John Grisham Books

The story of a young, second year Tulane University law student, Darby Shaw, getting in way over her head when she inadvertently writes a brief outlining the possible links to the murders of two Supreme Court Justices. Just as Darby feels her theory is ridiculous and tosses it aside, her lover as well as Professor of constitutional law, Thomas Callahan, picks it up to read and decides it merits the review by his friend who just happens to be general counsel for the FBI. As the brief, now known as the Pelican Brief (for reasons of protection of a rare breed of pelicans and the people who are out to steal the land they need to survive for greed's sake) makes its way all the way up to a connection with the President of the United States, people on all levels associated with either the workings of the brief or with Darby herself, begin to die. Darby finds herself running for her life, with not a soul she can trust. Grisham takes us through a nail-biting scenario of dirty lawyers, dirty politics and an innocent girl fighting for her life. I felt the characters became difficult to keep up with and I had to totally concentrate on each and every scenario. The story is the peak of deception as well as a very well developed theory of environmental espionage. If you want to read a book that will really make you think, then definitely get a copy of "The Pelican Brief." It is much better than the movie.

Overall it was a great book, I couldn't wait to keep getting back to it. I did not care for the ending though...

Despite being listed under John Grisham, it's the photos more than the words that spill out of this book like hunks of compassion and nightmare all rolled together. The blues speak to our species ability to survive the deep hurt, and hauanting images like "klan granny" and "chain gang" are in juxtaposition with the ability to laugh, dance and sing even if some fool thinks you're less than them. This collection covers a variety of styles and a various photographers. It's like a footnote to any good blues collection, the "why" to the "how" of of America's most original musical form and the conditions that created it.

I'm not sure what I was expecting from this. Someone told me that anyone familiar with the law would see how poor Grisham's books were, legally speaking. I've only had a year of law school, but I didn't notice anything glaringly wrong with the legal material. All of the problems were with everything else.

The story starts out interestingly enough - an eccentric billionaire commits suicide and leaves nothing to his spoiled children. He leaves everything to an illegitimate daughter who is working as a missionary in South America, but who wants nothing to do with the 11 billion dollars. What ensues is a legal battle for the ages.

The best parts of the story are all about the legal maneuvering. There is a 20 page span concerning the depositions where Grisham hits his stride. Essentially, anything relating to law is where the book is strong. Anything relating to character depth and anything emotional is poorly done, even formulaic. He did not even need to bother with the ending since it had been telegraphed for so long.

Gone are the days where Grisham was the master of the legal thriller. This book is one of the many that have grown a part of his slow descent...

Troy Phelan, worth $11 billion, loves his business and hates his ex-wives and children. Rumored to be suffering from terminal cancer, Phelan calls the family together to sign a new will. The heirs cooperate by providing psychiatrists to observe and verify that Phelan is in his right mind. That's the apparent game plan, but Phelan has a second and more shocking one. Thus opens The Testament.

Probate law isn't very exciting, and John Grisham decides to dress it up with a cast of characters that are almost parodies of parodies, so much so that they didn't resonate with me. As a result, the "exciting" beginning bored me.

The bulk of the story eventually shifts to recovering alcoholic and drug addict, attorney Nate O'Riley, who is sent straight from rehab to Brazil to find a missing heir, Rachel Lane, who is a medical missionary to the indigenous people there. His journey is harrowing and tests his limited strength to the limits. But the journey also is a beginning of his personal redemption through receiving Salvation for the Lord, Jesus Christ. As soon as the redemption part of the story begins, the book vastly improves. Without that element, I would have rated this as a one- or two-star effort.

It's unusual for a secular writer to put a major Christian theme in a popular work of fiction. I applaud Mr. Grisham for doing so.

May God bless you, Mr. Grisham!

First, I'm not much of a lawyer book fan although I do like the grisham movies. About the middle of this book I wondered if I ever would finish it but did not dislike it enough to stop reading. It sped up after I got through the middle and it was ok. Not sure why I have such a hard time with these books, whether it is the lack of human development or the mass amount of detail. It had an ok story though and is a readable book.

A lawyer is getting out of rehab and is facing IRS issues so his firm sends him to the jungle to find an evangelist that just inherited millions despite the fact that she is an unknown illegitimate child of the miserly man that just died.

