BULLITT COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
READ-ALIKES
D o you love John Grisham? Looking for
something else to read between releases? Be-
low are some suggestions on some read-alike authors.
For more specific suggestions, you can check our Nov-
elist database—just go to our Web site, click on Find
Facts and select Databases. To access Novelist from
home you must have a valid Bullitt County Library card.
David Baldacci
Jay Brandon
John Lescroart
Paul Levine
Steve Martini
(esp. the Paul Madriani series)
Lia Matera
Brad Meltzer
Perri O’Shaugnessy
Barbara Parker
Richard North Patterson
Lisa Scottoline
(esp. the Bennie Rosato series)
John Grisham Recommends*:
Critical Mass
by Steve Martini
MYS MART
Burned-out public defender Jocelyn "Joss" Cole decided
to trade in the L.A. rat race for a less stressful existence
in the San Juan Islands. But things get complicated when
her new client, Dean Belden, is subpoenaed then dies
before he can testify. Meanwhile, scholar Gideon Van
Ry of the Center for Nonproliferation Studies discovers
a link between Belden’s electronics company and some
missing nuclear devices.
*Grisham recommendations found on
Fantastic Fiction. (www.fantasticfiction.co.uk)
AUTHOR GUIDES
John Grisham
The Movies
The Firm– Tom Cruise, Gene Hackman, Holly Hunter, and
Jean Tripplehorn star. VIDEO
The Pelican Brief– Stars Julia Roberts and Denzel Washing-
ton. VIDEO Coming Soon:
The Client– Stars Susan Sarandon, Tommy Lee Jones, and
Brad Renfro. VIDEO
*A Time to Kill– Stars Matthew McConaughey, Samuel L.
Jackson, Sandra Bullock, and Kiefer Sutherland.
The Chamber– Stars Gene Hackman, Chris O’Donnell, and
Faye Dunaway. VIDEO
*The Rainmaker– Stars Matt Damon, Danny DeVito, Claire
Danes, and John Voight.
The Gingerbread Man– Grisham’s first film treatment not
based on his novels. A thriller where a lawyer’s one-night
stand ultimately makes him the target of an asylum escapee.
Stars Kenneth Branagh, Darryl Hannah, Robert Duvall, and
Tom Berenger. VIDEO
A Painted House– Hallmark Hall of Fame movie starring
Robert Sean Leonard and Scott Glenn. Grisham narrates.
DVD
*Mickey– An original Grisham screenplay about a widowed
father who goes on the run with his twelve-year-old son
then finds his new identity at risk when the son’s Little The Appeal, John Grisham’s latest
League play attracts national attention. Stars Harry Connick legal thriller, will be released on
Jr.; Grisham makes an acting appearance as well. January 29.
Runaway Jury– John Cusack, Dustin Hoffman, Gene Hack-
man, and Rachel Weisz star. DVD
Christmas with the Kranks– Based on Skipping Christmas.
Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Dan Ackroyd star. DVD
The Innocent Man– Not yet available. The film adaptation From the Publisher:
is currently in development and slated for release in 2009. Politics has always been a dirty game.
*We do not currently have holdings for these titles. Now justice is, too.
You may fill out a purchase request or borrow from another
library system using our Interlibrary Loan network.
At the library you can learn more about John
Grisham and other authors from thousands of
resources including books, databases, and DVDs.
Is there an author you’d like to learn more about?
If you have suggestions for future
Author Guides, let me know! BULLITT COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
Tracy Weikel
reference@bcplib.org JANUARY 2008
 The Grisham Library: Legal Thrillers and More from Your Favorite Author
The Novels
A Time to Kill– FIC, LT
After his young daughter is raped and tortured, a
black father takes justice into his own hands by
shooting the perpetrators. Some citizens of the
mostly white Mississippi town react with racial vio-
lence while others, like the young attorney who takes the fa-
ther’s case, put their own lives in jeopardy to defend him.
The Firm-FIC, LT, CAS
Ambitious young attorney Mitch McDeere just gradu-
ated third in his class at Harvard Law when he signs
on with a selective Memphis law firm. The firm seems
ideal, but when he begins to dig beneath the perfect
façade the secrets he uncovers threaten his career, his mar-
riage, and his life.
The Pelican Brief– FIC
Darby Shaw is just a law student when she writes a
brief connecting the murders of two Supreme Court
justices. It seems like no more than a wild theory
until another murder hits much closer to home. With
her life now in danger, Darby hooks up with an ambitious re-
porter to piece together a cover-up that may involve the high-
est government offices in the nation.
The Client-FIC, LT
When eleven-year-old Mark Sway witnesses the sui-
cide of a mob lawyer, he also discovers a secret that
could cost him his life. Reggie Love is a new lawyer
with a past of her own when Mark asks for her help.
Because prosecutors want information from Mark on mob
actions and are willing to do almost anything to make him talk,
Reggie must find a way to protect her client.
The Chamber-FIC
Adam Hall is on the brink of a brilliant legal career
when he risks it all to defend a former Klansman
headed for the gas chamber for a fatal 1967 bomb-
ing—a man who just happens to be his grandfather.
