Street Stories . Review on Street Lawyer, The - John Grisham

The Street Lawyer by John Grisham is a gripping, deeply emotional experience.

It is a typical Grisham book- the hero of the story is a lawyer!

I am not going to tell you the story! I mean, let the suspense be there in case you go and read it after reading my review!

Let’s just say that Michael Brock is a successful anti-trust lawyer working in Washington DC for a big law firm. He is chasing the American Dream- money and all the things money can buy. Meanwhile, his marriage is about to collapse. He is too busy to care about that. All this changes one day- when he meets Mister- a guy who lived on streets. Mister leads him to Mordecai- a stealthy man with a mission and a big heart.

What happens after he comes across Mister and Mordecai? That’s what the book is all about.

This is a great book for a lot of reasons-

1)Michael Brock. I loved this character. Not just, because he is the hero and he is smart, and good-hearted, but also for the way Grisham describes the thought processes and feelings of this character- in first person.

2)It talks about the discrimination and problems faced by street people (mostly black) in America. Those poor people hardly have any legal protection, or social support, and very few people are helping them.

3)Pace- Grisham gets you so involved in the novel that you are compelled to read on. You just cannot put it down until you find out what happens in the end.

4)Emotions- Can a novel about lawyers, suspense, and legal system be so moving and emotional? That’s because the novel is also about street life, trials and traumas of street people, etc.

5)Insights- its not just entertainment i.e. a good old Grisham suspense. There’s more to it. It’s about values, careers, duties, relationships, etc.

6)Readers will be able to connect with it instantly. Michael Brock is a very likable character. The street people problem exists here too.

I did not find many flaws with the book. The story gets a bit off-track towards the end, but that’s not a big problem. Some descriptions are very disturbing; hence, it is not a book for light reading.

Overall, The Street Lawyer is a good book, it has suspense, plus it gets you thinking. I have kept this review purposely short, since it is better not to give too many details about suspense thrillers.

The book tells you that-

The faster you run, the harder you fall.