Teen lawyer gets off to classic start with Grisham at helm

John Grisham is one of the world's most successful contemporary novelists. Since publishing his first book in 1988, he has written 21 novels, all international bestsellers. Published in 29 languages, more than 250 copies of his books have been sold worldwide. Nine of his novels have been turned into movies.

Grisham writes fiction about a world he knows very well. He was trained as a lawyer and before becoming a novelist he specialised in criminal law for 10 years. One day, Grisham heard about a trial where a teenage girl had been victim of a crime and was inspired to write a novel based on what would have happened if the girl's father had taken the law into his own hands.

This first novel took Grisham three years to write but it launched his career as an author. Since then he has written one legal-themed novel a year, all of which have featured on worldwide best-seller lists.

His fans know they are going to get a thrilling story with an exciting legal background. Who said that the law and lawyers were slow and boring? They certainly are anything but dull in a Grisham book.

Grisham now brings his trademark story-telling to an exciting legal thriller for teenagers. Theodore Boone is a new hero on the youth fiction block and he arrives with a very thrilling pedigree. In this new venture, Grisham has avoided watering down his talent for writing fast-paced, emotionally gripping legal thrillers. Theodore Boone is vintage Grisham for a new generation and the book will have young readers speeding through the pages to see what happens next.

With lawyers for parents, 13-year-old Theodore has grown up fascinated by court cases and the mechanics of justice. Law is a big, exciting chunk of Theo's young life.

He knows every lawyer, judge and court official in town and he spends all his free time in the courthouse watching trials and learning everything he can.

At his age, Theo can only pretend at playing lawyer, but things turn serious when he gets involved in a dramatic murder trial. A local businessman, Peter Duffy, is accused of murdering his wife to profit from a million-dollar insurance policy.

As the trial nears its conclusion, Theo discovers some evidence that could alter the outcome. What should he do? Events speed forward and he soon finds himself in the middle of a very serious crime.

Theodore Boone zips along at a terrific pace. It is smoothly written and will even delight Grisham's adult fans as well as new teenage readers.

John Millen can be contacted on [email protected]