Not worthy of Grisham
938044
I have been a huge fan of Grishams' work.  I normally am singing his praises.  His books have been an escape from the insanity of everyday life, but this book was not worthy of him.  I feel cheated and am not sure if I will purchase another book of his.  Best bet, borrow his next one from the library and then you won't be out the $$$!
3504400
With each new novel that Grisham writes, I become less of a fan.  I made it through the first 100 pages or so of The Associate before deciding I needed to cut my losses. I skipped to the last few chapters to get "finished" with this disappointing book so I could get started with the new James Patterson novel.  Grisham is getting by on his reputation at this point.  His loyal readers deserve better.
3251261
As a big fan of 90% of Grisham's work, I have to report this was by far his worst work. Poor character development (are the main characters good guys or bad guys?), monotonous pace, preachy activism, no real resolution - this one has it all. From about 50 pages in, I sensed inner reluctance to finish. I should have listened to myself. Do yourself a favor and pretend like this one doesn't exist.
2807069
I love John Grisham's books and was very much looking forward to this one.  I could barely finish it.  It really didn't seem like he wrote it.  It was such a departure from his legal thrillers.  The main character, Samantha Kofer, was not only not very likable, I was wondering if she was a Jekyll/Hyde or had a personality disorder. She came across very self-centered and diva-like, which made the moments that she was thinking about others seem out of character or disingenuous. The other characters were not very developed, or interesting. There was a fair amount of sex, which is also unusual for Grisham, although it wasn't graphic.  There seemed to be a lot of repetition, almost as if to make the novel have more pages. It was hard to finish. There were A LOT of loose ends left, leaving me to believe there will be another S. Kofer novel coming. I won't be reading it.
4563083
Grisham once again goes outside of his normal area but this time he falls far short of meeting his normal standard.  The story idea was good.  The characters started off interesting but Grisham did not develop them.  By the end of the book I did not care about any of them.  I wanted to know more about the Coach, the quaterback, the punter etc.  Grisham needs to go back to letting us meet his characters.
1794273
I find it hard to believe Grisham wrote this drivel. I bought the book for a long plane flight and kept reading even after I knew it was bad. As the title implies, the narrator is an anti-hero type lawyer who defends the worst of the worst - gang lords, mass murderers, serial killers and so on. He describes himself as looking like a bad ass biker, hulking and pony tailed. He spends his leisure time attending MMA fights where he sponsors a Salvadoran gangbanger, and playing golf with other borderline outcasts. He's a poker player and gambler in general. His 'offfice' is a Ford Econoline van. He has a too cute little boy from a failed marriage  - seems his wife was really a lesbian, and their arguments take up more than a few pages.

As others have noted, this is not so much a novel as a series of short stories with a common protagonist.

 But what I really don't like is that our  every cop and prosecutor and most of the judges will do anything - manufacture evidence, suborn perjury, hide evidence - to get a conviction even when they know the defendant is innocent. I am a criminal defense lawyer and while I've had some bad experiences with judges and prosecutors, most of them are honest and hard working public servants.

One reason I don't believe Grisham wrote this is the chapter on a thug named Link set to be executed for murdering a judge. On the day of his execution, he has a cell phone that he uses to call his homeboys from death row. This is absolute hogwash - maybe in Mexico or Columbia but not in any American prison.
1099887
My expectations were high.  I was very disappointed. The book was slow.  I attempted to find something positive but at the end I could not find anything to make me want to recommend this book to anyone. I will not give up on Grisham as he has had some great books in the past.
848412
Didn't hold my interest-  story line was not interesting  Was not as good as previous Grisham books. Think I'll wait a bit before reading another
39117
Ford County by John Grisham is terrible. I've read many books by him and have become, but I may have to reconsider. This book is full of booze, rednecks, and old pickups, with very little plot and story line. Sorry, after reading about half I had to put it aside. Very disappointed. Guess I'll have to revert to James Patterson or David Baldacci.
2759676
Gray Mountain was the worst book I have read from John Grisham. The story was lukewarm, no surprises. There has been a tiresome repetition of facts. Looking at the very high frequency of Grisham publishing new books, perhaps it is no surprise to get a shallow and boring book like Gray Mountain.
4693865
Rooster Bar is a passable read (barely) but is not the best of Grisham. First, the characters are just not believable enough to buy into. For me, they have a sophomoric quality to them that I couldn't get passed. They were immature adolescents pretending to be adults. Second, all of Mr. Grisham's stories are peppered with his shallow cocktail-party liberalism.  I liked most of the books enough to set this story-stopping Grisham predilection aside but his portrayal of the U.s. immigration detention centers in Rooster Bar is so wrong, error-filled, silly and cardboard-like that I had to put the book on my shelf only partially read. Perhaps we have gotten the best out Grisham already. Many a good read over the years, so thanks John,  but not this time.
2285656
while in no way comparing in quality.  Grisham writing is getting pretty weak.  read his early stuff and skip this one
1047864
This was the worst Grisham book I have read. He took a very relevant subject worthy of serious examination and made it ridiculous. I would not recommend it to anyone.
2687737
I am not impressed.  I have all of John Grisham's books, but this one will not be in my library.  Give me the old Grisham back!
The one star I give it is because of who wrote it, not beacause of the book's content.
4348208
Not as good as Grisham's other books. It took over 100 pages to get to the point of the story and I did not find the ending satisfactory. It was a very confusing, complex plot and when I finished reading it I wasn't sure what had really happened.
4154325
Professor Ray Atlee and his brother Forrest are summoned back to their father's home.  Their father is the imposing Judge Reuben Atlee and he's dying.  Ray arrives to find the judge dead and to find several million dollars in cash.  Should Ray share the money with his drug-abusing brother?  Should Ray keep the money?  Who knows the money is there and what are they willing to do to get their hands on it?

Unfortunately, finding the answers to these questions requires reading the book.  And the book is not worth reading.  While Grisham once again writes a highly readable, southern inflected legal drama, this one lacks enough plot to justify its 200 and some pages.  Simply stated, very little happens and what does happen is belabored and not entirely convincing.  It reads, quite frankly, like Grisham is fulfilling a legal obligation to produce a novel.

It may be worth noting that this book contains some connections to other Grisham novels, including A Time to Kill.
2331350
Disappointing book.  I didn'the enjoy it as much as other Grisham books.  Parts were not believable.