The Rooster Bar by John Grisham

The Rooster Bar by John Grisham

Review of the novel The Rooster Bar by John Grisham

Published by Hodder & Stoughton in 2017

Cost: £7.99 (UK Paperback June 2018)

ISBN: 978-1-473-61699-8-0 (Paperback Edition - 374 pages)

Dedication: N/A

It’s June 2018 and the paperback copy of The Rooster Bar has just come out in print. John Grisham is a very successful writer. He is the author of 43 novels and publishes a new novel every year. After attending the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1981, he practised criminal law for ten years. His first novel, A Time to Kill, was written and published while he was still a practising lawyer. A number of his books have been made into very successful films and Grisham has a very large fan base.

The Rooster Bar is a legal thriller style novel, about three law students, who are depressed with their chances of completing their law degrees at Foggy Bottom Law School and passing the bar exams to enable them to practice as lawyers. All three students have problems within their family background and this adds to the stress of the debt building up while their studies continue.

Mark Frazier, Todd Lucero and Zola Maal, believed that by attending law school they could change the world and make it a better place. However, the stress of the debt up has become a problem for Zola’s boyfriend, Gordy. He has stopped taking his medication for a bipolar disorder and he has dropped out of lessons to research the link between Foggy Bottom Law School and the Student Loans Company. The investigation has resulted in various pieces of paper being, pinned to a wall in the living room of his flat.

The wall was a maze of white poster boards and dozens of sheets of copy paper, all arranged in some crazed order and secured with colored pushpins and Scotch tape. With black, blue, and red markers. Gordy was in the process of piecing together a gigantic corporate puzzle, some grand conspiracy that led to the ominous faces of the few men at the top.

Gordy explains to his friends what the diagram means:

[He] pointed to the top photo. This is the Great Satan. Name’s Hinds Rackley, Wall Street lawyer turned investment crook…... His main vehicle is Shiloh Financial, a private investment operation, [which] owns among many other companies, our dear Foggy Bottom Law School, [one of a total of eight schools].

[….] the Great Satan nets $20 million off dear Foggy Bottom. Multiply that eight times and the math will make you sick.

As they argue, Gordy storms out and locks himself in his bedroom and demands his friends leave the flat. But like all good friends, they decided to remain, taking it in turns to sleep on the sofa. But in the early hours of the morning, Gordy slips out of the flat and drives his car downtown, only to be stopped by the police and charged with DUI (driving under influence). When they discover their friend has been charged, the three friends attend the Central Police station and try to get Gordy out of jail. In the waiting room, they are introduced to a lawyer specialising in DUI cases, who will advise them and the client, Gordy, for a fee of $1,000. Two hours later all four friends leave the police station.

That night the friends decided, once again, to watch over Gordy while he sleeps, taking it in turns on the sofa. But when Zola’s phone finally wakes her, she realises that Gordy has left the flat and driven off in his car. Driving Todd’s car in pursuit of Gordy, they find their friend has stopped on the Arlington Memorial Bridge and dived into the cold river below – committing suicide.

In their depression, the friends return to the research that tormented Gordy and which may have had an impact on his decision to take his own life. The current major news story in the newspapers is about a scandal at the Swift Bank, a company which has shown up in Gordy’s research. When customers register for a standard current account at Swift Bank, they are offered other banking services, if the customer declines them, the bank adviser opens up the accounts regardless and is paid a commission for doing so. As for the customer, the charges for the unknown accounts are hidden in the fees for the main account. A lot of income is being generated for the bank and its owners. Gordy’s research shows that Hinds Rackley owns 12 per cent of Swift Bank under the guise of different hidden companies.

A few days later the three friends meet for dinner in The Rooster Bar and discuss their future. None of them has attended classes at law school recently. However, Todd and Mark have been busy and explain what their future holds. They have set up a business - Upshaw, Parker and Lane - to offer DUI services to clients. Although Zola shows her concern for the boys’ action, which involves her actively being part of the illegal business arrangement, she goes along with it. At their next meeting in The Rooster Bar, they have an income of $1,600 in cash, with promissory notes for another $1,400.

Throughout the story, the three students are being hassled by the Students Loans Company regarding repayment of their loans. The emails get more frequent when it is discovered by the authorities that they have been missing lessons and have very little chance of getting a proper job. As part of the main theme of the novel, there are also background stories for each of the three main characters, that has an impact on the main storyline, particularly in respect of Zola, which will result in a serious decision that impacts all of them.

Halfway through the book, it is the Swift Banking scandal that comes to the fore and the new lawyers soon get involved. A major firm of lawyers has set up a class action against Swift Bank, and the newly created firm of Upshaw, Parker and Lane, decides to join forces to claim misappropriated funds on behalf of their fictional clients. When the legal action seems to be stalling, Mark decides to approach Rackley directly and challenge him on links he has with the Swift Bank and its underhand dealings, threatening to publish the facts using the files and research done by Gordy. Hinds Rackley panics and agrees to settle all six class actions against Swift Bank, out of court. The cheque from the class action to Upshaw, Parker and Lane is $4,583,256. Mark, Tom and Zola now find themselves running from the authorities, with fake drivers licences and passports, to set up a new life. As the story ends, they purchase a run-down bar in Senegal, do it up, and name it The Rooster Bar.

The story has a lot more to it than I have covered and it is captivating throughout, in places it was impossible to put down it was so gripping. It really was an enjoyable read and one I would recommend. Rating: 5 stars.

Dr Sheppard

27 July 2018