Gray Mountain: A Novel
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From America’s favorite storyteller comes “one of his best legal dramas” (Associated Press): a gripping thriller about a former big-city lawyer who finds herself up against Big Coal—and under attack.
“Yes, Gray Mountain is fiction. But after reading the book, you’ll believe heroic action must be taken.”—USA Today
The year is 2008 and Samantha Kofer’s career at a huge Wall Street law firm is on the fast track—until the recession hits and she is downsized, furloughed, and escorted out of the building. Samantha, though, is offered an opportunity to work at a legal aid clinic for one year without pay, all for a slim chance of getting rehired.
In a matter of days Samantha moves from Manhattan to Brady, Virginia, population 2,200, in the heart of Appalachia—a part of the world she has only read about. Samantha’s new job takes her into the murky and dangerous world of coal mining, where laws are often broken, communities are divided, and the land itself is under attack. But some of the locals aren’t so thrilled to have a big-city lawyer in town, and within weeks Samantha is engulfed in litigation that turns deadly. Because like most small towns, Brady harbors big secrets that some will kill to conceal.
“Yes, Gray Mountain is fiction. But after reading the book, you’ll believe heroic action must be taken.”—USA Today
The year is 2008 and Samantha Kofer’s career at a huge Wall Street law firm is on the fast track—until the recession hits and she is downsized, furloughed, and escorted out of the building. Samantha, though, is offered an opportunity to work at a legal aid clinic for one year without pay, all for a slim chance of getting rehired.
In a matter of days Samantha moves from Manhattan to Brady, Virginia, population 2,200, in the heart of Appalachia—a part of the world she has only read about. Samantha’s new job takes her into the murky and dangerous world of coal mining, where laws are often broken, communities are divided, and the land itself is under attack. But some of the locals aren’t so thrilled to have a big-city lawyer in town, and within weeks Samantha is engulfed in litigation that turns deadly. Because like most small towns, Brady harbors big secrets that some will kill to conceal.
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Community Reviews
I almost picked this up about ten years ago when browsing an airport bookseller. I wanted a lighter read at the time. But over the decade since then, I have come to appreciate a skilled writer doing what he does best - spinning legal dramas with interesting plots and twists, while enlightening non-lawyers among us via an informed approach to the law. So ten years later, I borrowed this audiobook from the public library and gave it a go. Samantha is a young corporate lawyer at a NY firm specializing in legal work for commercial real estate developers. But, set at the height of the 2018-2019 real estate meltdown, she finds herself RIF’d. As part of her ‘package’, she is told she might be hired back if she goes out and plies her legal skills at a non-profit for a year. She chooses a legal aid clinic in her home state of VA - which is a non-paid gig helping people in the heart of coal country. She learns a lot about herself, and about the mining families she fights for as they seek compensation for toxic coal dust wrecking their health and shortening their livelihoods. She begins to see that her corporate track may take another pathway, litigation. And this completely surprises her in how much she enjoys it. A very well-written tale of evil-doing foisted upon innocent lives, and the redemption they earn in the end.
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