Grisham brings something new with ‘The Appeal’. Let us accept that. Some of his consistent patterns, like righteous-trial-lawyers-putting-all-at-stake-to-defend-the- poor-and-the-needy, are found here too. However, two novel attempts deserve mention. One, heavyweight political and corporate wrestlers manipulating mass perception for the judicial elections to put "their" judge on the bench is quite extensively covered. What maintains your interest in the story is that from time to time, the election campaign takes you away from the high-end legal brawl, and most would find these trips interesting. Grisham succeeds in creating intrigue by running two apparently unrelated chains of events in parallel.
Two, right when you would expect “their judge” to rule differently towards the end of story, his opinion leaves you in an empty space, pondering over a multitude of conscience-provoking questions. “The Appeal” is not a happy ending story, and perhaps that is where its uniqueness lies. The story culminates at a place where the limitations of the legal system are reached, and the triumph of the spirit is called upon.
