“The Appeal” by John Grisham

Genre: Legal Thriller



Rating: 4 Water Towers

After years of litigation, the small, nearly bankrupt, law firm of Payton & Payton (Mary Grace and Wes) has just won a $41 million lawsuit against New York based Krane Chemical. This is proof that the illegal dumping of chemicals at the Krane plant in Bowmore, Mississippi had contaminated the drinking water resulting in the cancer deaths of (so far) 60 plus members of the community.

A sweet victory. Or is it?

“The Appeal” means just that. Now that the jury has awarded a huge settlement, the high priced ($750 per hour) lawyers working for billionaire Carl Trudeau’s Krane Chemical (part of the much larger Trudeau Group) are appealing the decision to the Mississippi Supreme Court. Until the Supreme Court upholds the verdict, no money will be dispersed to help the cancer stricken, poor, residents of Bowmore.

And this process will take at least 12 to 18 months.

Since Mississippi elects their Supreme Court Judges, and an election is due this year for middle of the road Judge Sheila McCarthy, the deep pockets (and devious minds) of big business come up with a plan to unseat her and elect a Judge who will be sympathetic to them, thus changing the face of the Supreme Court in Mississippi from one that is plaintiff friendly to one that is plaintiff unfriendly.

Carl Trudeau hires Barry Rinehart to rig the election. Barry, with the help of Tony Zachary, finds a handsome small town insurance lawyer with little experience, no background issues, and a conservative leaning. Ron Fisk is that lawyer, and after being wined and dined and made to feel extremely important Ron agrees to run, and the deception of the Mississippi voters is underway.
After hiring another small town lawyer to enter the race as a decoy, Judge McCarthy realizes that she may have to fight to win her seat. Although the person running against her is not a threat, McCarthy rallies the support of the Mississippi Trial Lawyers and, half-heartedly, raises some cash to fund her re-election bid. Suddenly she is blindsided by the appearance of the much more serious Ron Fisk and his well oiled, and well funded, campaign.

Facts are distorted, lies are generated, and Judge McCarthy is made out to be a raging “liberal” and the cause of much of the problems with litigation in Mississippi. She supports gay marriage, is for gun control and she is single with loose morals. Her voting record clearly indicates her liberal thinking. Ron Fisk on the other hand is a God faring, Mississippi conservative who supports gun control, is against gay marriage, and is a solid family man who will fight for your way of life. Of course, what the voters do not know, is that Ron happens to be funded by a New York billionaire who needs his vote in the upcoming appeal of Baker versus Krane Chemical.

“The Appeal” is a terrific book that takes a frightening look at dirty politics and how the minds of the voters can be manipulated (via advertising and marketing) to suit the needs of the rich and powerful. Conversely, it shows how the sick and the poor are easily tossed aside when confronted by those who care little about human suffering or right and wrong.

The ending of this book…..oh, I almost forgot, you will need to read the book to find out.

“Playing for Pizza” by John Grisham

Genre: Fiction

Rating: 5 Water Towers

Every now and then John Grisham writes a book that is "off-genre". “Playing for Pizza” is one such novel, and it is a gem. Other off-genre (meaning not a Legal Thriller) John Grisham fiction books are: “A Painted House”, “Skipping Christmas”, and “Bleachers”. All of them are outstanding. Yeah, I’ve read all of his books minus one “The Appeal” which I have in the queue.

I suspect if you do not like football, “Playing for Pizza” may get a little tedious, but, if you do like it the game details are a lot of fun. If you enjoy getting away to another land and culture you will definitely enjoy “Playing for Pizza” as the reader is taken away to the one country I would love to move to to live out my remaining years….Italy.

Rick Dockery is a third string quarterback for the Cleveland Browns (and many other teams before this one). It is the playoffs and the first and second string quarterbacks both are out of the game. Rick comes in with the Browns leading with only 11 minutes to play. He promptly blows the game, and gets knocked out cold with his third major concussion. He wakes up the next day, in the hospital, to a Cleveland that hates him and calls him the all time “Goat” leader in football. The Browns release Rick. Arnie, Rick’s agent, tries to call other teams to find Rick his latest third string quarterback gig but, big surprise here, no one wants him.

Ricks football career may be, thankfully, over.

But Arnie is resourceful, finding Rick a starting quarterback position for $20,000 a year (American) playing for the Parma Panthers in Italy. Rick is hesitant to go, but, eventually his love of football (and promise of beautiful cheerleaders) overrules and he heads to Parma, Italy.

