The New York Times - Janet Maslin
…[a] buoyant, mischievous thriller…The Rooster Bar is written with the same verve Grisham brought to this summer's Camino Island; with the same sense that this reliable best-selling author is feeling real pleasure, and not just obligation, in delivering his work…As in all of Grisham's best books, the reader of The Rooster Bar gets good company, a vigorous runaround and—unlike those poor benighted suckers at Foggy Bottom—a bit of a legal education.
Publishers Weekly - Audio
01/22/2018
Grisham’s latest focuses on three law students—Mark Frazier, Todd Lucero, and Zola Maal—who, shaken by the suicide of their law school pal, Gordy Tanner, take stock of their student loan debts and dim job prospects. They decide to drop out and practice law without a license, and to scam the rich man profiting from their tuitions and loans. The author uses the resulting inventive and intriguing yarn to illuminate for-profit law schools, massive student debt, and harsh, family-destroying U.S. immigration policies (ICE sends Zola’s parents and older brother back to their native Senegal) without letting commentary overwhelm the novel’s entertainment value. His style is breezy and upbeat, as is reader Fliakos’s. The veteran actor reads the novel with a voice that accurately reflects the roller-coaster emotions of the three young protagonists. He also smartly captures their differing personalities—Mark’s self-confident, outgoing persona that can’t quite mask his fear of failure; Todd’s pragmatic pessimism; and Zola’s desperation, which overcomes her hesitancy about joining the team. Fliakos’s strong performance is both enjoyable and affecting. A Doubleday hardcover. (Oct.)
Publishers Weekly
09/25/2017
Inspired by an Atlantic article, this insightful, if flawed, novel from bestseller Grisham (Camino Island) highlights the disturbing world of for-profit legal education. Friends and third-year law students—Mark Frazier, Todd Lucero, and Zola Maal—are deep in debt. All they want is to endure their last semester at Foggy Bottom Law School in Washington, D.C., and never return. But their world changes when their friend and classmate, Gordy Tanner, commits suicide before he can reveal publicly the conspiracy he’s unearthed: FBLS admits unqualified students in order to profit from their student loans, and the school’s owner, a Wall Street lawyer turned investor, owns a bank that specializes in student lending. When Gordy’s suicide leads Mark, Todd, and Zola to realize that they are victims of a scam, they decide to drop out of school, change their identities to avoid creditors, and practice law without a license. After they make a series of missteps, their disgruntled clients and creditors start to close in, but they still manage to pull off the perfect crime and finish what Gordy started. Mark and Todd feel like the same person at times, and what drives their choices isn’t always clear. This intriguing story has some suspenseful moments, but thinly constructed characters dilute the impact. Agent: David Gernert, Gernert Company. (Oct.)
From the Publisher
[A] buoyant, mischievous thriller . . . Grisham writes in such an inventive spirit. . . . A treat.”—Janet Maslin, The New York Times
“Satisfying . . . Grisham [is] at his best when he brings his sardonic sense of humor to the sometimes questionable ethics of law and banking.”—USA Today
“[A] smartly told tale . . . gratifying and all-too-real.”—The Washington Post
Library Journal
05/15/2017
As usual, no word on the plot of Grisham's latest, though I can affirm that it's a legal thriller. Big print and national television advertising.
NOVEMBER 2017 - AudioFile
John Grisham returns to his professional roots as an attorney for this drama of white-collar crime, which will remind listeners of his earlier bestseller THE FIRM. With quiet certitude, narrator Ari Fliakos captures the mounting despair of three contemporary law students at a subpar law school who suddenly realize that that their futures consist of debt and unemployment. Fliakos begins the story at a sedate pace but soon picks up speed to match the plot. He hits his stride as Mark, Todd, and Zola realize the bind they’re in—and who might be to blame. Fans of Grisham's storytelling will enjoy this academic Robin Hood story. The villains are loan sharks, so listeners will be rooting for the good guys—millennials with a cause. M.R. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine
