Complete List of John Grisham Books In Order

Publish date: 2024-07-22

John Grisham is an American novelist who many consider one of the best writers of his generation. This claim is backed up by the fact that he is one of only three authors to have sold two million copies on the first printing. The other two authors to achieve this feat are J.K Rowling – the writer of the popular Harry Potter books, and Tom Clancy – famous for his espionage and military stories.

A former lawyer and politician, John Grisham made his name by writing stories that centered around the legal thriller genre. He has further written stories in the crime fiction, sports fiction, and Southern gothic genres.

How Many Books Has John Grisham Written?

As of 2022, John Grisham has written 50 novels, most of which are in his most loved Legal Thriller genre. The first book he ever wrote – A Time to Kill, was published in 1989. He has since then been writing many books that have ranked among the bestselling books of the year. Below is a list of the author’s books.

  • A Time to Kill (1989)
  • The Firm (1991)
  • The Pelican Brief (1992)
  • The Client (1993)
  • The Chamber (1994)
  • The Rainmaker (1995)
  • The Runaway Jury (1996)
  • The Partner (1997)
  • The Street Lawyer (1998)
  • The Testament (1999)
  • The Brethren (2000)
  • A Painted House (2001)
  • Skipping Christmas (2001)
  • The Summons (2002)
  • The King of Torts (2003)
  • Bleachers (2003)
  • The Last Juror (2004)
  • The Broker (2005)
  • The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town (2006)
  • Playing for Pizza (2007)
  • The Appeal (2008)
  • The Associate (2009)
  • Ford County” (short stories) (2009)
  • Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer (2010)
  • The Confession (2010)
  • Theodore Boone: The Abduction (2011)
  • The Litigators (2011)
  • Theodore Boone: The Accused (2012)
  • Calico Joe (2012)
  • The Racketeer (2012)
  • Theodore Boone: The Activist (2013)
  • Sycamore Row (2013)
  • Gray Mountain (2014)
  • Theodore Boone: The Fugitive (2015)
  • Rogue Lawyer (2015)
  • Partners” (a “Rogue Lawyer” short story) (2016)
  • Theodore Boone: The Scandal (2016)
  • The Whistler (2016)
  • The Tumor (2016)
  • Camino Island (2017)
  • The Rooster Bar (2017)
  • The Reckoning (2018)
  • The Guardians (2019)
  • Theodore Boone: The Accomplice (2019)
  • Camino Winds (2020)
  • A Time for Mercy (2020)
  • Sooley (2021)
  • The Judge’s List (2021)
  • The Boys from Biloxi (2022)
  • Sparring Partners (2022)

    • List of John Grisham Books in Order

    1. A Time to Kill (1989)

    An African-American man named Carl Lee Hailey stands trial for capital murder after he kills two white supremacist men for viciously raping and beating his ten-year-old daughter. Carl is represented by his white friend and attorney, Jake, who himself is subjected to a series of attacks by the local Ku Klux Klan group, who wants to see Carl punished for the crime. At the end of the day, Jake gets Carl acquitted on the basis of temporary insanity.

    2. The Firm (1991)

    Mitch McDeere is a Harvard Law School graduate who rejects offers from big-time law firms in New York and Chicago to join the Memphis-based small tax firm – Bendini, Lambert, and Locke, who offer him a mouth-watering salary, a new home, and a brand new BMW.

    Soon after starting his new job, Mitch realizes that some attorneys at the firm had died under mysterious circumstances. He later realizes that it is a white-collar front for the Morolto crime family of Chicago as he is tapped by the FBI to provide evidence.

    3. The Pelican Brief (1992)

    An already politically divided USA is shocked and confused after two Supreme Court Justices are assassinated. The reason for their murders remain unknown until a brilliant law student named Darby Shaw writes a legal brief after studying the Justices’ records. In her brief, she is able to link the deaths while uncovering an astonishing presidential conspiracy. She shares this information with her boyfriend/law professor and an FBI lawyer, who are both later murdered, prompting her to run for her life.

    4. The Client (1993)

    The FBI and the office of the United States Attorney in New Orleans are desperate to get information on the killing of a US Senator from Louisiana, Boyd Boyette. 11-year-old Mark Sway stumbles upon information that links a member of the New Orleans crime family to the killing, as well as the location of the corpse, and this puts him in immediate danger.

    5. The Chamber (1994)

    Ku Klux Klan member Sam Cayhall is arrested and tried for the bombing of a law office where two Jewish children are killed. His first two trials ended in a mistrial before he is convicted and sentenced to death after the third. At this point, his grandson Adam Hill, who is a part of a team of anti-death penalty lawyers, takes up his case. Sam is initially unrepentant and uncooperative, but he later changes his mind.

