Gray Mountain: A Novel Paperback – August 18, 2015

This book accurately portray social class differences in the ease of access to money, influence, power, and prestige for some and, for others, the incessant struggle for a decent wage, a modicum of dignity, simple fairness, and beautiful justice. It is not, however, a moralizing sociology text in disguise or a sterile study in economics. No, it is much more than that. It is an excellent read, an attention-grabbing story that, thanks to Grisham's exceptional ability to develop both complex characters and intricate plots, is utterly believable and immensely enjoyable. It is also thought-provoking and consciousness expanding. An excellent read indeed. The background for this complex and intriguing tale is "the great recession" and its impact on one young lawyer who, like so many of her aspiring legal peers, was "furloughed" by one of those gigantic corporate law firm that have impressive names and were up to their ears in the greedy machination that brought on the terrible collapse that ravaged America, destroying the hopes and dreams of millions. This particular young lawyer is Samantha ("Sam") Kofer, who, given her family background, is no stranger to upper echelon lawyering. She is, however, a total stranger to life and the practice of law she encounters when her furlough (her exile?) lands her a one year volunteer position with a free legal clinic in the heart of strip-mining country, the southern Appalachians. The place is at least a million miles from trendy, showy, competitive, fast-paced, moneyed, Manhattan. She has been transported to a place where some lawyers, by no means all, practice law with a very rare commodity ... heart ... more love for people than for money. Imagine her shock! She may have left the planet altogether. As Samantha is thrown into life, law, love, pain, and intrigue in this strange socio-economic context, she has a great deal to learn. With support from unanticipated sources she eventually finds her footing and, from sheer legal necessity, she becomes a functioning lawyer. And in the process, she learns the price of a mountain-side trailer home, the impossible cost of a new fan belt or car battery while last month's electric bill is still unpaid. She learns, too, the terrible pain of spousal abuse or a week without a pay check as well as the beautiful power of love in enduring incredible hardships without whining. She also learns that the poor are not always noble nor do the noble come solely from the ranks of the impoverished. Apparently decency and compassion are not the property on any social class. And greed can be at work in a small local business as well as a large and distant one, or perhaps in a family squabbling over the little money left to them by a deceased parent. Inevitably she experiences the dark, devious, and dangerous underside of strip mining and the lawyers and executives who will stop at nothing while enriching themselves at the cost of human and environmental exploitation. What ever did become of that lawyer who had a distressing habit of winning big lawsuits against the giant mining corporations? How can a lawyer ever prove that "black lung" is anything more the a misnomer for a history cigarette smoking? How many ways can a black lung or EPA lawsuit decision be evaded and the penalties go unpaid? And at what costs? To whom? Can a legal settlement involving only a few hundred dollars actually change someone's life? Doesn't that come only with million dollar settlements?What is the real and actual cost of the love of money?You want answers? You'll just have to lose yourself in this fascinating story. And that's very easy to do. Enjoy.Ray Drake

