Grisham leavens his plot with humor.

Thus readers marvel at the intricate maneuvers of the competing conspirators and laugh at the ways some maneuvers work out. In a funny scene early on, one of the prospective jurors proudly announces that he is blind, a fact that millions of dollars paid to the jury investigators failed to uncover. Then this blind man wants to be considered for service in this law suit, or he will sue! In another early scene, Nicholas tests his ability to manipulate the jury by convincing them to recite the Pledge of Allegiance when they enter the jury box, a move which discomposes everyone else in the courtroom.

Grisham displays a dry, sardonic, and knowing humor, a technique that marks nearly all his novels. He offers a mocking insight into the vagaries of trials. For example, he writes of the jury's response to the taped...