    6. The Rainmaker (1995)

    Rudy Baylor graduates from law school and lands a job at a law firm. However, he ends up losing his job after the firm is bought by a larger company. Desperate for an income, he is later able to land a case against a giant insurance company that failed to pay out a claim that could have saved a young man’s life. Baylor is successful with the suit and wins a settlement worth millions of dollars, but the company refuses to pay up by declaring bankruptcy.

    7. The Runaway Jury (1996)

    A landmark case against the tobacco industry worth hundreds of millions of dollars gets off to a great start in Biloxi, Mississippi, before things start to go haywire as the jury starts behaving strangely.

    8. The Partner (1997)

    Patrick Lanigan is left out of a deal worth tens of millions of dollars by the senior partners of his law firm. Pissed off at this, he steals about $90 million from the firm and then fakes his death. Lanigan undergoes plastic surgery and starts a new life in a small town in Brazil under a new name. However, the mastermind of the deal that defrauded the U.S. government is on his tail. He is left with no option but to turn himself over to the FBI

    9. The Street Lawyer (1998)

    Michael Brock is an antitrust lawyer at a giant Washington law firm. He is firmly focused on taking his career to the next level and as a result, his marriage, among many other aspects of his life, suffers. Things, however, change after he is involved in a violent encounter with a homeless man.

    10. The Testament (1999)

    Billionaire Troy Phelen is confined to a wheelchair and looking for a way to die. Disappointed with everyone around him, he rewrites his will and leaves his fortune to a mysterious woman in the jungles of Brazil. Disgraced lawyer Nate O’Riley is left with the task of finding this woman, however, his life is in danger as many people are willing to do whatever it takes to get the money for themselves.

    11. The Brethren (2000)

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    Three former judges, who call themselves ‘The Brethren’ are locked up in a minimum security federal prison in Florida. Every day, the trio meets up in the law library where they spend hours writing letters to deceive and exploit wealthy closeted gay men. Things carry on smoothly until closeted congressman Aaron Lake, who is running for US President, gets caught up in the scam.

    12. A Painted House (2001)

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    Set in the late summer and early fall of 1952, seven-year-old Luke Chandler is being taught life lessons as his family of cotton farmers struggle to harvest their crops and make enough sales to settle their debts.

    13. Skipping Christmas (2001)

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    Luther and Nora Krank are known for always celebrating Christmas. They have a special tradition that has been going on for years. This year, however, they opt to go on a Caribbean cruise, seeing that their daughter Blair was not going to be around due to her year-long Peace Corps assignment in Peru. But things change at the last minute when Blair calls and says she is on her way home to celebrate Christmas with them.

    14. The Summons (2002)

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    Relatively well-off law professor, Ray Atlee, is tasked with ironing out the issues of his father’s will and estate. His old man was once a beloved and powerful judge who is now very sick and lives the life of a recluse in their ancestral home. Ray arrives at the home and finds his father dead. Much to his surprise, he discovers over $3 million in cash in the house. Thinking that no one else knew about the money, Ray takes the money and is now being followed.

    15. The King of Torts (2003)

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    Like every other public defender, Clay Carter is poorly paid, and he dreams of one day getting a better job in a real firm. He, one day, reluctantly takes on the case of Tequila Watson, a young man charged with a random street killing. Watson insists he was not in control of his body when the incident happens, and his story matches that of another man accused of committing a similar crime. Carter later finds out that an experimental drug used by Watson and others caused them to commit random and senseless killings.

    16. Bleachers (2003)

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    Neely Crenshaw is a high school All-American quarterback considered to be one of the best. His career, however, ends in his sophomore college year after suffering a bad knee injury. More than a decade later, after his glory days, he returns to his hometown to bury his high school coach Eddie Rake who is both hated and loved by many people.

    17. The Last Juror (2004)

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    23-year-old college drop-out Willie Traynor buys a bankrupt newspaper for $50,000. The newspaper looked like it had no future until a young mother was brutally raped and murdered by a member of the notorious Padgittt family, and a photo of the suspected murderer was published on its front page. Readership and circulation increased as more and more incidents were covered by the publication, which was later sold for $1.5 million.

    18. The Broker (2005)

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    Joel Backman is one of the most powerful lobbyists in Washington, D.C., who finds himself in jail after a deal involving a hacked spy satellite collapses. To his surprise, and that of many people in Washington, including the CIA, the outgoing President grants a full pardon to him, and he is whisked away in the middle of the night to start a new life.

