Alternative to John Grisham style courtroom/legal thrillers?

BenEadir · 22-02-2013 02:47PM #1

Hi all,

I'm a very haphazard reader. Mostly on planes and during holidays. I tend to like either biographical fare (Long Walk to Freedom being my favourite) or John Grisham style courtroom thrillers.

I'm off travelling for a few weeks and am looking for recommendations that will keep me glued to the pages (or Kindle). I have a relatively short attention span so whatever I'm reading needs to be moving along or I just lose interest. (My problem I know)

I'd appreciate it therefore if anyone can recommend suitable books which I can read (hard copy or Kindle) or even listen to via Audiobook whilst I'm on the move.

Thanks in advance.

Ben

Aenaes · 22-02-2013 06:50PM

Michael Connolly isn't as good as Grisham but his books are enjoyable. He writes mostly crime fiction but he has legal thrillers with a recurring character, Mickey Haller, a criminal defence lawyer.
The first book with Mickey Haller is "The Lincoln Lawyer" which was made into a film. From what I've heard, the film sounds pretty bad but the book was alright.

Mr E · 22-02-2013 06:53PM

I'm a fan of Mark Gimenez. Check that link for a list of his books, and read the synopses. Entertaining reads.

eviltwin · 22-02-2013 06:56PM

Mr E wrote: »

I'm a fan of Mark Gimenez. Check that link for a list of his books, and read the synopses. Entertaining reads.

Would second that. I recently read "The Abduction" , really good book. Looking forward to reading more of his work.

darklighter · 22-02-2013 06:57PM

eviltwin wrote: »

Would second that. I recently read "The Abduction" , really good book. Looking forward to reading more of his work.

Ill third that

BenEadir · 22-02-2013 07:01PM

Sounds like a winner winner chicken dinner there lads, much appreciated

Ben

x_Ellie_x · 22-02-2013 11:50PM

Defending Jacob by William Landay. This is very similar to a Grisham novel and one of the best novels I've read so far this year.

Mr E · 23-02-2013 12:03AM

I just looked that up. Sounds excellent, cheers!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Defending-Jacob-William-Landay/dp/1780222181/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1361574115&sr=8-1

25-02-2013 10:00AM

Scott Turow is a writer in the same arena as Grisham, you could give him a go. I enjoyed one of his called Presumed Innocent a few years back.

Light enough holiday reading I'd say.

BenEadir · 25-02-2013 10:33AM

Thanks for all the great recommendations everyone, much appreciated.

Ben

MagicMarker · 25-02-2013 02:12PM

I'm almost finished Defending Jacob, it's very very good, a real page turner.

LiamMc · 25-02-2013 07:56PM

I grew up with Earl Stanley Gardner's, Perry Mason books. Mason is the Lawyer, Della Street secretary and a P.I. works for the firm.
I learnt words like 'Perjury', 'Affadavit' and 'Grand-Jury' from the books. The series of books may be considered formulaic (maybe not) but this is post-Arthur Conan Doyle and when every book title starts with "The Case of the...." a small sense that author and publisher respected the reader aswell.

David Gutherson's "Snow Falling on Cedars", Pacific coast fishing community with small USA history and social politics.

Eoin · 27-02-2013 05:37PM

BenThere, there's an author called Steve Martini who has a good few legal thriller type books. Pretty run of the mill stuff, but it might pass the time.

Aenaes wrote: »

Michael Connolly isn't as good as Grisham but his books are enjoyable. He writes mostly crime fiction but he has legal thrillers with a recurring character, Mickey Haller, a criminal defence lawyer.
The first book with Mickey Haller is "The Lincoln Lawyer" which was made into a film. From what I've heard, the film sounds pretty bad but the book was alright.

I think he is miles better than Grisham, but I do prefer his Bosch books to his Haller ones.

allprops · 27-02-2013 06:00PM

Alafair Burke's Samantha Kincaid series are really well-written legal thrillers. Her Father is the legendary crime writer James Lee Burke.

ThirdMan · 28-02-2013 01:10PM

Are there any 'literary' crime/legal writers? I know I'm gonna sound like a snob, but I've read Grisham and Connolly before, and while the stories were interesting the style of writing wasn't that impressive.

sheesh · 28-02-2013 01:16PM

Patricia Cornwell's Scarpetta series nicely paced crime investigation books don't read 2 in a row though or you start to see the formula.

My sister does describe Scarpetta as being 'a bit up her own arse' I found her quiet likeable.

I would recommend

Ludo · 03-03-2013 10:08PM

Quite like Brian Haig myself...nice light reads and similarish to Grisham. Humourous in places also.

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/12545.Brian_Haig

mewe · 03-03-2013 10:27PM

Not like Grisham or Connolly but definitely in the page turner category would be the Odd Thomas books by Dean Koontz

Alternative to John Grisham style courtroom/legal thrillers?

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