Gray Mountain: A Novel

by John Grisham Narrated by Catherine Taber

Overview

John Grisham has a new hero . . . and she's full of surprises

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 gets downsized, furloughed, escorted out of the building. Samantha, though, is one of the "lucky" associates. She's offered an opportunity to work at a legal aid clinic for one year without pay, after which there would be a slim chance that she'd get her old job back.

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. Mattie Wyatt, lifelong Brady resident and head of the town's legal aid clinic, is there to teach her how to "help real people with real problems." For the first time in her career, Samantha prepares a lawsuit, sees the inside of an actual courtroom, gets scolded by a judge, and receives threats from locals who aren't so thrilled to have a big-city lawyer in town. And she learns that Brady, like most small towns, harbors some big secrets.

Her new job takes Samantha into the murky and dangerous world of coal mining, where laws are often broken, rules are ignored, regulations are flouted, communities are divided, and the land itself is under attack from Big Coal. Violence is always just around the corner, and within weeks Samantha finds herself engulfed in litigation that turns deadly.

Editorial Reviews

DECEMBER 2014 - AudioFile

While John Grisham deftly juggles the multiple subplots in this legal mystery, Catherine Taber’s narration is subpar. With the exception of Southern lilts, which are appropriate for a story set in rural Virginia, she simply doesn’t distinguish men and women enough. Her pacing has too many pauses, halting an engaging story that features a young, furloughed lawyer. Grisham’s ending, though a bit rushed, sets up the potential for a sequel. Here’s hoping Taber steps up her game or another narrator is brought in. M.B. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine

From the Publisher

[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

Library Journal

05/15/2014
When Lehman Brothers collapsed in 2008, law firms went down, too, and third-year law associate Samantha Kofer loses her job and her dreams. She ends up as an unpaid intern at a legal aid clinic in Appalachia, where the problems are as troubling as the dangerous secret she discovers.

DECEMBER 2014 - AudioFile

While John Grisham deftly juggles the multiple subplots in this legal mystery, Catherine Taber’s narration is subpar. With the exception of Southern lilts, which are appropriate for a story set in rural Virginia, she simply doesn’t distinguish men and women enough. Her pacing has too many pauses, halting an engaging story that features a young, furloughed lawyer. Grisham’s ending, though a bit rushed, sets up the potential for a sequel. Here’s hoping Taber steps up her game or another narrator is brought in. M.B. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940172049002
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	10/21/2014
Edition description:	Unabridged
Sales rank:	845,997

Read an Excerpt

1
(Continues…)

---

Excerpted from "Gray Mountain"
by .
Copyright © 2018 John Grisham.
Excerpted by permission of Random House Publishing Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

---

Videos