The Pelican Brief (urspr publ 1992; utgåvan 2006)

Aanvankelijk lijkt het toeval. Met niet meer dan twee uur tijdsverschil overlijden twee belangrijke rechters van het Amerikaanse Hooggerechtshof. Abe Rosenberg was al 91 jaar oud en ernstig ziek, maar de veel jongere Jensen was kerngezond. Moord, zo luidt de onweerlegbare conclusie van de FBI, maar men legt geen direct verband tussen beide zaken.

De beeldschone en briljante rechtenstudente Darby Shaw ziet echter wel een verband. Hoe gevaarlijk dicht zij bij de onthullende waarheid komt, wordt pas duidelijk wanneer zij zelf ternauwernood aan een moordaanslag ontkomt. Samen met de al even geïntrigeerde journalist Gray Grantham stelt Darby op haar eigen manier een onderzoek in. Ze stuiten op een overstelpende hoeveelheid feiten en.....één naam.

El asesinato simultaneo de dos jueces del Tribunal Supremo ( )

After reading other reviews it is understandable that this book would cause a wide spectrum of feelings and comments. Yes it is a dated plot have been written over 20 years ago even though it is even today timely. Yes there is some what of a formulaic plot. Yes there were slow parts. And yes some of the characters were a little transparent. However given a plot involving government, what happens behind closed doors, internal governmental conflicts and implications wrought by selfishly driven political contributions it is to be expected. It is aggravating to have a heroin that is every mans fantasy (super intelligent, beautiful, sexy, cunning and sexually desirable) as it seems trite for this story but I have yet to read the perfect book so accept it for what it is; a very good story that makes a reader feel satisfied when they are through reading the book. What is more important is how well the story was written and how it pulled the reader in. To me this is one of the best novels Grisham has written for all it warts and short comings. ( )

Whilst I was a little disappointed at the lack of legal focus in this book, it more than made up for this with its excellent structure and thrills.

Essentially, a young law student floats the idea of a conspiracy behind the murder of two supreme court judges, after discarding the theory herself as too far fetched to be possible she gives it to her professor (and lover) to read, it makes its way to the FBI who then wanting to ruffle some feathers in the Whitehouse pass it up the chain. Somewhere a long the line it passes the eyes of people involved and they decide the only way to get on top of things is to kill the professor and the student, using a car bomb they manage to kill the professor and in doing so confirm that the far fetched idea is actually real beginning a series of political & law enforcement maneuverings whilst the young law student runs for her life.

Overall, it's an excellent thriller mainly focused on the student fleeing for her life, the conspiracy & cover up actions. There's next to no legal proceedings and no real courtroom action, but it's still a good book, just not that sort of book. ( )

A reasonable legal thriller, but a bit inconsistently paced - one moment we're breathlessly following along the action flipping pages to see what's about to happen, and then next we're slogging through a dozen pages of dry political machinations.

My biggest criticism of this book was the casual sexism. Perhaps a sign of the fact that the world is a different place in 2020 as I write this, than it was in 1992 when this book was written, but I found it tiresome that the main protagonist is not only portrayed as a stunningly beautiful young woman, but that we're reminded constantly of it - almost literally every single man she meets is mentioned as admiring her physical appearance. Again and again and again.

All of this for little in the end, as the great earth-shattering conspiracy turns out to be a little weak, and the climax isn't particularly satisfying. ( )