SOURCE: "The Grisham Formula Revisited," in The Wall Street Journal, March 12, 1993, p. A6.

In the following review, Nolan finds the plot of The Client implausible and the characters unappealing.

John Grisham established a formula for generating suspense in his first runaway bestseller, The Firm: An innocent citizen is caught between the opposing and uncompromising forces of organized crime and federal law enforcement. The protagonist defies both camps to fashion a unique way out of the dilemma.

Mr. Grisham hews to the formula in his new novel, The Client. Here the innocent confronted with unappealing options is Mark Sway, an 11-year-old Memphis boy, who is present when mob lawyer Jerome Clifford commits suicide.

Clifford's hottest client, a New Orleans hood known as Barry "The Blade" Muldanno, has been indicted for the murder of a senator, although the apparent victim's body has not yet been found. Clifford knows the location...