a large amount of money and fire the partner whose actions led to the young family's deaths. Drake & Sweeney's head partner, deeply troubled by the events, offers to make his entire staff available for pro bono work to assist the clinic in fighting for the rights of homeless people. The book ends with Brock taking a short vacation with Megan and Ruby, and them reflecting on their lives. Characters Polly - the secretary of Michael Brock Michael Brock - the protagonist; a wealthy lawyer at Drake & Sweeney. DeVon "Mister" Hardy - homeless man who takes hostages at Drake & Sweeney. Mordecai Green - a street lawyer. Claire Brock - wife of Michael Brock; aspiring neurosurgeon. Arthur Jacobs - senior partner at Drake & Sweeney. Barry Nuzzo - long-time associate lawyer with Drake & Sweeney. Braden Chance - a real estate lawyer at Drake & Sweeney, who covered-up the illegal eviction. Hector Palma - paralegal for Braden Chance, who helps Brock gain evidence for his case. Lontae Burton - a homeless woman with four children: Ontario, Alonzo, Dante, and Temeko. They all die of carbon monoxide poisoning when snow blocks the exhaust pipe of their car. They were victims of the eviction, which indirectly resulted in their deaths. Abraham Lebow - a street lawyer; associate of Mordecai Green and Sofia Mendoza. Sofia Mendoza - a social worker; associate of Mordecai Green and Abraham Lebow. Tillman Gantry - former pimp, small-time hustler, and twice convicted felon, who owned the apartments where the illegal eviction took place. Ruby - a homeless woman addicted to drugs. Brock tries to help her get over her addiction so she can see her son again. Megan - Brock's later love interest who works at the women's homeless shelter. Reception The novel received generally positive reviews. Charles Spencer wrote in the Sunday Telegraph that "no one does it better than Grisham" and that the book is "as unputdownable as ever". Mat Coward wrote in his review in The Independent that the novel is "fluent and fascinating" and mentioned "Few writers have so much to say, the skills to make reading what they say an irresistible pleasure - and the clout to be able to be able to say it to an audience of millions". Michiko Kakutani of the New York Times gave the novel a negative review, stating "Grisham is too busy charging ahead to bother