I'm a bad, bad man," he wailed. "I have followed the path of materialism and abandoned the path of righteousness. I have made innocent people suffer." Clay felt a bit sorry for himself when he saw that Rebecca was getting married. "Find me a girlfriend," he barked to Jonah. This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. ( March 2022) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) The man explains to Clay that his defendant was on a drug called Tarvan, which was amazing at cleaning up junkies had one serious problem-- after about a week of being off the drug, some of it's users had the uncontrollable urge to kill--totally at random. The drug company was now asking Clay to pay the victims' families (and Clay) a substantial sum of money to keep the story quiet. Clay agrees-- and so begins his slippery journey with big pharmaceuticals and mass cases. Don't take me wrong, I like Grisham's novels, I'm not a big fan, but I enjoy reading his books nonetheless. He is not a master storyteller but he writes enjoyable stuff.

But as he digs deeper, Clay stumbles upon a conspiracy too horrifying to believe. A pharmaceutical giant has been secretly and illegally testing a new drug on addicts - one that helps stop addiction, but which drives them to random acts of violence. I actually preferred this novel to The Street Lawyer which I also read recently. I didn't like the way that Grisham had focused on charity/benevolent work amongst the homeless almost as a selfish pursuit for the young lawyer to find himself. This novel, however, was different--it is totally secular with no real mention of faith/God or anything similar. Sometimes it is better not to try and mix the spiritual with the secular unless you are going to be accurate and ensure you represent the right principles. Grisham's storytelling genius reminds us that when it comes to legal drama, the master is in a league of his own.' - Daily Record That said, I loved this story and the writing. It was so good to delve into a really great legal thriller. Readers can see that his upswing has to come to an end. They will shudder at the way he bleeds money, wasting it on frivolous things like, oh, a private jet and a house in the tropics for his trophy girlfriend.

Reader Reviews

Clay finds himself suing a large company for a bad drug-- all with the help of this mysterious man who has befriended him. When he becomes a multi-millionaire overnight, the smell of money and his greed only increase. He is hailed as the "King of Torts" and instantly thrown into the spotlight. He buys houses and jets and big boats. He becomes even more greedy and careless, and ultimately winds up with next to nothing. Meanwhile, Clay’s girlfriend, Rebecca, dumps him in favor of a corporate lawyer to please her rich family. Clay is deeply disappointed, but he’s too distracted by the complexities of the case to dwell on it. He focuses his energy on Tequila’s case—however, soon, he’s asked to resign as public defender, because it’s obvious he now knows too much. Clay decides to open his own law firm specializing in civil damages claims, or torts. He thinks this will impress Rebecca and allow him to sue the pharmaceutical company for huge sums of damages for his clients. The Maxatil case collapsed and Clay went bankrupt. "Oh, Rebecca," he sighed, "leave your husband and let's just live on love and goodness and air." Watson insists that he somehow wasn't in control of his body when he pulled the trigger, a story which Clay tries to dismiss, but can't get out of his mind.

Clay tries his best to help his client, plunging into the most dangerous parts of the Washington D.C. slums in search of evidence which may help his case. This novel tells the story of Clay, a young lawyer struggling to make a name for himself at a little known firm. He is approached apparently randomly by a man who promises riches and fame if he follows his instructions to the letter. The requirements seem at first to be ethical and Clay is drawn into the web. He becomes a millionaire and the King of Torts leading mass civil litigation where-ever it exists. But it all seems a little too good to be true....... John Grisham's The King of Torts, a fast-paced, edgy legal thriller with surprises and twists along the way, answers these and other questions as we follow the rise and fall of one lawyer who gives in to temptation. But after reading The Street Lawyer and now the King of Torts, I had a hard time giving another of his books much thought. Unfortunately, in a bargain, I had bought many of his books and now I'm going to try and finish the lot (to get my money's worth).

Book Summary

This is one of those books I can't stop thinking about! I read it for a business law class I'm taking and it is great! Having nothing more to lose, Clay discloses his involvement in the Tarvan affair to an investigative journalist; a criminal lawyer will attempt to re-open the cases of the Tarvan test subjects, including Watson. Clay and Rebecca fly to London, where they would have a happy life without the opulence Clay no longer misses. It is, however, implied that Clay will still end up with a few million dollars in the end, because Paulette and Rodney—with whom Clay was extremely generous and loyal in distributing his initial lucrative settlements—both promise of their own accord to return some of the money to him, never forgetting that they owe their financial success to him. A master at the art of deft characterisation and the skilful delivery of hair-raising crescendos' - Irish Independent