I enjoyed this book very much. It was fast paced, very descriptive, had interesting characters, held my attention throughout, and it had lots of drama. My kind of novel.

Superior book as are all Grisham novels. This has an unusual twist and a truly rewarding ending that made me feel good. A fast read that kept me enthused from start to finish.

Luther and Nora's life is in turmoil as their daughter, Blair, is departing to Peru with the Peace Corps for a year of charity work. Blair will even miss Christmas this year. With everything up in the air and uncertain old traditions come under question. Luther, an accountant, does a tally of last year's Christmas expenses and discovers that the whole thing cost over $3,000.00. Isn't Christmas just rampant consumerism? Isn't the whole holiday one mad rush, filled with stress as we worry that everything is just right? Couldn't this money be spent in a better way? Suddenly Luther has a 'brain wave' that this year he and Nora will just "skip Christmas". But of course nothing is as simple as it seems.

John Grisham normally writes lawyer and courtroom dramas, but this book is a strong departure from that genre. It is, so far, Grisham's only attempt at comedy. The book is not bad as a first attempt, however, it contains some flaws. The most clear failing is that the first half of the book is just too repetitive. There are three visits from the boy scouts, the ambulance and the police all following the same basic script. There are two calls from the stationary shop. I got the point of these incidents the first time round and I didn't need to have the idea repeated again and again like I was learning my times table. I felt that Grisham would have been much better off writing a novella, as he did with Bleachers, rather than trying to make this a full novel. Secondly having read the book I was left wondering a bit about its philosophy. What exactly is Grisham trying to say? After all doesn't Luther have a reasonable point? Isn't Christmas just too commercial? The ending seems deny this and reaffirm the 'glitzy' status-quo. Or does it? Well at least Grisham has made me think.

Don't get me wrong here: I am not saying this is a bad book. It is written in a very enjoyable style and I found myself liking Luther and Nora quite a lot. There are some chuckles along the way and the book certainly is good enough to fill a few empty hours.

In 2004 this book was made into the moderately successful film Christmas with the Kranks staring Tim Allen as Luther and Jamie Lee Curtis as Nora.

Luther and Nora's life is in turmoil as their daughter, Blair, is departing to Peru with the Peace Corps for a year of charity work. Blair will even miss Christmas this year. With everything up in the air and uncertain old traditions come under question. Luther, an accountant, does a tally of last year's Christmas expenses and discovers that the whole thing cost over $3,000.00. Isn't Christmas just rampant consumerism? Isn't the whole holiday one mad rush, filled with stress as we worry that everything is just right? Couldn't this money be spent in a better way? Suddenly Luther has a 'brain wave' that this year he and Nora will just "skip Christmas". But of course nothing is as simple as it seems.

John Grisham normally writes lawyer and courtroom dramas, but this book is a strong departure from that genre. It is, so far, Grisham's only attempt at comedy. The book is not bad as a first attempt, however, it contains some flaws. The most clear failing is that the first half of the book is just too repetitive. There are three visits from the boy scouts, the ambulance and the police all following the same basic script. There are two calls from the stationary shop. I got the point of these incidents the first time round and I didn't need to have the idea repeated again and again like I was learning my times table. I felt that Grisham would have been much better off writing a novella, as he did with Bleachers, rather than trying to make this a full novel. Secondly having read the book I was left wondering a bit about its philosophy. What exactly is Grisham trying to say? After all doesn't Luther have a reasonable point? Isn't Christmas just too commercial? The ending seems deny this and reaffirm the 'glitzy' status-quo. Or does it? Well at least Grisham has made me think.

Don't get me wrong here: I am not saying this is a bad book. It is written in a very enjoyable style and I found myself liking Luther and Nora quite a lot. There are some chuckles along the way and the book certainly is good enough to fill a few empty hours.

In 2004 this book was made into the moderately successful film Christmas with the Kranks staring Tim Allen as Luther and Jamie Lee Curtis as Nora.