The teams in NFL Italy are allowed three Americans per team. The Panthers coach, American Sam Russo (from Bucknell), has been in Italy coaching the Panthers for the past 5 years. He has an Italian wife and has a part time job showing Americans around Italy. It turns out that the Parma Panthers do not pay their Italian players, they all work full-time and play “americano football” for the sheer love of the game. Although they are not the best players in the world, they are tough as nails and truly enjoy playing.

As Rick adjusts to the culture, the reader is taken on a tour of Italy. We are introduced to the food, the pace of life, the enjoyment of good food and drink, the beauty and history of Italy and the love of opera.

I want to live there…did I say that already?

Rick meets the most wonderful characters. From Sam his American coach, to Franco his fullback and local judge, to Nino his center and “Café Montana” owner (yes, it is named after my beloved San Francisco 49’ers greatest quarterback ever, Joe Montana).

Rick finds that he likes opera and meets Gabriella the lead Soprano singing “Otello” at the Teatro Regio opera house. Although that relationship does not work out, he eventually meets Livvy Galloway a very lively American college junior who is in Italy for year of study. Livvy loves Italy and knows the details of it’s history, architecture, and culture. She enthusiastically drags Rick on tours of castles, churches, wineries, restaurants, and the country side where Rick would have never gone by himself. His appreciation and love of Italy increases even though he hardly realizes it.

Of course the Parma Panthers football is the main focus of the book. As the team goes through the NFL Italy season we follow them through the ups and downs of winning and losing. They have high hopes to get into the NFL Italy Super Bowl now that they have a real NFL quarterback as their leader. They party hard and love and hate with vigor.

This book is such a delight I wish it were longer than just 258 hard cover pages.

Italy intrigues me, I would love to live there….hmmm, have I said that already?

The real Parma Panthers Web Site

Parma, Italy

Teatro Regio Opera House

“The Innocent Man” by John Grisham

Genre: Non-Fiction

Rating: 5 Water Towers

I went way out of my normal genre to read John Grisham’s (who also for the first time wrote a non-fiction book)The Innocent Man. If you read only one book this year, read this one. It is a superb story detailing the life of Ron Williamson. If you think your life is hard, the perspective gained by reading this book should make you jump for joy for every day you have.

Ron Williamson was a talented, if troubled, young man. He played High School Baseball and was one of the best ever to come out of Ada, Oklahoma. He was also wild, partaking in a fair amount of drinking and drugs. Ron was recruited into the Minor Leagues, where his dream started to unravel due to injuries. As his baseball career dwindled Ron drank more, caroused more (sometimes with his friend Dennis Fritz) and generally made a name for himself as a troublemaker. He also had real problems with his mental stability, eventually seeking the help at various mental health providers and institutions.

Ada, Oklahoma was shocked by very brutal the murder of 21 year old Debbie Carter in December 1982.

The investigation, by apparently incompetent police: Dennis Smith and Gary Rogers and District Attorney: Bill Peterson, was bogus and targeted one individual: Ron Williamson. Evidence was doctored or hidden, lies were forced out of career criminals, and snitches were encouraged. In short, Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz were wrongly convicted and sent to jail, Dennis for life and Ron to Death Row.

Twelve years later the world found out, via DNA testing which was not around when they were originally convicted, that Ron and Dennis were innocent. Unfortunately, Ron had lapsed into severe mental illness while on Death Row (medical care was not given regularly….after all, who cares, they are dead people walking).

I’m not ruining the story when I tell you that Ron and Dennis were both exonerated and sued all those involved for millions. Ron passed away in 2004, but, Dennis still lives in Kansas City and has resumed a near normal life.

I was so taken by this story, that tears were flowing the last ten pages. The tears only briefly supplanted the anger I felt (and feel) by the incompetence of the lawyers, police, and guards in Ada, Oklahoma. If it were not for some "heroic" lawyers (you may remember Barry Scheck from the OJ trial, and may have heard of Mark Barrett) and judges, Ron may have been put to death for a crime he never committed (at one point he was a mere 5 days away from execution). As it was, 12 years of two innocent people’s lives were taken away, and the sanity of one.

John Grisham is simply the best. This book reads like a novel, but, is more horrifying knowing it is a true story.

Check out this PBS Frontline Show concerning the case

The Innocence Project