The Pelican Brief: A gripping crime thriller from the Sunday Times bestselling author of mystery and suspense

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It’s not a good idea, at least for now. The Director thinks the justices should remain in the D.C. area until the end of the year." Not really, Chief. I don’t think he cares for women.” Lewis was smug. He knew more. He glanced at one of his agents and confirmed this juicy little tidbit.

The Pelican Brief is a 1993 American legal thriller film based on the 1992 novel by John Grisham. Directed by Alan J. Pakula, the film stars Julia Roberts in the role of young law student Darby Shaw and Denzel Washington as Washington Herald reporter Gray Grantham. The film, which features music composed by James Horner, was the last film that featured Pakula as both writer and director before his death. [3] Plot [ edit ] It is depressing to reflect that this shallow exercise in Washington conspiracy has been directed by the same man who made a great film, "All the President's Men," on the same subject.

Masterful – when Grisham gets in the courtroom he lets rip, drawing scenes so real they're not just alive, they're pulsating’ – Mirror There seemed to be no rhyme or reason for the assassinations’. The local police, the FBI and the CIA are all involved in the hunt for the killer but are getting nowhere.

I’ve tried. I’ve explained to him that he is probably the most hated man in America, that millions of people curse him every day, that most folks would like to see him dead, that he receives four times the hate mail as the rest of us combined, and that he would be a perfect and easy target for assassination.”

And Jensen had the case. The door to his smaller office was closed. Jensen and his three clerks sat around the conference table. They had spent two hours on Dumond, and gone nowhere. They were tired of arguing. One clerk, a liberal from Cornell, wanted a broad pronouncement granting sweeping rights to gay partners. Jensen wanted this too, but was not ready to admit it. The other two clerks were skeptical. They knew, as did Jensen, that a majority of five would be impossible. In the past sixty days, the Bureau had logged over two hundred threats, a new record. There was the usual assortment of “Bomb the Court!” threats, but many came with specifics–like names, cases, and issues.

Yeah, we know. But the Chief’s clerk said the Chief wants us to prevail upon you to cooperate with the FBI so that they can save your life." Darby decided to test herself by putting her considerable intellect to the task of finding an answer. What she comes up with is considered interesting but implausible. What Darby didn’t know was that she had just scratched a pimple that is now turning septic.

The Director is sweating, so I’m sweating, Chief. It’s very simple. If one of you guys gets hurt, the Bureau looks bad." The length of time it took to tell the story was unnecessary - this would have been more effective as a novella with less names. At issue was the rights of “spouses” of gays. Dumond had become a battle cry for gay activists. The mere mention of Dumond had caused street fights. The door to the inner office was closed, and the room was filled with the Chief, his three law clerks, the captain of the Supreme Court police, three FBI agents, and K. O. Lewis, deputy director, FBI. The mood was serious, and a serious effort was under way to ignore the noise from the streets below. It was difficult. The Chief and Lewis discussed the latest series of death threats, and everyone else just listened. The clerks took notes.

Lewis ignored it. "In fact, the cooperation has been reasonably good, except for Rosenberg and Jensen. Justice Stone bitches a lot, but he listens to us." The story centres around a law student who writes a brief outlining a left-field suspect for the murders, and after word about it reaches the FBI, people start dying. I’ve tried. I’ve explained to him that he is probably the most hated man in America, that millions of people curse him every day, that most folks would like to see him dead, that he receives four times the hate mail as the rest of us combined, and that he would be a perfect and easy target for assassination."

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He’s afraid of his shadow,” the Chief said, then hesitated. “I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sorry.”