Imagine a year without Christmas: no holiday crowds, or added stresses, and especially no excessive expenses. Well, that is exactly what Luther and Nora Krank had in mind when they discovered that their only daughter Blair, would be leaving for Peru with the Peace Corps during the holiday season. After Luther sifted through the previous Christmas's expenses, and they totaled nearly seven-thousand dollars. He convinced Nora to skip the hectic time for just one year. Instead, they decided to spend half of what they would normally be spending during that time of year on a cruise to the Caribbean for ten glorious days in the sun. Can the Kranks survive all of complaints from their critical neighbors about their holiday decision? Will the crucial call they receive on Christmas Eve change their long awaited plans? Find out by reading SKIPPING CHRISTMAS, by John Grisham. I guarantee that you will not regret your decision.
I enjoyed many aspects of this novel including the following: I liked this novel so much because of the fact that it was told by a narrator so as a reader, you could tell what the characters were thinking about each other and know what they were planning to do before they did it. This story was also easy to relate to in the sense that it took place in the present in a city within Connecticut, which is similar to my home city. This helped me to understand the plot because when the story discussed the huge rush in the malls I could relate because of the similar rush that happens around here during the holiday season.
I felt that this story's style was realistic fiction and humorous because of the fact that it is not a true story but it probably could have happened. The plot was humorous because of the way that Luther and Nora responded to the criticism they received. SKIPPING CHRISTMAS was also an extremely quick book to read, I was able to complete the story in around four hours. I believe that the theme of the novel was the importance of family, especially around the holiday season. This theme was explored constantly throughout this fantastic novel.
After completing this novel I felt many things and learned many lessons about the true meaning of Christmas. I felt that the novel was very entertaining and humorous, especially in the beginning when Luther stopped at Chip's Grocery Store and found that the white chocolate chips were behind the butcher's counter. I also liked the fact that the story conveyed the powerful message, the importance of family, in an entertaining way. However, I didn't care for the length of the novel, I thought that it was so good that I would have wanted it to be much longer with more neighborhood encounters about the Krank's holiday plans. I would strongly recommend this novel to a friend or anyone who is in search for a funny and entertaining short read to get them into the Christmas spirit. SKIPPING CHRISTMAS was an eventful book that I will most likely consider reading again.

I've read two very different books by John Grisham and I have to say, I don't get his appeal. Skipping Christmas has a decent premise: fed up with the expense and consumerism of Christmas, a couple decides to skip the celebrations and instead go on a Caribbean cruise. The news doesn't sit well with the neighbors, who for some reason feel they have a say in their decision.

As I said, the idea is not bad, but the writing is so mediocre (and in occasions, worse than mediocre) that the novel never engages the reader. The end is better than the rest of the book, and it manages to be moving, but even though this novel is only 277 pages, it feels very, very long.

There's nothing going for this book. The Kranks live in a strange parallel universe where there's absolutely no tolerance for anything but mass consumerism. There's almost a hint of satire, but it's hard to tell if it's deliberate - in the end, the Kranks are back where they started, without any real development.

29 June 2008 - I don't know how this Grisham novel got pasted me for so many years but it was good even though no where near his best.

The title may suggest a legal thriller but The Last Juror ,while it does revolve around a murder-rape trial and its aftermath is not a bbok that fits snugly into this category.The trial is that of Danny Padgett,a member of a notorious criminal family in Ford County ,Mississipi who kills a young mother while here two young children watch .The case is pretty cut and dried but the family is not above witness intimidation and bribery .Padgett is convicted however but escapes the death penalty ,vowing that if released he will exact revenge on the jury.Nine years later he is free and jury members begin to die .

The tale is narrated by the local newspaper owner ,a callow young northener named Willie Traynor who grows to love the community and to observe how it changes over the years -the book opening in the 1970's .The special focus is on his friendshsip with the remarkable black woman ,Callie Ruffin all of whose sons are PHD's and who becomes a surrogate mother to Willie ,sharing insights and philosophies over gargantuan home cooked meals at her home .
We trace the evolution of the community through changes both national and local -the integration of the school system and jury system (Callie is a juror at the trial),Vietnam and its impact locally ,the growth of corporate strip mall America and the demise of local ,family owned businessses.It is a warm but not sentimental book and while the court room scenes are handled with genuine drama and insight it is in the picture of a changing ,conservative rural community that the book has its greatest interest
It may not appeal to those who like the legal thriller side of Grisham but it is a compelling rural odyssey that manages to be warm ,nostalgic and curiously tough minded all at the same time

A slice of Americana that Garrison Keiller fans should like too

I thought this story of the little Southern town; its small town newspaper owner and its citizens was just a super read. I enjoyed the world of Willie as he became more known by the folks of this Mississippi hamlet. Mr. Crisham did an excellent jobe of developing his character in such a way that I couldn't help but read page after page wondering what adventure he would stumble into. Without hesitation I would recommend this book to all my friends.

