The Litigators by John Grisham - review

It's almost a quarter of a century since John Grisham wrote his first novel, A Time to Kill. Apart from his phenomenal success - thank you, Hollywood - the most remarkable aspect of his literary career is how his loathing of corporate law firms remains unqualified.

His latest begins with a convincing portrayal of professional meltdown: David Zinc, a 31-year-old drone at Rogan Rothberg in Chicago, is unable to exit the elevator and descends instead to a day of drinking at a bar. He somehow ends up on the couch of a couple of ambulance chasers called Finley & Figg, a pair of dysfunctional shysters we're supposed to find amusing, and becomes involved in a massive case against a drug company, Varrick Labs, whose anti-cholesterol pill, Krayoxx, may actually be lethal.

Given the naive Zinc's first name, it is obvious that he will find himself "all alone against the big boys". Once again, Grisham puppy-walks the reader through the legal process, starting with jury selection and ending with pay-outs. The characterisation is off-the-peg, the so-called twists signalled a mile off, and yet The Litigators is entirely gripping.

The most remarkable thing about the "thriller" is that suspense never even ripples the story. Clearly, hate is stronger than love.