Rogue Lawyer
by John Grisham
2015 / 352 pages
read by Mark Deakins 11h 18m
rating A+ /  legal thriller

Sebastian Rudd defends the indefensible – those criminals who have no other recourse, the “untouchables,”  the bottom of the barrel,  the scum.    As a result he’s not a beloved man – not by the good citizens,  not by the judges,  not by his clients and not by his ex-wife, mother of his son.   But he does what he’s been trained to do,  what he says he has to do.  So the title is apt – Rudd is not a nice, up and coming, idealistic and clean cut guy.  He actually calls himself a “fringe lawyer” who sometimes plays with the boundaries of ethics.”

In this,  Grisham’s 30th non-series novel,  Rudd is working with different cases which are almost like short stories rhey are so distinct but which become somewhat interwoven by the end.  This is a bit of a twist on the normal legal thriller in that most fictional detectives handle one case at a time – Rudd is handling at least 3 including his own custody battles. It might be more realistic – I’m not sure it works as a novel.  >>>>MORE (no spoilers)>>>>