For the first time, Grisham uses a first person narrator, who tells his story in the present tense. In his best work, notably A Time to Kill and The Chamber (1994), Grisham had developed a satiric, emotionally flat, even sarcastic narrative voice. He changes style here to convey Rudy's personality.

Rudy's voice is less ironic, less flashy.

Rudy opens up about his feelings, speaks plainly, uses short sentences.

He can be plaintive and honest about his efforts to be ethical, about his bad luck, and about the state of lawyering in Memphis. In the same revealing passage when he muses about his old roommate, Rudy thinks, "I started law school less than three years ago with typical noble aspirations of one day using my license to better society in some small way, to engage in an honorable profession governed by ethical canons I thought all lawyers would strive to...