    19. The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town (2006)

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    The book is about Ronald ‘Ron’ Keith Williamson, a former minor league baseball player from Ada, Oklahoma, who was wrongly convicted and sentenced to death for the rape and murder of 21-year-old cocktail waitress Debra Sue Carter. After serving 11 years on death row, he was later exonerated by DNA evidence.

    20. Playing for Pizza (2007)

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    Rick Dockery is a third-string NFL quarterback whose mistakes directly led to his team blowing their chance to make a first-ever Super Bowl appearance. As a result, he is cut from the squad. Rick can’t catch a break as he further faces other challenges in his life. He is left with no option but to move abroad and take up the quarterback job for the Parma Panthers in Italy despite not knowing how to speak a word of Italian.

    21. The Appeal (2008)

    After Jeannette Baker’s husband and son dies from carcinogenic pollutants Krane Chemical knowingly and negligently allowed to enter their town’s water supply, she heads to court in Mississippi and is awarded $3 million in wrongful death damages and $38 million in punitive damages. The company, however, appeals to the Mississippi Supreme Court and vows to do whatever it takes to overturn the decision.

    22. The Associate (2009)

    Yale Law School graduate Kyle McAvoy has a secret from his past that can destroy his entire life. One night, that secret catches up with him as a stranger shows him video evidence of the incident to blackmail him. Kyle contemplates either ignoring the stranger and facing whatever consequences may arise or avoid total embarrassment by doing what is asked.

    23. Ford County” (short stories) (2009)

    Ford County is a collection of 7 short stories by John Grisham. The title of the stories are Blood Drive, Fetching Raymond, Fish Files, Casino, Michael’s Room, Quiet Haven, and Funny Boy.

    24. Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer (2010)

    The novel written for middle-grade children is about a 13-year-old Theodore Boone who gives legal advice to friends at school. He later gets carried away as he provides help to an illegal immigrant who has witnessed a murder.

    25. The Confession (2010)

    After a popular high-school cheerleader is abducted, raped, and strangled, an innocent man is arrested and convicted of the crime. He is days away from execution when the actual murderer confesses to the public. Despite this, the execution goes ahead, causing serious tensions in the town.

    26. Theodore Boone: The Abduction (2011)

    In this follow-up, Theodore Boone’s best friend, April, disappears from her bedroom in the middle of the night. Everyone is scared that she might have been abducted, leaving Theo to use his investigative skills to chase down the truth and save April.

    27. The Litigators (2011)

    Varrick Labs is a pharmaceutical giant with annual sales of $25 billion. One of its popular drugs Krayoxx, a cholesterol-lowering drug, is the subject of a class action lawsuit after users across the country appear to have developed toxic reactions to it. The suit is brought by a small two-partner Chicago law firm headed by ambulance chasers looking for a big payday. Their latest employee, David Zinc, is a Harvard Law School graduate who joined them after he got fed up with his work at a big law firm. Things, however, do not go as planned.

    28. Theodore Boone: The Accused (2012)

    A follow-up to the second book in the Theodore Boone series, The Accused begins with Pete Duffy’s murder trial. Pete, however, runs away from town, and the trial is postponed.

    29. Calico Joe (2012)

    While John Grisham uses real-life teams and one or two actual athletes in the book, the story is fictional with made-up characters. It follows the life of the promising 21-year-old rookie, Joe Castle, who starts his career on a high note. Everything, however, comes to an end when Castle is intentionally hit with a pitch by veteran pitcher Warren Tracy. Castle goes into a coma and then later suffers a stroke that leads to the end of his career.

    30. The Racketeer (2012)

    Malcolm Bannister is tried, convicted, and sentenced to 10 years in prison for racketeering despite his innocence. He loses his marriage and is disbarred as a result, and so holds a bitter grudge against the FBI and the federal government.

    31. Theodore Boone: The Activist (2013)

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    Theodore Boone takes on a new role as an activist in the fourth book in the series. When a friend’s family farm is threatened by a planned bypass road going through the town, he joins the campaign against the road.

    32. Sycamore Row (2013)

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    Seth Hubbard is a wealthy recluse who instructs his employee to meet him at a location near a row of sycamore in the early Sunday afternoon. The employee goes to the location and finds Hubbard to have hung himself because his terminal lung cancer had become too painful. Hubbard left behind a note with very specific funeral and burial instructions. He also sent a new holographic will to his lawyer that renounces the will he filed earlier, which complicates matters.

    33. Gray Mountain (2014)

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    Samantha Kofer is a third-year associate at a New York City law firm that is hit hard during the Great Recession. To keep her head above water, she takes up an internship position at a legal clinic in Virginia’s Appalachian Mountains.

