The book have been derided for its lack of suspense . Carol Memmott of USA Today say that Grisham 's latest attempt to capture the spirit of the legal David and Goliath story is missing " the ratcheting @-@ up of suspense " that he have employed successfully in recent adult and youth novels . Harshaw claims that the book is lacking in the suspense that made The Firm so successful . Arthur find elements of the plot implausible and the story unsuspenseful as well as unsatisfying . Although the book is somewhat predictable , Bayard note that " Grisham swerve clear of the usual melodramatic devices . Corporations aren ’ t intrinsically venal ; plaintiffs aren ’ t lambent with goodness . And best of all , no one is murdered for stumbling Too Close to the Truth . "