Grisham kept me turning pages with this awesome book. The story of 11 year old Mark Sway was gripping. I couldn't put it down. The ending was awesome and it choked me up.

This book is disappointing for a Grisham thriller. It is too focused on procedural
law and very short on action. However a disappointing book by Grisham still earns
a '3' from me.

The plot revolves around a young boy who witnesses the suicide of a Mafia attorney.
In the process of his death, the attorney reveals to the boy the location of a Mafia-
buried body. This body is that of a dead Senator. Because the boy now knows that
the Senator has been murdered and where the body is, he is hunted by the Mafia.
The boy attains an attorney and together they try to save the boy from Mafia wrath.

Many characters in this book are idiots and it seems like Grisham used these pages
to espouse the pompous, blow-hard antics of attorneys, the F.B.I., and government
employees.

What more can I say about this book that hasn't been wrote in some of the other reviews? I want to echo the incredible way that John is able to build characters that you have a relationship with. I felt the pain and somehow related to his story and why he had to seek safety in his lawyer.

This story kept you wondering what was around the next corner and how it would end. John does not let you down with a sad ending, and keeps you on the edge of your seat. Near the end I thought he was going to let the Mafia have its day and make for a real twist and ending that you would not expect (in fact I was rooting for the bad guy for some reason). Anyway, the family fly's off save and sound; as safe as the FBI can keep you.

Hope I did not give too much away. You will enjoy the quick and easy read that just may keep you up at night. Save some time, because you will want to quickly finish this book and see what happens.

Grisham books are great - I've read many - but this one has a serious problem.

The main character, Mark Sway, does the unthinkable.

Like J. Weavers' earlier review...
I kept thinking to myself, kid (Mark Sway) you're an idiot. Tell anyone and everyone where the body is, then no one will hunt you down.
But I guess if you can accept him (ridiculously) keeping the secret to himself, then it all goes down fine.

Must be the movie was better.

After reading the bestselling paperback "The Firm," I fell into the habit of reading John Grisham's novels.

What made this book stand out in my opinion is the fact that the lead character is a minor. The legal system can be a bewildering labyrinth for most adults. How much more terrifying can it be for a preteen?

The youngster in this case had the misfortune to witness the suicide of a crooked criminal defense attorney. The drunken shyster spoke to the boy before his death and the unfortunate kid soon finds that he is a target for a team of Mafia killers. The dead man knew too much and the mobsters do not want to take the risk that the eleven year old may communicate any incriminating information from the mouthpiece's dying declaration to the authorities.

As an aside, I have to confess that I gradually tired of Grisham's writing. His approach has become overly familiar and formulaic. Many of his books read as if the author was planning for an immediate movie adaptation of the current novel (the Stephen King Movie of the Week syndrome) while he was writing. As a consequence, I simply stopped reading his subsequent books. Grisham can produce page turning prose with the best of them, but after awhile the repetition became monotonous for me. After reading six of his books, I stopped cold.

It was not so much a case that Grisham was not entertaining, he was, but as a reader I had the sense of having been there and done that. Some gifted authors have a talent for writing books that always seem to be fresh and new, even when employing the same set of characters, while others seem to fall into a predictable, if profitable rut. Someday, I may check out another Grisham book to see if I was incorrect in my original assessment.