#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR • Look for special features inside. Join the Random House Reader’s Circle for author chats and more. The year is 2008 and Samantha Kofer’s career at a huge Wall Street law firm is on the fast track—until the recession hits and she is downsized, furloughed, and escorted out of the building. Samantha, though, is offered … building. Samantha, though, is offered an opportunity to work at a legal aid clinic for one year without pay, all for a slim chance of getting rehired.
In a matter of days Samantha moves from Manhattan to Brady, Virginia, population 2,200, in the heart of Appalachia, a part of the world she has only read about. Samantha’s new job takes her into the murky and dangerous world of coal mining, where laws are often broken, communities are divided, and the land itself is under attack. But some of the locals aren’t so thrilled to have a big-city lawyer in town, and within weeks Samantha is engulfed in litigation that turns deadly. Because like most small towns, Brady harbors big secrets that some will kill to conceal.
Praise for Gray Mountain
“[An] important new novel . . . superior entertainment.”—The Washington Post
“Powerful . . . a satisfying, old-fashioned, good guy/bad guy legal thriller.”—The Christian Science Monitor
“Yes, Gray Mountain is fiction. But after reading the book, you’ll believe heroic action must be taken.”—USA Today
“Grisham has written one of his best legal dramas.”—Associated Press
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Love his books, haven’t read a bad one yet. Thanks John
Like all his books; worth reading!
After about 30%, I couldn’t listen to this book any further. In the beginning I thought this was going to be about a young Wall Street lawyer working 100 hours/week who suddenly gets laid off in the recession. After going to “work” (as a volunteer) at a legal aid clinic in a very small, coal mining town in Applachia, and I thought she was going to be humbled by the slow-paced, simple way of life. But what the “story” is really about is how horrible coal companies are and why we should all hate them and the people who work for them; or at least feel sorry for the people who work for them because they are too stupid to know what they are doing. It just went on and on and on with it’s agenda and I thought “why am I still listening to this?”
I love all of John Grisham books!
Could not put it down. So good.
Grisham keeps turning out winners. His writing never turns stale.
All his books are good!!
I listened to the audio version of this book and the narrator did a wonderful job!
I loved everything about this book! The story line was great, the characters were great and everything else was just fantastic. It was a solid five stars from me!
Listen to the audio version if you get a chance!
Among the best
I ever read!
John Grisham goes after another evil and tells a great story in the process.
If you enjoy John Griffin you’ll enjoy this book. The first female lead in a story for John, he plays it well.
Not as good as Sycamore Row but a fair read
I wasn’t sure I would like this book but actually I LOVED it!
(My Goodreads review)
I waffled back and forth with 1 or 2 stars because of Goodreads’ rating description. One star = “I did not like it,” 2 stars= “it was okay.” Both of these statements are true. Here’s why.
Why I didn’t like it
It was sad and depressing. The deaths, the decimation of the earth, the disregard of the consequences all melded into one tremendously depressing novel. Top it off with an anticlimactic ending, and you’re left with a bad feeling.
No real action plot/reason to keep moving. Because many have stated this is an “issue” novel instead of an action/thriller that Grisham is famous for, I can see now why there’s not a constant plot. But when you combine the depressing “issue” with some bland characters (the only over-the-top person is the fake sheriff) and some thriller/mysterious happenings, you are going to look for a plot/action excuse to keep reading. This is especially true when Grisham introduces some plot devices that work well in his action/thrillers: a mysterious death, some corrupt bad guys that don’t mind killing, a few paranoid characters, and FBI raids. It heightens intensity for a while, but when the action peters out, your interest does, too. The only 2 reasons I wanted to keep reading were because I wanted to know about Donovan’s fate and the outcome of the Krull Mining case. I was disappointed on both fronts.
Samantha reads weird. When characters are front-and-center (and plot is secondary), 1) you need to feel for them 2) they need to read as authentic. Samantha, our protagonist, is a big-city girl, more specifically, a New Yorker. Why she would be apprehensive and afraid of things (like firing a gun) in one instance, and callous and aloof in another is weird to me. One thing I’ve found from NYC-ers is they will adapt to most things, and the things that they are scared of or never tried, or are apprehensive about, they will talk down or make it known that whatever it is is beneath them. It may be the POV here that’s confusing how she’s coming across because she could be thinking “I’m scared” while saying to others in a condescending manner, “Oh, I don’t do this. I’m from New York,” but it doesn’t read that way all the time.
The other thing about Samantha that bothered me is her personal relationships and her presence. Here, she comes off like a man would. Jeff, the male protagonist/love interest, seems to care about her while she seems to care about….well, nothing. She should at least care about the sex or note some attractive things about him that make her want to continue having sex with him. She seems more attracted to Donovan, but even with their friendship it’s weird. It’s like she has no positive feeling behind any of her personal relationships, she just notes stuff they do and what she doesn’t like. That’s not like a woman.
Also as a woman and a New Yorker, she’s very oblivious of men around her, and her place in the environment. Women just aren’t like that. We are super observant and cognizant of how we are perceived in our surroundings, unless we are super absorbed in something. She’s just around, going with the flow. Like a man would do.
The omniscient 3rd person narrator is annoying. This was written before the multiple POV trend came into fashion in fiction. Its predecessor, the omniscient 3rd-person POV is what we see here, and we see why it went out of fashion–it can be confusing when not done right. When you have more than 1 character where you want to do close 3rd person, this POV can become very confusing. It’s like you’re hearing everyone’s thoughts, and what they say almost at the same time. And who thinks exactly what they say all the time? No one.
Why it was okay
You learn about strip mining. Grisham didn’t know this of course, but in today’s world (late 2010s) where the US president got elected in part because coal miners thought he would help them, it’s amazing to see how that industry really works. This highlights how empty the promise is that candidate Trump made to put coal miners back to work, and how relaxing regulations probably will actually hurt the coal miner instead of help (black lung cases would increase, environments/ecosystems in mining country become even more harmful for miners and families, etc.)
The writing was good. Just because I didn’t like the story, doesn’t mean it wasn’t well-written and easy to follow. While I could care less about the story itself, the writing was well-executed and Grisham should be given credit for that. Especially in a world where Fifty Shades exists–bad story AND poor writing.
Against a weak Samantha, the Appalachian residents look good. I am so glad that the only backwards, crazy, ignorant-of-the-world country person is the fake sheriff (I can’t remember his name… Rowdy? I don’t know). Most of the main Appalachian characters are secure, smart, cunning, adept in their situations and circumstances, have amazing survival instincts, but still have that Southern charm that everyone loves–even if we don’t totally trust it. Maybe that’s why Samantha is written apprehensive but aloof. She makes us love these mountain people even more.
My frame of mind may be judging this book too harshly. If you are not already bordering on depression, angry or overwhelmed with partisan politics, or in a negative headspace, you may like this book more than I did. My circumstances: a co-worker gave me this book and recommended it, so my expectations were already higher than if I had just discovered the book on a library shelf. Combine that with my already negative mood, and the book’s negatives stand out so much more.
So, both ring true here overall: I hated this book, but it was an okay read. I made it through to the end; that deserves at least half a star.
Very well written.
As always, John Grisham writes books that you can’t put down until finished. Great writer.
A must read
Two different story lines. Unfortunately Grisham follows the wrong one!
A dud. Not his usual stuff. Story went nowhere
All things there are in tragic harmony.