The Rainmaker-FIC
Rudy Baylor is working in legal aide when he stumbles
across a major insurance scam. He’s broke, jobless,
and hasn’t even passed the bar yet when he finds
himself taking on a top-notch defense attorney in a
historical case.
The Runaway Jury-FIC, LT
It is a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against a major to-
bacco company, and the lawyers are locked in a high-
stakes battle. They are willing to do anything to win;
what they don’t know is that one of the jury mem-
bers has an agenda of his own.
The Partner-FIC, LT, CAS
Patrick Lanigan planned it well: fake his own death,
steal $90 million from his law firm, and disappear.
Four years later, he is discovered in Brazil living under
the name Danilo Silva. What follows is a story of
bribery, corruption, and a search for the missing millions—because
Patrick has trusted his own lawyer to hide the money safely and
now even he doesn’t even know how to find it.
The Street Lawyer-FIC, LT, CAS
A rising star in his Washington, D.C. law firm, Michael
Brock finds his career derailed after a fatal encounter with a
homeless man and a bit of investigation uncover his firm’s
dirty secret. So Michael quits his job to become a homeless
advocate, taking a top-secret file with him.
The Testament-FIC, LT, CD
When an eccentric billionaire dies and leaves the bulk of
his fortune to an illegitimate daughter no one knew existed,
his other children hire a tribe of lawyers to challenge the
will. They also send ruthless attorney Nate O’Riley to track
her down in the Brazilian jungle where she serves as a
Christian missionary.
The Brethren-FIC, LT, CAS
Three former judges now serving time in a federal prison
team up to concoct an extortion scam that will make them
rich. Meanwhile a subversive CIA operation to manipulate
the presidential election and oust a terrorist dictator be-
comes threatened by the judges’ plan.
A Painted House-FIC, LT
In this atypical novel inspired by Grisham’s own childhood
in rural Arkansas, a seven-year-old farm boy in the early
1950s comes of age and learns family secrets during the
six-week harvest.
Skipping Christmas-FIC, LT, CD
In yet another departure, Grisham penned this comedy
about a couple who decide to forgo the commercialized
celebration of Christmas and go on a cruise instead. They
never expect the community backlash that comes from
their holiday boycott.
The Summons-FIC, CAS, CD
A former judge summons his two sons—Ray, the successful
law school professor and Forrest, the screw-up black
sheep—home for a family meeting before he dies. But Judge
Atlee dies before the meeting can take place and Ray must
deal with family secrets and figure out why his father had $3 million
in cash stashed away in the house. Takes place in Clanton, Missippi,
the same rural town where A Time to Kill was set.
King of Torts-FIC, LT, CD
Clay Carter is a burned-out public defender when his latest
murder case ends up being linked to a conspiracy in the
pharmaceutical industry. When he is offered $10 million to
settle a series of related cases, Clay quits his job and be-
come the new phenom in tort law.
Bleachers-LT, FIC, CD
Former All-American Neely Crenshaw goes home to Texas
to bury his high school football coach. He and the other
players reminisce about past glories and Coach Rake, a local
legend, and must confront their true feelings about the man
who molded a football dynasty.
The Last Juror-FIC, LT
Grisham returns to Clanton, Mississippi in this novel
set in the 1970s. Willie Traynor buys the struggling
local newspaper and catches his big break when
Danny, a member of the prominent Padgitt family, is
accused of rape and murder. When Padgett is convicted, he
vows revenge against his jurors and, when he is released nine
years later, he comes to collect.
The Broker-FIC, LT
Notorious power broker Joel Backman spent six
years in federal prison before he is granted a pardon
by the President. Turns out he is the holder of se-
crets that threaten the CIA—so they pressured the
President to release him all while orchestrating a plan to
eliminate the threat he presents.
Playing for Pizza-FIC, LT, CD
Shamed out of the NFL, Rick Dockery is desperate
to continue playing the game he loves. So he takes
the only offer he can get—playing American football
(sort of) in Parma, Italy.
The Appeal-Copies not yet available
Carl Trudeau, the owner of a chemical company
found guilty of causing a massive cancer cluster in
Mississipi, prepares to appeal to the state Supreme
Court. But first he plans to secretly groom and ma-
nipulate an unsuspecting candidate to take the empty seat on
the bench.
Nonfiction
The Wavedancer Benefit*
Grisham, Pat Conroy, Stephen King, and Peter
Straub gathered together in 2002 to raise
money for Frank Muller, an in-demand audio
book reader seriously injured in a motorcycle
accident. The result was this audio recording
in which the authors reader excerpts from
their work (Grisham read from The Summons) and discuss the
art of writing. *no copies in system
The Innocent Man-
345.766 GRIS, LT 345.766 GRIS, CD
This is the true story Ron Williamson, who was
poised to be the next baseball great until he suc-
cumbed to the lure of drugs, liquor, and sex. His
dreams were completely crushed one winter night
in his hometown of Ada, Oklahoma when waitress Debra Sue
Carter was murdered. Because based on little evidence Wil-
liamson was charged with the crime and then convicted fol-
lowing a trial full of lies and tainted evidence.
For more information on John Grisham
and his many books, visit his official
Web site at www.jgrisham.com!