Krishna
One of the best known books by John Grisham. If you know John’s books, you will also know that it is written in a lighter style. The story’s purpose is to entertain. Again, almost always set in the legal world which John Grisham, as a real life lawyer, knows well.
The story is about Darby Shaw, who is a law student and is in a relationship with a much older professor at the same Law School, Thomas Callaghan. She develops a theory – a brief – about the gruesome murder of two Supreme Court judges, and later, she and Tom both discard the theory as ‘not practical’. Tom, impressed with the way the brief is written, passes it on to a friend in FBI (a lawyer friend of his) who passes it on to the FBI chief Voyles, since he does not have time enough to prepare a serious report. The chief, with his own axe to grind against the President, passes it on to the President and his autocratic adviser and power-behind-the-throne guy Coales.
I personally thought that the story moved slowly until the bomb blast in the car, but that could have been just me.
All hell breaks lose when Darby Shaw is targeted for killing and Thomas ends up getting killed. Suddenly she is on the run and fights to stay alive against an all powerful mafia that claims the life of the FBI lawyer friend of Thomas as well.
Suddenly the report she has discarded as ‘far fetched’, and known as the ‘Pelican Brief’ seems to be uncomfortably close to the bulls eye!
Add in an internationally acclaimed killer called Khamel (based by Carlos?), a billionaire with a dream of making even more money, rivalry between spy services of US, a President who is more concerned with image and a chance to play Golf than in serious administration issues, and you have a potent mixture.
Interestingly woven story, taut, but no food for thought. Just go for the ride.
Let us say 6/10
— Krishna