The whole of this book is set in a modern era in Biloxi, Mississippi. This benefits the plot seeing as it is the deep southern area in the USA.  The Genre of the b0ok is legal thriller, and it fits in very nicely. The fiction in the book is evident, but it could also very easily be a realistic setting, given the right conditions of the social, political and economical climate. The characters may also very well be based on real people in Grisham’s experiences. Grisham seems to have drawn extensively from his experience as a lawyer and law school; also from stories he might have heard during law school of corrupted juries and get rich quick scams. Grisham might have also drawn from personal experience through litigation, maybe he even had a sequestered jury. The genre fits nicely.