The Pelican Brief
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the film based on this novel, see The Pelican Brief (film).
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| Author | John Grisham |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Legal thriller |
| Publisher | Doubleday |
| Released | 1992 |
| Media Type | Print (Hardcover, Paperback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-385-42198-2 |
The Pelican Brief is a legal/suspense thriller written by John Grisham in 1992. The hardcover edition (ISBN 0-385-42198-2) was published by Doubleday in that same year. Two paperback editions were published, both by Dell Publishing and both in 1993.
The story kicks off with the assassination of two philosophically divergent Supreme Court Justices. While the public speculates about who may have killed them and why, the main character Darby Shaw, a Tulane University law student, researches the two justices' records and cases pending before the Court, suspecting the real motive might be simple greed, not politics. She writes a legal brief speculating that the assassinations were committed on behalf of Victor Mattiece, an oil tycoon wanting to drill for oil on swamp land currently occupied by an endangered breed of pelicans. The land is therefore protected from development, and a court case on appeal, filed on his behalf to gain access to the land, is expected soon to make its way to the Supreme Court. The two slain justices had a history of environmentalism — their only common view — and thus Darby surmises that Mattiece, who has a pre-existing business relationship with the President, hoped to turn the case in his favor by eliminating two justices, thus leaving his friend the President in a position to appoint new justices more likely to rule in his favor.
Darby shows the brief to her law professor/mentor/lover, Thomas Callahan, who shows it to his Washington-based friend, Gavin Verheek. Both men are killed soon after. Darby comes to the attention of Washington Post reporter Gray Grantham, and the two set out to prove her brief correct. Government forces quickly take sides, with the President trying to cover up his connection to Mattiece, which would be politically damaging; the FBI wants to get hold of Darby to verify her story; and allies of Mattiese try to kill her to cover up the story.
| Preceded by The Firm |
John Grisham Novels 1993 |
Succeeded by The Client |
[edit] External links
- The Pelican Brief at Grisham's Official site
| John Grisham's novels (as of 2006) | |
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1980s: A Time to Kill |
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| Non-Fiction | |
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2000s: The Innocent Man |
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