Explore our new BookBrowse Community Forum!

Summary and Reviews of The King of Torts by John Grisham

The King of Torts by John Grisham

The King of Torts

by John Grisham
  • Critics' Consensus:
  • Readers' Rating:
  • First Published:
  • Feb 1, 2003, 384 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Dec 2003, 480 pages
  • Rate this book

  • Buy This Book

About This Book

Book Summary

A young public defender stumbles on a conspiracy too horrible to believe, and soon finds himself in the middle of a complex case against one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies looking at an enormous settlement that would totally change his life - making him the newest king of torts.

The office of the 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.

As he digs into the background of his client, Clay stumbles on a conspiracy too horrible to believe. He suddenly finds himself in the middle of a complex case against one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, looking at 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...

Excerpt
The King of Torts

THE SHOTS THAT FIRED the bullets that entered Pumpkin's head were heard by no less than eight people. Three instinctively closed their windows, checked their door locks, and withdrew to the safety, or at least the seclusion, of their small apartments. Two others, each with experience in such matters, ran from the vicinity as fast if not faster than the gunman himself. Another, the neighborhood recycling fanatic, was digging through some garbage in search of aluminum cans when he heard the sharp sounds of the daily skirmish, very nearby. He jumped behind a pile of cardboard boxes until the shelling stopped, then eased into the alley where he saw what was left of Pumpkin.

And two saw almost everything. They were sitting on plastic milk crates, at the corner of Georgia and Lamont in front of a liquor store, partially hidden by a parked car so that the gunman, who glanced around briefly before following Pumpkin into the alley, didn't see them. Both would tell...

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Reviews

Media Reviews

Publishers Weekly
....readers will applaud Grisham's fierce moral stance (while perhaps wondering what sort of advance he got for this book) as they cling to his words every step along the way of this powerful and gripping morality tale.

Reader Reviews

Drob

Im 15 and I, once again, loved the newest novel by Grisham. Keep up the good work John.
AshLee S.

I loved this book! I not only enjoyed the easy read, but I also learned a lot about mass tort cases! Grisham does what all writers should do; entertain and teach.
josh

first book I have read in a long time. Finished it less than a week. Very good read. Very interesting characters and suspenseful as I couldn't wait to see when and what was going to happen. I'm going out to get "The Summons" tomorrow. ...   Read More
Follower of Torts

Thought on King of Torts
To me, this book was very interesting at the beginning. The action, the drama and the descriptiosn were very entertaining. The middle of the book was the best part with all the suing and stuff, but as it got towards the end, it got out of hand. ...   Read More

Write your own review!

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Read-Alikes

Read-Alikes Full readalike results are for members only

If you liked The King of Torts, try these:

  • The Ghost jacket

    The Ghost

    by Robert Harris

    Published 2008

    About this book

    More by this author

    Adam Lang was Britain's longest serving prime minister of the last half century. Retiring to Martha's Vinyard to write his memoirs, his ghostwriter suddenly and mysteriously washes up, dead. Enter our hero -- Lang's new ghostwriter; and it doesn't take him long to realize he has made a fatal error in judgment, as he begins to unearth the ...

  • Alice in Jeopardy jacket

    Alice in Jeopardy

    by Ed McBain

    Published 2006

    About this book

    More by this author

    From the master of the suspense novel comes another gripping tale of mystery, money, and mayhem.

We have 5 read-alikes for The King of Torts, but non-members are limited to two results. To see the complete list of this book's read-alikes, you need to be a member.
More books by John Grisham
Search read-alikes
How we choose read-alikes
Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: The Book of George
    The Book of George
    by Kate Greathead
    The premise of The Book of George, the witty, highly entertaining new novel from Kate Greathead, is ...
  • Book Jacket: The Sequel
    The Sequel
    by Jean Hanff Korelitz
    In Jean Hanff Korelitz's The Sequel, Anna Williams-Bonner, the wife of recently deceased author ...
  • Book Jacket: My Good Bright Wolf
    My Good Bright Wolf
    by Sarah Moss
    Sarah Moss has been afflicted with the eating disorder anorexia nervosa since her pre-teen years but...
  • Book Jacket
    Canoes
    by Maylis De Kerangal
    The short stories in Maylis de Kerangal's new collection, Canoes, translated from the French by ...

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    Pony Confidential
    by Christina Lynch

    In this whimsical mystery, a grumpy pony must clear his beloved human's name from a murder accusation.

Who Said...

The secret of freedom lies in educating people, whereas the secret of tyranny is in keeping them ignorant

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

X M T S

and be entered to win..