Willie Traynor was born in Memphis, but was educated in at Syracuse. That makes him an outsider, and perhaps a Northerner, in the eyes of small-town Clanton, Mississippi residents. When this fresh out-of-college youngster takes the reigns of the failing local newspaper, therefore, success is dubious. Luckily for Mr. Traynor, a horrifying murder is just the headline to shock his newspaper back to profitability.

A young widower and mother is brutally raped and murdered by Danny Padgitt, the scion of an influential outlaw family. Where once the Padgitt family was treated with fearful deference, Willie attacks head-on with bold front page stories and incriminating photography at substantial risk to himself and his business,.

Danny Padgitt is ultimately convicted, but surprisingly is spared the death penalty. In open court, he swears revenge on the jury. By greasing the wheels of the Mississippi penal system, the Padgitt family succeeds in getting Danny released after serving only 9 years. Then, jurors start dying.

Though the plot is not without interest, this is certainly not one of John Grisham's better novels. The foreshadowing, in particular, seems heavy-handed and will probably, for many, ruin or at least dampen any surprise at the conclusion. I, having decided I had "figured out" the book about halfway through, found it difficult to slog through the last portion of the novel. Likewise, the "Southern" color is laid on pretty heavily and, though I can claim to be no expert, appears fake-y. Bountiful home-cooked meals fixed by a heavy-set, strongly religious, older black woman, for some reason, sets off my cliche-dar. I also found the narrative point-of-view distracting. The book felt, to me, more like an odd memoir than a riveting crime/legal thriller.

The book, however, does have the courtroom drama and the supporting extra-judicial action that makes a novel a Grisham novel. The writing is easy and breezy - just the thing to pass some time on a beach or an airplane. As a bonus, you may recognize some of the characters and settings from some of Grisham's other books - perhaps the beginning of a series exploring the depths of Clanton, Mississippi?

Warning: Spoilers (sort of)

This isn't Grisham's best work, but I still enjoyed it. I thought he captured small town southern life perfectly and I couldn't help but adore Miss Callie. However, for as much of the book is spent on her life, Callie is not very relevant to the central story. The book's ending is kind of a downer. I was left wanting to know what became of Willie. Did he ever see Ginger again? What happened to the Padgitts (aside from Danny)?

I picked up this book being very skeptical, not knowing what I was diving into because I had heard and read some pretty bad reviews on this book. I love John Grisham and keeping in mind that he is famous for his legal thrillers I didn't really know if I was going to like this book or not. Boy I have never been so glad to be wrong in my life. I read this book in 3 days wishing it wouldn't end. I LOVED the story. I related to it a lot being from a small town myself and living somewhere where our high school football team has built a winning tradition. Not nearly as superb as the Messina Spartans in the book though I might add. I was very moved by the book and I really don't read a lot of this type of fiction. I was moved pretty close to tears towards the end. I can't belive this book doesn't have a high average rating than the one that is on amazon. I really recommend this book to anyone who loves high school football, or to anyone who lives in a small town that revolves around high school football during the fall. John Grisham proves the power of his story telling with this book and although I do love books like The Firm I think he shows us with this book that he can dive into other types of storytelling and keep us captivated just as much. Kudos Mr. Grisham! Kudos!

"Number 19 was a high school all-American, a highly recruited quarterback with a golden arm, fast feet, plenty of size, maybe the greatest Messina ever produced." Number 19 is Neely Crenshaw, former Messina Spartan quarterback. Neely has returned to his old hometown of Messina, where his former coach, Eddie Rake, is on the verge of death. Neely's number is the last retired Spartan number, and his return brings back memories of the good old days of Messina. Ultimately, he wonders if Rake loved him or hated him.
Neely meets many of his old teammates, who mostly have changed. Neely, through meeting them, strongly changes thruought the story. Neely and friends spend a lot of time reminicsing- of great games, good times, and friendships. Nate is his former punter, who has changed in an interesting way. Silo, the big goof, is still his same old self.
There are plenty more characters to keep the reader occupied.
This Friday Night Lights-ish story is a step in a new direction for Grisham. It uses vintage football lingo, so non football fans may have difficulty following it. The plot is stable enough to carry the story along, but it's nothing new. However, Grisham does a great job of keeping a reader hooked by adding new characters, who each add something unique to the story. this may be my first Grisham book, but I have heard that his other books are better. Overall, i give Bleachers a 4/5.

