“The Pelican Brief” by John Grisham

“The Pelican Brief” is a mystery novel that revolves around the murders of two Supreme Court justices who were either liberal or democratic or environmentalists. There are two possibilities behind the murders - a revenge for a case in the past that these judges were part of (or) a precautionary act to eliminate their voting on a case that is yet to be handled by the Supreme Court. Which one is it? 

A young law student Darby Shaw hunts all cases from the past that might link the two Supreme Court justices but fails to find a compelling case. She finds a case that is a long shot, writes a legal brief on it and almost decides to discard it. When the brief circulates around in the circles of FBI and the White House, she is in grave danger of getting killed and she is forced to run for her life. Her legal brief which was a shot in the dark had threatening implications in the inner sanctum of the White House.

While she is on the run, she calls up a reporter who goes to any extent and even resorts to sleazy ways to break a shocking news to the world. She dictates to him how she wants to approach the story and its verification before he breaks the story to the world. They both start digging the truth only to realise that there is an even bigger conspiracy. 

The novel is propulsive and page turning.  Though the plot solely rests on the suspense behind the legal brief, the novel is able to keep up the suspense until the very end without losing its steam. The overwhelming list of characters might need a track, despite that the novel is fairly engaging and easy to comprehend.

Another John Grisham masterpiece in the legal thriller genre!