that help you buy a judge don't exist already, they will certainly be there in future. The characters are described in great detail, which helps making this into a 500-page book. As the characters are mostly 1-dimensional a lot of this could have been left out though. In spite of that weakness I enjoyed reading the book a lot and never felt bored while reading it.
Go to the Product Information page
page 5 of 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Customer Reviews for Random House Large Print,0739327666,9780739327661,0739327666,813.54 |