Grisham departs away from his normal lawyer dramas and this is what makes this book so refreshing. Having been a former football player myself, this book deeply hit those old memories. Walking upon the gridiron that we labored on since we were barely able to pull our shoulder pads on. This book's plot is pretty much figured a quarter way through, yet Grisham still compels the reader to continue along. Overall anyone who enjoys the sport of American football will enjoy this book, anyone else won't understand the importance of the way football brings together boys and makes them into men, forming a long lasting brotherhood.

It just wasn't my thing. It was recommended to me so I gave it a try.

It's a good story; makes you want to know whats coming next. Majority of these reviews here have given out the plot, so I am not going to repeat it here.
John Grisham is my favorite writer. For anyone who is Grisham's fan you will love this novel. It's not what Grisham's story is about that makes you love his books but its rather the way he lay down his characters and the way he narrates the story.
Grisham tells a tale to which many of us can relate personally, no matter what it is it can be a small thing from a Christmas dinner to a street lawyer reading a news paper to a crack addict, but you will still love it.
Having listened this book on audio, it is very entertaining because it is read by the author himself with several actors who sounds very much like the radio sports broadcasters, e.t.c.

Loved it.

A wonderful book although I am late in reading it based on the publication date.
It kept me up late reading it and the characters were well written.
Slightly disapppointed in the late Rollie appearance which I thought Lee was tied to but never the less Sam protected his family and I sort of liked him at the end and felt bad for him.
The beginning of the book was quick moving and I enjoyed the pace.
Hats off to John Grisham.
Staci

If your idea of a good book is one where there is lots of action and fascinating twists and turns of plot complications pop up on every page, you shouldn't go anywhere near The Chamber. If, however, you would like to gain a visceral sense of the issues around capital punishment, The Chamber is a well-constructed fictional treatment. It won't be a pretty or a pleasant experience, but neither is capital punishment.

I remember as a youngster carefully following the case of Caryl Chessman, a convicted robber and rapist who was executed in California's gas chamber. Reading The Chamber brought back those visceral memories of thinking through my reactions to the death penalty. I became an opponent. Most people who read this book will too.

John Grisham does a good job of making the book about the death penalty, rather than the general flaws in the legal system. He also explains the reasons why gas chambers were an awful way to execute criminals.

The condemned man in the story is clearly guilty, by his own admission, in the book; but Grisham makes him somewhat appealing: Grisham wants us to think about what should happen to this old white man, Sam Cayhall, a KKK member who participated in terror bombings in the South during the Civil Rights era. Grisham's clever idea for this book is to have Sam's grandson Adam Hall, who doesn't know his grandfather, handle the last few weeks of desperate appeals. Hall becomes a surrogate for a neutral observer in a situation where there can be no neutral observers.

I was impressed by the plotting and character development in the story. Murder creates more victims than most people realize, even among the killer's family. Grisham adds those dimensions in persuasive fashion.

The book's main weakness is that he pushes our noses a bit too much into nitty gritty of defending Death Row cases. Unless you are a lawyer (which I am), you won't find a lot of this very interesting. But if you are lawyer who hasn't been near a capital case, you'll find this book to be quite startling in terms of describing a situation for defense lawyers where they have little hope to win . . . but lots of chances to experience a broken heart.

If you want a shorter look at Grisham's views on the subject, you might enjoy the non-fiction The Innocent Man more than The Chamber.

i love grishams books and his style of writing but the chamber was boring and not very interesting

This book was a very pedestrian effort. It was a straight line through a death penalty case. No plot twists, nothing really that interesting at all. At over 600 pages it was too long. You can spend your time and money better elsewhere

I have read many JG books and love him. This book is long, boring, predictable and just plane stupid. I absolutely hate the plot, characters and even detest the paper that it is printed on. I can not say enough bad things about this book. It should be titled "The Torture Chamber".

I've read this book twice now, and I'm still enamored with it. I found the characters interesting, and sad. The story was well told, and was an eye opener. What really gets me is that this book was a true story, and I feel horrible for the miscarriage of justice that two men, and their families, had to go through.

