The Client (novel)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''The Client'' (1993) is a
legal thriller The legal thriller genre is a type of crime fiction genre that focuses on the proceedings of the investigation, with particular reference to the impacts on courtroom proceedings and the lives of characters. The courtroom proceedings and legal a ...
written by American author
John Grisham John Ray Grisham Jr. (; born February 8, 1955 in Jonesboro, Arkansas) is an American novelist, lawyer and former member of the 7th district of the Mississippi House of Representatives, known for his popular legal thrillers. According to the Am ...
, set mostly in
Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...
, and
New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster.
; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...
. It is Grisham's fourth novel.


Plot

Boyd Boyette, a United States Senator from Louisiana, goes missing. Because of his vocal opposition to a proposed major toxic landfill project by a company known to be Mafia-backed, murder is suspected. But no body can be found and Roy Foltrigg,
United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...
in New Orleans, is desperate for a suspect. Barry "The Blade" Muldanno, a well-known thug and nephew of Johnny Sulari,
acting boss A crime boss, also known as a crime lord, Don, gang lord, gang boss, mob boss, kingpin, godfather, crime mentor or criminal mastermind, is a person in charge of a criminal organization. Description A crime boss typically has absolute or nearl ...
of the
New Orleans crime family The New Orleans crime family or New Orlean Mafia was an Italian-American Mafia crime family based in the city of New Orleans. The family had a history of criminal activity dating back to the late nineteenth century. The family reached its height ...
is suspected. The
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
stalk Muldanno, hoping he'll lead them to the body. Eleven-year-old Mark Sway, his younger brother Ricky, and their divorced mother Dianne live in a trailer park in Memphis. Mark and Ricky are smoking cigarettes in the woods near their home, when they encounter a man trying to commit
suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
by piping exhaust fumes into his car. Trying to remove the hose, Mark is grabbed by the man and forced into the car. The man, under the influence of drugs and alcohol, reveals himself to be lawyer Jerome Clifford. Clifford tells Mark that he is about to kill himself to avoid being murdered by Muldanno, who has revealed to him the location of Boyette's body. Mark manages to escape, and Clifford then shoots himself. Ricky becomes catatonic after witnessing the suicide and is hospitalized. Authorities — and the Mob — suspect that Clifford may have told Mark where the body is. At the hospital, the FBI urgently want to talk to Mark. Street-smart beyond his years, he realizes that he will need a
lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...
. By coincidence, he meets Regina "Reggie" Love, a lawyer specializing in child abuse cases, who agrees to represent him for a token retainer of one dollar. Reggie suspects that Mark has not told her the complete story, including the location of the body. Two Mafia operatives, Bono and Pirini, are dispatched from New Orleans to Memphis to see what Mark knows; they hire local "security specialists," Nance and Sisson, to snoop at the hospital. Reggie represents Mark in an interview with the FBI, knowing that she does not have the full story. Roaming the hospital, Mark is cornered and threatened by Nance that he'll kill him if he talks. Foltrigg, a glory-seeking lawyer with political aspirations, known as "Reverend Roy" because of his penchant for preaching to juries, arrives at the offices of George Ord, the United States attorney in Memphis, where he is less than welcome. Foltrigg and his staff plot methods to get Mark to reveal where the body is hidden, and also plot to get Reggie into court, hoping to pierce attorney-client confidentiality, assuming that Reggie actually knows the location of the body. The FBI apply to Harry Roosevelt, a judge of the Juvenile Court, to arrange Mark's detention for his own protection. This is reluctantly approved by Roosevelt and Mark is arrested in the hospital room where Ricky is recovering. Mark and Reggie appear before the judge, but, scared out of his wits, Mark "takes the Fifth" and refuses to reveal what he knows. He is returned to detention, and after faking a medical condition, is taken to the hospital, from which he escapes, eventually taking refuge with Reggie. The Sway family trailer is burned to the ground by Bono and Pirini; the family now have no home and little else. Dianne loses her job in a minimum-wage sweatshop, but Reggie threatens the company president with a lawsuit, on condition that they keep sending her paycheck and fresh flowers to the hospital. K. O. Lewis, Deputy Director of the FBI, is drawn into the case. He proposes a deal — if Mark reveals the location of the body, they will place the Sway family in the witness protection program. Reggie and Mark drive to Clifford's house at the same time as Muldanno's accomplices. They start to dig up the body, which is buried under
concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...
in Clifford's boat shed, but a melee follows and they flee. Mark and Reggie discover the body and then also flee. The deal is done and the Sway family agree to enter witness protection. A special hospital is located to take Ricky; after his recovery, they will be moved elsewhere. As soon as the family fly off in an FBI plane, Reggie reveals the location of the body to the FBI.


Critical reception

The ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'' wrote that "the pace is plodding and because the book never gathers any momentum, it seems painfully overlong." ''
Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...
'' wrote that the book "opens with a neat hook into the reader's jaw- -and the tension never wavers."


Adaptations

A
1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...
film based on the novel was directed by
Joel Schumacher Joel T. Schumacher (; August 29, 1939June 22, 2020) was an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Raised in New York City by his mother, Schumacher graduated from Parsons School of Design and originally became a fashion designer. H ...
and starred
Susan Sarandon Susan Abigail Sarandon (; née Tomalin; born October 4, 1946) is an American actorMcCabe, Bruce"Susan Sarandon, the 'actor'" ''Boston Globe''. April 17, 1981. Retrieved January 21, 2021. and activist. She is the recipient of various accolades, ...
,
Tommy Lee Jones Tommy Lee Jones (born September 15, 1946) is an American actor and film director. He has received four Academy Award nominations, winning Best Supporting Actor for his performance as U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard in the 1993 thriller film '' The ...
,
Mary-Louise Parker Mary-Louise Parker (born August 2, 1964) is an American actress. After making her Broadway debut as Rita in Craig Lucas' '' Prelude to a Kiss'' in 1990 (for which she received a Tony Award nomination), Parker came to prominence for film roles in ...
and newcomer
Brad Renfro Brad Barron Renfro (July 25, 1982 – January 15, 2008) was an American actor. He made his film debut at the age of 11 with a starring role in '' The Client'' (1994). He went on to appear in 21 feature films and won several awards. Prior to bei ...
. The film was released on July 20, 1994. For her work in the film, Susan Sarandon was nominated for an
Academy Award for Best Actress The Academy Award for Best Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year. ...
and won a
BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role Best Actress in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film Award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film. * From 1952 to ...
, and Renfro won for an
YoungStar Awards The YoungStar Awards, presented by ''The Hollywood Reporter'', honored young American actors and actresses from ages 6–18 in their work in film, television, stage and music. Winners were chosen via a poll of 3,500 entertainment industry insiders ...
and
Young Artist Awards The Young Artist Award (originally known as the Youth in Film Award) is an accolade presented by the Young Artist Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1978 to honor excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young ...
. The film was so successful that it spawned a television series of the same name, starring
JoBeth Williams Margaret JoBeth Williams (born December 6, 1948) is an American actress and television director. Her directorial debut with the 1994 short film ''On Hope'' earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Live Action Short Film. In 2009 she began ...
and John Heard. It ran for one season (1995–1996).


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Client, The 1993 American novels Novels by John Grisham Legal thriller novels American novels adapted into films Novels set in Memphis, Tennessee Novels set in New Orleans American novels adapted into television shows Works about witness protection