Grisham again goes after greedy tort lawyers who accumulate enormous fees in class-action settlements against corporations, with hardly anything left for the corporations actual victims. In this novel, lawyer Clay Carter is offered a role in the case of a teenager who has shot and killed a fellow student after taking a drug that has been suspected of causing similar psychotic episodes. Offered a small fortune by the pharmaceutical company in question, Clay succumbs to greed and rises to his dubious position as king of torts--losing his moral fiber and the woman he loves in the process.