She loved Manhattan and could not imagine living anywhere else, but her world was upside down now, and, well, there was nothing certain in her future.”Twenty-nine year old Samantha Kofer is an associate at a huge New York law firm. She works 100 hours per week doing grunt work that she hates, but she’s earning $180,000 a year and is on track to be a partner by the age of 35, raking in millions. She has an apartment she shares with an associate from another firm and was content with the lifestyle her income afforded her, even if she doesn’t have much free time to enjoy it.When readers meet Samantha, it’s September 2008 and day ten of the Lehman Brothers crash. Law firms in New York City are in a panic and shedding associates quicker than an Eskimo sheds clothes in the desert. Samantha’s just one of the many associates turned out onto the street, laid off in a city that now offers no prospects of another job. She only has one consolation. If she will agree to intern for a nonprofit agency for a year, she can keep her health benefits and a chance of being rehired by her firm if and when there is a rebound. Samantha bulks at the idea of working for free for an entire year, but soon accepts an internship at the Mountain Legal Aid Clinic in Brady, Virginia, right smack dab in the middle of Appalachia.Samantha’s boss at the Mountain Legal Aid Clinic is Mattie Wyatt, who has kept the clinic running for twenty-six years. Her job at the clinic is to provide legal services to those who come in for help, all of whom are too poor to be able to afford a lawyer on their own. She deals with a variety of cases from an abused wife who wants to escape her abusive, drug dealing husband, an elderly lady who needs Samantha to draft her will, and a man who is dying of black-lung disease and seeks compensation from his employer.Big Coal is corrupt, and Samantha learns firsthand just how corrupt from her clients, Mattie and Mattie’s nephew, attorney Donovan Gray. The mining companies are not held at all accountable for their actions no matter who or what they hurt. Doctors, lawyers, and politicians testify in favor of Big Coal to protect companies from being forced to compensate employees who suffer from black-lung. Regulations are overlooked in favor of profit, even when two children lose their lives as a result.Whereas Mattie and Samantha defend the little people whose lives have been destroyed because of Big Coal, Donovan wages a one-man crusade against the Big Coal companies, a crusade that’s sure to win him plenty of high powered enemies. The two big cases he is working on involve strip mining, or the process of removing the top of mountains to mine the seams of coal instead of digging for it. It’s cheaper for coal companies, but it’s deadly to all that lives below the mountain, such as wildlife, streams, and human beings. As the story unfolds, a murder occurs. Samantha must decide if she wants to retreat back home to New York City or stay and fight for the people who need her most.Many of Grisham’s novels deal with legal and political issues, such as insurance fraud, homelessness, and capital punishment. Grisham as a writer has a certain magic about him, one that allows him to bring serious topics into his books and make readers care about them. The man can create activists out of couch potatoes just by telling a fictional tale. He has done that again with “Gray Mountain”. The story he tells of Big Coal and strip mining will grab your interest, even if neither of those topics have interested you in the past. You’ll turn the pages and keep reading, wanting to know what happens as you begin to hate Big Coal as much as Mattie, Samantha, and Donovan Gray. When you’re finished, you’ll Google strip mining because — well, Grisham is just that good.Truth be told, compared to his other novels, the characters in “Gray Mountain” were flimsy cardboard cutouts. We expect vivid characters as much as we expect fascinating storylines from Grisham, and he just doesn’t quite deliver this time. But I’m not sure that even matters. Gray’s Mountain is not thin in the pages at all, and I finished it in less than two days. It’s a great book. Great story. Great writing. Grisham gets the job done again. Four stars.

This book is so well written and an accurate description of the coal mining deprevity in the many mountains and hills through out certain areas. The human costs were atrocious…great handling of the characters, people , involved in this story…masterpiece

Typical John Grisham book, well written and a joy to read.

Um dos melhores do Grisham

C'est ce qu'on aime chez Grisham, on apprend toujours quelque chose . Les personnages sont moins charismatiques que chez Connelly par exemple, mais au-delà d'une histoire toujours impeccablement construite, on explore un univers qu'on a toute chance de peu connaitre au départ . Ici, en Virginie dans les Appalaches, Grisham nous emmène du côté du strip mining, une méthode d'extraction du minerai de charbon . En gros on choisit une colline contenant du charbon, et on arase la colline par le haut jusqu'à ce qu'on ait pris tout le minerai . Les conséquences écologiques sont dévastatrices, car entre autre le charbon doit être lave ce qui génère des lacs artificiels de boues pleines de métaux toxiques . Pollution des sols, des nappes phréatiques, explosion du nombre de cancers chez les humains, paysages ravages ...On a l'histoire d'une avocate qui perd son travail New Yorkais dans la finance pendant la crise de 2009, et qui fait un break d'un an dans la campagne en Virginie, en s'engageant dans une petite structure d'avocats gratuits au service des pauvres . Elle est confrontée a des victimes des puissantes compagnies charbonnières, et trouve un nouveau sens a ce qu'elle fait professionnellement . Une forme de rédemption après une existence dorée plus égoiste, de plongée dans le concret, l'engagement au service des autres, dangereusement .C'est excellent

Finally female character, some sex and murder!I loved the book because it surprised me for beiing different and not a usual Grisham novel.I prefer unexpected turns in plot to predictable behaviors. Donovan's death just struck me!I did not sympathise with Samantha for being so self-concerned but that's just how we people are.I love real life stories with imperfect protagonists because nobody qnd nothing in life is perfect and nothing si either black or white.Can't wait for a sequel!