    34. Theodore Boone: The Fugitive (2015)

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    On a school trip to Washington D.C, Theodore Boone leaves his school party and gets on the subway. While there, he bumps into Pete Duffy, who had run away while on trial for murder, and decides to bring him to justice.

    35. Rogue Lawyer (2015)

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    The story is about unconventional street lawyer Sebastian Rudd who operates out of a black customized bulletproof van and is known to take clients who other lawyers would generally avoid.

    36. Partners (a “Rogue Lawyer” short story) (2016)

    Described as an original e-short, Partners is a standalone prequel to the Rogue Lawyer. Grisham tells the story of how street lawyer Sebastian Rudd eventually stumbled upon someone he could trust to be his driver, bodyguard, law clerk, and partner.

    37. Theodore Boone: The Scandal (2016)

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    When teachers in a local middle school have been accused of cheating on a standardized test in which Theodore Boone and his eighth-grade classmates are also being tested, he gets involved to find out more about the fairness of the test.

    38. The Whistler (2016)

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    A corrupt judge in Florida’s 24th Circuit is involved with organized crime and is helping them build a casino in partnership with a small Native American tribe – the Tappacola Indian Nation. The group has been operating for well over two decades, but it is only when they stage the murder of a prominent anti-casino member of the Tappacola Nation that they get the attention of the authorities.

    39. The Tumor (2016)

    In a bid to increase awareness about the promising new medical therapy of focused ultrasound, Grisham writes a short story about Paul, a 35-year-old family man whose brain develops a tumor and is later diagnosed with glioma. Despite receiving all available treatment, Paul dies 9 months later. However, in another version of the story where Paul develops the tumor in 2025, he is able to survive as a result of receiving focused ultrasound treatment.

    40. Camino Island (2017)

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    After five rare F. Scott Fitzgerald manuscripts are stolen from the vaults of the Firestone Library at Princeton University, the FBI has its eyes on Bruce Kable and puts him on the Rare Asset Recovery Unit’s watch list.

    41. The Rooster Bar (2017)

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    A book on classic courtroom drama centered around three third-year law students; Mark Frazier, Todd Lucero, and Zola Maal

    42. The Reckoning (2018)

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    Pete Banning, the patriarch of a prominent family, is a war hero who has just returned home from the Second World War. One morning, he sends his town into chaos by senselessly murdering Dexter Bell, the pastor of the local Methodist church.

    43. Theodore Boone: The Accomplice (2019)

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    Woody Lambert is a good friend of Theodore Boone, who suddenly starts making bad choices and is struggling at school. He is eventually arrested as an accomplice to armed robbery, but Theo believes he is innocent and so tries to help him by doing everything in his power.

    44. The Guardians (2019)

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    Quincy Miller is a young African-American man who is profiled by the police and charged with the murder of Keith Russo. Russo, a young lawyer, was shot dead at his desk while working late into the night. Miller had no motive to commit the crime. The only thing that connected the duo was that he was once Russo’s client.

    45. Camino Winds (2020)

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    In the follow-up to Camino Island, the perfect crime is committed as an unexplained murder occurs during a devastating hurricane.

    46. A Time for Mercy (2020)

    A Time for Mercy is the sequel to John Grisham’s first ever book, A Time to Kill. The main character Jake Brigance makes a return as he defends a 16-year-old boy facing the death penalty for murdering a law enforcement officer.

    47. Sooley (2021)

    The titular character, Samuel “Sooley” Sooleymon, is a very talented young South Sudanese basketball player with big dreams in the sport. The athlete, however, faces big challenges off the court as civil war ravages his country and members of his family have either been killed or missing.

    48. The Judge’s List (2021)

    When an investigator discovers that a sitting judge is a serial killer, she tries to find hardcore evidence that can convict him in court without becoming a name on his list of victims.

    49. The Boys from Biloxi (2022)

    Keith and Hugh were best friends as boys, but life decisions took them on different paths. Like his father, who is a prosecutor, Keith went to law school while Hugh worked in the clubs for his father, the head of the criminal underworld. With one aiming to clean up the city and the other profiting from crime, the two families have an epic showdown in court.

    50. Sparring Partners (2022)

    In his most recent book, John Grisham puts out a collection of stories centered around the courtroom.

    What is the Best John Grisham Book?

    John Grisham has written 28 number one fiction bestsellers, making it hard to consider one to be better than the other. However, fans of the author have pinpointed The Firm, his second-ever novel that sold more than seven million copies, as one that anyone who is looking to read a John Grisham book for the first time should read.

    In addition to being a bestseller, staying on The New York Times Best Seller list for 47 weeks, the book has been adapted into a movie featuring Tom Cruise.

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