The Pelican Brief

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The classic legal thriller that inspired the blockbuster film starring Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington

“There is a propulsiveness to [Grisham’s] narrative that keeps the pages turning briskly.”—People

In suburban Georgetown, a killer’s Reeboks whisper on the floor of a posh home. In a seedy D.C. porno house a patron is swiftly garroted to death. The next day America learns that two of its Supreme Court justices have been assassinated. And in New Orleans a young law student prepares a legal brief. . . .

To Darby Shaw it was no more than a legal shot in the dark, a brilliant guess. To the Washington establishment it was political dynamite. Suddenly Darby is witness to a murder—a murder intended for her. Going underground, she finds there is only one person she can trust—an ambitious reporter after a newsbreak hotter than Watergate—to help her piece together the deadly puzzle.

Somewhere between the bayous of Louisiana and the White House’s inner sanctums, a violent cover-up is being engineered. For someone has read Darby’s brief. Someone who will stop at nothing to destroy the evidence of an unthinkable crime.

“"Gripping... a genuine page-turner. Grisham”

“Gripping . . . a genuine page-turner. Grisham is a skillful craftsman.”—The New York Times Book Review

“Grisham has created a tough-minded, memorable character. . . . There is a propulsiveness to his narrative that keeps the pages turning briskly.”—People

“Grisham has done it again!”—Chicago Tribune

“A fast-paced thriller . . . it’s got the unmistakable Grisham style—conspiracy in high places, evil and innocent lawyers, assassins and a plot that will keep you reading into the small hours of the morning.”—The Cincinnati Post

“Superb drama . . . page-turning escapism at its best.”—New York Law Journal

“Suspenseful . . . thought-provoking . . . sophisticated . . . a first-class thriller that is invigoratingly clever.”—Chattanooga Times Free Press

“That kernel of doubt—the possibility that all this could happen—propels The Pelican Brief forward at breakneck speed.”—The Detroit News

“Keeps readers hooked . . . Grisham combines intrigue, the struggle for power and the law profession into a suspenseful novel.”—The Columbus Dispatch

“A success . . . Grisham has found a dynamite recipe: the drama of the legal system mixed with the thrill of a shoot-’em-up.”—The Seattle Times

John Grisham is the author of numerous #1 bestsellers, including The Firm, A Time to Kill, The Rainmaker, The Innocent Man, The Whistler, The Boys from Biloxi, and many more. His books have been translated into nearly fifty languages. Grisham is a two-time winner of the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction and was honored with the Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for Fiction. Grisham serves on the board of directors of the Innocence Project and Centurion Ministries, two national organizations dedicated to exonerating those who have been wrongfully convicted. Much of his fiction explores deep-seated problems in our criminal justice system. He lives on a farm in central Virginia.

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