The Appeal

By Nola Redd
In John Grisham's newest thriller, he neglects his usual courtroom drama in favor of dealing with the appeal process - and the related political process. Up until now, Grisham's novels have pretty much followed two separate tracks. He has penned thrilling fiction that keeps you hooked, as well as making a few more literary novels that convey a theme. In The Appeal, Grisham has combined the best of both, giving us a "fun" novel with a purpose.

The trial is finished, and the jury has voted in favor of the plaintiff, returning a multi million dollar ruling for those wronged. Now the appeal is in the works, headed towards the Mississippi Supreme Court. But the owner of the offending chemical plant is convinced that the Court needs to be changed. And so begins a new campaign effort to create a more friendly environment for his case.

Although The Appeal doesn't have the edge-of-the-seat action of The Firm, The Client or The Pelican Brief, the reader is still drawn into the tangled web created. And the world that Grisham reveals should make everyone think, not just Mississippi voters. Don't get me wrong - the story is great, the characters believable, etc. But what I think makes The Appeal stand out is that it has a purpose other than entertainment, while managing to entertain, something that novels like Bleachers and The Painted House just don't seem to do well at.

What do we learn from the novel? There are lessons that apply if your state votes in members of the State Supreme Court, and those are the most obvious. But in the background is a question that should touch every registered voter in the United States - just how much does campaign financing, ads, and entertainment factor into our electoral process, at any stage? I wonder how informed of a decision most Americans make when they turn out to vote. I wonder how many of them bother to double-check statements made by one campaigner about another. What was taken out of context? What was misplayed? How many "errors" do we remember, while not even noticing the corrections? Personally, I'm the kind of person who checks all of my email forwards on Snopes to verify them, but I am ashamed to say I don't do that in regards to campaigns. Do you?

Grisham has timed the release of this novel at a crucial point for Americans - in an election year. And though I am sure most Americans will continue to wander to the polls like thoughtless sheep, I hope that some of them will reflect on the lessons learned in The Appeal and make educated decisions this year.