Title : The Rainmaker
Author : John Grisham
Narrators : Frank Muller
Genre : Legal drama
Publisher : Bantam Audio
Listening Length : 16 hours 59 minutes
Rating : 4.5/5
Narrator Rating : 5/5
I picked up the Rainmaker for a change of pace, assured that with Grisham’s skilled writing I’d be hooked instantly. It also helped that I’d seen the movie when it had released, back in 1997, and had loved it. Well, I remembered the basics of the juicy tale, and that it was a classic underdog story.
Rudy Baylor, about to graduate from law school, is one of the few in his class who hasn’t managed a job. Prospects look bleak, so when ambulance-chaser J.Lyman “Bruiser” Stone offers him a job (sort of) Rudy takes it, and brings with him his first case, a potential insurance scam. Dot and Buddy want to sue insurance company Great Benefit who have refused to pay for the bone marrow transplant of their son Donny Ray, and Donny Ray is now dying of leukemia. Dot wants Great Benefit punished but her lawyer, a certain Mr. Baylor hasn’t even passed the bar yet.
The book works because we are all rooting for Rudy, who’s got the odds stacked against him. He is impoverished, sans job and resources, but won’t buckle down because he knows his clients are in the right and he feels for them. He is an interesting mix of good intentions, brashness, naivete and tenacity, and Grisham draws him well. I kept picturing a young Matt Damon 🙂 I also really felt for the Blacks, and their tragic predicament.
John Grisham is a master at the legal thriller; it is his genre. The Rainmaker is no different – it hooks you right from the start and doesn’t let go. There’s lots of courtroom drama, and witness inquisition, and Grisham having already garnered our sympathy for the Blacks, proceeds to give us our money’s worth. Even though I knew how the book was going to end, it was a fabulous listen, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I plan to re-watch the movie soon.
Narrator Frank Muller is wonderful. His carefully enunciated words bring Rudy to life (the book is in the first person, from Rudy’s point of view). The book, as good as it is, is made better by Muller’s narration.
