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The Rainmaker
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The Rainmaker (1995) (edit title/settings)

by John Grisham (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

HE'S A YOUNG LAWYER WHO DOES YARD WORK IN EXCHANGE FOR RENT. THEN ONE LITTLE CASE BEGINS TO EXPLODE...

It's summer in Memphis. The sweat is sticking to Rudy Baylor's shirt and creditors are nipping at his heels. Once he had aspirations of breezing through law school and punching his... read more

Summary edit see section history

John Grisham’s five novels — A Time To Kill, The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, and The Chamber — have been number one best-sellers, and have a combined total of 47 million copies in print. Now, in The Rainmaker, Grisham returns to the courtroom for the first time since A Time To Kill,... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

John Grisham’s five novels — A Time To Kill, The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, and The Chamber — have been number one best-sellers, and have a combined total of 47 million copies in print. Now, in The Rainmaker, Grisham returns to the courtroom for the first time since A Time To Kill, and weaves a riveting tale of legal intrigue and corporate greed. Combining suspense, narrative momentum, and humor as only John Grisham can, this is another spellbinding read from the most popular author of our time.

Grisham’s sixth spellbinding novel of legal intrigue and corporate greed displays all of the intricate plotting, fast-paced action, humor, and suspense that have made him the most popular author of our time. In his first courtroom thriller since A Time To Kill, John Grisham tells the story of a young man barely out of law school who finds himself taking on one of the most powerful, corrupt, and ruthless companies in America — and exposing a complex, multibillion-dollar insurance scam.

In his final semester of law school Rudy Baylor is required to provide free legal advice to a group of senior citizens, and it is there that he meets his first “clients,” Dot and Buddy Black. Their son, Donny Ray, is dying of leukemia, and their insurance company has flatly refused to pay for his medical treatments. While Rudy is at first skeptical, he soon realizes that the Blacks really have been shockingly mistreated by the huge company, and that he just may have stumbled upon one of the largest insurance frauds anyone’s ever seen — and one of the most lucrative and important cases in the history of civil litigation. The problem is, Rudy’s flat broke, has no job, hasn’t even passed the bar, and is about to go head-to-head with one of the best defense attorneys — and powerful industries — in America.

Characters edit see section history

  • Mr. Rudy Baylor: Rudy is a greenhorn lawyer who got involved in a major lawsuit against an insurance company because of his compassionate nature. He worked hard to get the best result for her. He had some unusual friends, most of them underdogs.
  • Mr. Buddy Black: Dot's husband and Donny Ray's father. He was suffering from some war injuries.
  • Dot Black: Donny Ray's mother fighting for his insurance claim.
  • Donny Ray Black: Dot and Buddy's son terminally ill with leukemia.
  • Everett Lufkin: weasel VP of claims at Great Benefit
  • Ron Black: Donny's identical twin brother.
  • Kelly Riker: A young battered wife illtreated by her husband Cliff. She becomes Rudy's love interest.
  • Cliff: Kelly's husband continuosly beating her.
  • Leo F Drummond: Rudy's rival lawyer fighting for Great Benefit Life Insurance.
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Quotes edit see section history

  • “However deep my inexperience runs, I truly believe Judge Kipler will save me from myself”
    Rudy Baylor
  • “I truly believe Leo is sliding off the edge. When this case started he was quite the gentleman, a very polished pro both in courtroom and out. Now he acts like a pouting sophomore.”
    Rudy Baylor
  • Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
  • I learn an enormously valuable lesson. He’s just a man. He might be a legendary trial lawyer with lots of notches in his belt, but he’s just another man.
    Highlighted by 12 Kindle customers
  • “Anyone can cook a trout. The real art is in hooking the damned thing.”
    Highlighted by 10 Kindle customers
  • Old grudges are dismissed. Life is too short to despise people who simply can’t help what they’ve done.
    Highlighted by 9 Kindle customers
  • Deck has reduced the Canons of Ethics to the Big Three: Fight for your client, don’t steal, try not to lie.
    Highlighted by 8 Kindle customers
  • A TIME TO KILL THE FIRM THE PELICAN BRIEF THE CLIENT THE CHAMBER THE RAINMAKER
    Highlighted by 7 Kindle customers
  • Law school is nothing but three years of wasted stress. We spend countless hours digging for information we’ll never need. We are bombarded with lectures that are instantly forgotten. We memorize cases and statutes which will be reversed and amended tomorrow. If I’d spent fifty hours a week for the past three years training under a good lawyer, then I would be a good lawyer. Instead, I’m a nervous third-year student afraid of the simplest of legal problems and terrified of my impending bar exam.
    Highlighted by 6 Kindle customers
  • The people in claims are the poorest trained, least paid of all. It’s that way in every insurance company.
    Highlighted by 4 Kindle customers
  • So this is how the uninsured die. In a society filled with wealthy doctors and gleaming hospitals and state-of-the-art medical gadgetry and the bulk of the world’s Nobel winners, it seems outrageous to allow Donny Ray Black to wither away and die without proper medical care.
    Highlighted by 4 Kindle customers
  • Professor Smoot, an oafish egghead complete with crooked bow tie, bushy hair and red suspenders,
    Highlighted by 4 Kindle customers
  • THE KING OF TORTS BLEACHERS THE LAST JUROR THE BROKER THE INNOCENT MAN
    Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers
Show all 12 quotes from this book

First Sentence edit see section history

My decision to become a lawyer was irrevocably sealed when I realized my father hated the legal profession.

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 184 of 194 in Shelfari Most Popular (December 2010). (authoritative list)
This is book 1 of 10 in Publishers Weekly Bestselling Novels In 1995. (authoritative list)
This is book 163 of 195 in Shelfari Most Popular (June 2010). (authoritative list)
This is book 196 of 195 in Shelfari Most Popular (June 2011). (authoritative list)

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. John Grisham (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Doubleday
Country: United States
Publication Date: May 1995
ISBN: 978-0385424738
Page Count: 434

Classification edit see section history

  • Library of Congress: PS3557.R5355 R35 1995
  • Dewey: 813.54

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

Movie Connections edit see section history

  • The Rainmaker (IMDb): (1997) Starring Matt Damon, Danny DeVito, Claire Danes, Jon Voight, Mickey Rourke; Directed by Francis Ford Coppola

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