The Rainmaker is a fictional book written by author John Grisham. It is a legal thriller novel published in 1995 by Doubleday. The novel is written in the English Language (almost completely written in simple present tense). This book, which was Grisham’s sixth novel has 434 pages.
The Rainmaker was adapted into a film two years after the book was published. The film was directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Matt Damon, Danny DeVito, Claire Danes, Jon Voight, and Danny Glover.
The characters in the book include Rudy Baylor (main character; a young lawyer), Layman ‘’Bruiser’’ Stone (ambulance chaser), Deck Shifflet (Rudy’s associate), Dot and Buddy Black (Rudy’s client), Donny Ray (leukemia-stricken son of the Blacks), Leo. F. Drummond (Rudy’s legal rival), Kelly Riker (a battered wife whom Rudy fell in love with), and Cliff (Kelly’s husband).
Rudy Baylor secures a position with a Memphis Law Firm when he was about to graduate from Memphis State Law School. He loses his job when the firm is bought out. A desperate Rudy is introduced to J. Lyman ‘’Bruiser’’ Stone, a ruthless but successful ambulance chaser who makes Rudy an associate after Memphis’s lay off. Rudy’s task is to hunt for potential clients at the local hospital and sign them up to personal injury lawsuits. He is introduced to Deck Shifflet, a less-than-ethical former insurance assessor who received a law degree but doesn’t practice law. He gave up after failing the bar exam six times.
Rudy signs two clients: an elderly landlady, who needs a revised will drawn and a poor family, Dot and Buddy Black. The Blacks have an insurance bad faith case which could be worth several million dollars in damages. Rudy and Deck set up their own practice and file suit on behalf of the Blacks when Stone’s firm was about to be raided by the police and FBI. The Blacks leukemia-stricken son, Donny Ray, could have been saved by a bone marrow transplant for which his identical twin brother is a perfect match. The procedure should have been covered and paid for by their insurance carrier, Great Benefit Insurance, but the claim was instead denied.
Rudy who has just passed his bar exam finds himself up against experienced and ruthless lawyers from a large firm, headed by Leo. F. Drummond. He meets and later falls in love with Kelly Riker, a young battered wife recovering from injuries inflicted by her husband, Cliff while preparing the case in the local hospital. His client’s son, Donny Ray, dies just before the case goes to trial. Rudy uncovers a scheme by Great Benefit Insurance to deny every insurance claim submitted, regardless of validity. Great Benefits loses the legal battle and forces them out of business.
During the Black trial, when Kelly is beaten again by Cliff, Rudy helps her file for divorce. Cliff later has a showdown with Rudy. Rudy wrestles a bat away from Cliff who threatened to kill him and in turn cracks his skull with it. Kelly intervenes and orders Rudy to leave. Cliff dies from the injuries and Kelly allows herself to be charged with manslaughter to protect Rudy. Rudy gets the charges dropped, and then leave the State with Kelly after several death threats from the Cliff’s family.