John Grisham Author:Mary Beth Pringle With his seven legal thrillers, all published since 1989, John Grisham has won a huge following of readers and set a standard few contributors to the genre can match. Because of the success of his novels, the legal thriller is the most popular genre in American fiction today. In this study, Pringle explains how Grisham's legal thriller evolved f... more »rom the thriller tradition and borrowed from the heroic romance novel, gothic novel, crime novel, and detective fiction. She shows how his novels examine contemporary social and legal problems that do not have simple solutions--ecology, ethnic relations, capital punishment, corporate greed, and health insurance--and how he depicts both the legal system and lawyers in their best and worst lights.« less