John Grisham's 1991 novel THE FIRM drew unprecedented praise from reviewers, booksellers and readers across America, and it quickly became the top bestseller of the year. Now Grisham is back with The Pelican Brief, an irresistible story that begins with the simultaneous assassinations of two Supreme Court Justices...

Late one October night Justice Abe Rosenberg, at ninety - one the Supreme Court's liberal legend, is shot in the head while sleeping in his Georgetown home. Two hours later Glenn Jensen, the Court's youngest and most conservative justice, is strangled, possibly by the same assassin. The country is stunned and baffled; the FBI has no clues.

But Darby Shaw, a brilliant law student at Tulane, thinks she has the answer. Days of digging in the law libray's computers have led her to an obscure connection between the two justices. She fleshes out her beliefs in a meticulous though wildly speculative brief that builds a strong case against a most unlikely suspect.

Her suspect has powerful friends. one evening, outside a New Orleans restaurant, she narrowly escapes an assassin's car bomb. Someone has read her brief. Someone who wants her dead.

Alone and frightened, Darby disappears into the anonymous shadows of the French Quarter. After reading an alarming story about the assassinations in the Washington Post, she contacts investigative reporter Gray Grantham and convinces him that Washington's position the killings amounts to the biggest cover - up since Watergate. Together they go underground, on the run, trying to stay alive long enough to expose the real truth in The Pelican Brief.

Featuring the unique mix of legal intrigue and page - turning suspense that drove The Firm to the top of the bestseller lists, The Pelican Brief is sure to be one of the most popular and satisfying novels of the year.

--jacket flap