The Appeal: A Novel [Paperback]

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In a crowded courtroom in Mississippi, a jury returns a shocking verdict against a chemical company accused of dumping toxic waste into a small town’s water supply, causing the worst “cancer cluster” in history. The company appeals to the Mississippi Supreme Court, whose nine justices will one day either approve the verdict—or reverse it. 

The chemical company is owned by a Wall Street predator named Carl Trudeau, and Mr. Trudeau is convinced the Court is not friendly enough to his interests. With judicial elections looming, he decides to try to purchase himself a seat on the Court. The cost is a few million dollars, a drop in the bucket for a billionaire like Mr. Trudeau. Through an intricate web of conspiracy and deceit, his political operatives recruit a young, unsuspecting candidate. They finance him, manipulate him, market him, and mold him into a potential Supreme Court justice.TheirSupreme Court justice.

“Chilling and timeless.”—The Washington Post

“Fascinating . . . filled with deadly accurate characterizations by an author who knows both the law and politics from the inside.”—Los Angeles Times

“Grisham holds up that same mirror to our age as Tom Wolfe’sThe Bonfire of the Vanities.”—The Boston Globe
 
“Packs a wallop.”—USA Today

John Grishamis the author of twenty-three novels, including, most recently,The Litigators;one work of nonfiction, a collection of stories, and a novel for young readers. He is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Mississippi Innocence Project at the University of Mississippi School of Law. He lives in Virginia and Mississippi.