John Grisham

Before he was the best-selling name in legal fiction, John Grisham was a small-town Mississippi lawyer, and that world runs through everything he writes. From A Time to Kill to The Firm and The Pelican Brief, he turned contracts and courtrooms into some of the most propulsive thrillers in print.

His heroes are usually outmatched, an idealistic young attorney or an ordinary person against money and power, and the suspense comes from watching them find a way to win. Few writers make justice feel this much like a race against the clock.