‘The Client’ turned out to be the second book by Mr Grisham that I took up, and I don’t think I regret the choice. There is so much going on in this book it is slightly difficult to follow months after reading it, but one thing I do know: I enjoyed the read and I will probably go through it again. I will be better able to evaluate the nuances present in the book after I do, I would think. But even before that, I can say a thing or two about the novel.
Firstly, I liked it. I enjoyed the premise of a small boy in trouble, and a lawyer being one of the few people who could help him. I enjoyed the child’s struggle to find a suitable lawyer for himself — plus, how/why end up with Reggie Love of all people? I took it to be a sign of how people allow themselves to be approached which I guess is also how Mr Grisham meant it to be taken. The fancy suited lawyer that was all around a crash victim didn’t want anything to do with a child, for the simple reason that he was a child. Ms Love took the time to listen and to see what the story was about, and that is to be appreciated. There should be more people like that about.
Secondly, I enjoyed the book. Mind Mark Sway, he does get a bit annoying and flippant at times, but then again he is a young person with a variety of interests, and getting killed doesn’t really feature within those interests. I can’t fault him for that. What I can fault him for is taking a very long time to make up his mind, but he was in a bit of a tight spot. It’s rather difficult to root for the lawyer and the client while not rooting for the law or the criminals — and, yet, this is what ‘The Client’ made me do. The Feds weren’t my favourite people here, and the criminal syndicate was outright silly (believably silly, that is, but in the way that I did not want them to succeed). I was left with the young Mark and Reggie Love, and I didn’t really mind that.
In the end, this is a story of making up one’s mind. But how can that be done if there’s so much going on all the time? What are the acceptable threats that one should face? What are the threats one should allow family to face?
I guess that picking up the book is a start in figuring those out.
