Gray Mountain by John Grisham

Samantha Kofer is working ridiculous hours at a Wall Street Law firm when the bottom falls out of the economy and she loses her job. She ends up working as an intern at a small legal aid clinic in Appalachia till the NYC firms start hiring again. Though she starts out thinking this might have been a mistake, she is soon drawn into the lives of the people she's helping, many of whom are victims of the ruthless coal mining companies. She also crosses paths with the  charismatic but reckless Gray brothers--lawyer Donovan and his brother Jeff. And soon they have entangled her in a dangerous case that could cost her her freedom or even her life.

Gray Mountain is an engrossing story--and a real eye-opener about what the coal mining companies are doing to the land and people in Appalachia. My one quibble is that JG left a lot of the plots unresolved at the end. Is there a sequel in the offing?