An excellent read.

The most excruciatingly dull grisham book and the first I just can't finish. I tried over and over to get engaged in the story and the amount of boring detail just killed my interest. Don't buy this book and if you get it for free don't read it. Too many more interesting options.

I loved The Painted House and A Time To Kill but those were fiction. About halfway through The Innocent Man, I started speed-reading and finished in about 20 minutes. Maybe real people are boring?

John Grisham is one of the most successful authors of all time. He is a machine, constantly grinding out new dramatic fiction pieces like clockwork, and he has established a fan base that will never leave him, no matter what he writes.

Grisham is an author you can trust, and when I say that I don't meant that he is someone who puts out easy work, but I mean that the majority of his stories are going to be a guaranteed compelling read.

The Innocent Man is Grisham's non-fiction work originally pulped in 2006. Grisham read a piece in the New York Times about Ronnie Williams of Oklahoma, and was intrigued by his story. So after some preliminary work, he spent the next 18 months digging through the Ron Williams history, which included interviews with family, law enforcement, and going over the case transcripts and much more work for this book. And how an author who comes out with a best seller every year has time to research this story for 18 months is beyond this blogger's imagination. Either Grisham has a clone or he is a serious workaholic.

The book is a good read. The name can tell you what it is about, and after the first five chapters or so, you figure out who is going to take the fall for a crime that they didn't commit (If your like me and have no knowledge of the actual story which made national news). There are some fairly gruesome details about an actual murder, but it is not any worse than anything you would see on a legal drama on broadcast TV these days.

The injustice of a small town justice system is the theme, and the victim is bounced around without being given a fair chance. This book shows how an innocent man can be set up to fall due to bad police work, a bad public defender and a home town judge who wants to get reelected. For example, the `Innocent Man' is given a public defender that is blind, and can't dispute any of the shoddy physical evidence that is brought before the trial.

Now this isn't like the TV series, The Fugitive, where the main character is squeaky clean and easy to relate to. This Innocent Man has a shady history with some serious character flaws and mental health issues, but the fact still remains that he was sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit.

This book is enjoyable if you are a true crime fan, you are a fan of the author, or if you just like a good legal drama, as this reads just as good as any legal fiction that is put out.

And a fair warning for readers of the paper back version (the hardback version may be the same, I don't know) but the pictures inserted into the middle of the book reveal the ending of the book, so don't look them over if you don't want to know what happens. They're not huge spoilers, but they are big enough.

I just finished reading this today. I have to admit it took a while for me to get into it. My first impressions when I was reading the "police report-like entries" in the first few chapters were: "this doesn't sound like Grisham". So I read the blurbs and foreward and realized, "AH! It is non-fiction!" And from there my perception of the book changed. There were moments when I was sad, others when I was angry, others when I was fed-up with Ron and his inability to stay in rehab, and still other moments when I wondered if Grisham was going to be sued because of the bias towards the defendants (it turns out he is being sued!)

Regardless, I read the last words with a tear rolling down my cheek. This is not light reading, and I am thoroughly surprized by reviewers who still haven't figured out that this book is non-fiction. It is a truly sad story and gripping.

Although biased, I have researched this book as much as I could, the story line is still true. Two imperfect men were pinpointed as murderers, imprisoned for 12 years (one of them on death row), and then exhonerated. They never received an appology for their torment, never a word of regret for their misfortune. And to top it all off, the real killer was revealed but never fully brought to justice.

My only real criticism of this book is that I would have liked to learn more about the true killer. What changed in his relationship with the police with whom he was dealing drugs? What happened to him in the end?

I have read all the John Grisham books available. I love them. I recommended them to all my friends until I read this one. This book is about as exciting as watching paint dry. I kept reading and reading waiting for the plot to pick up. It never did. In my opinion John Grisham needs to stick to the courtroom and lawyer storylines.

John Grisham does an excellent job of decribing the harshness of life on a cotten farm in the rural south of the past, and weaves an intriguing story from that backdrop. Being from the south and having parents who grew up on a cotten farm in Alabama, I can assure you the story is authentic, but that's not the good part. The good part is the downright pleasure of watching the tension build among the powerful charachters in this novel and the thrill of turning the page to find out what happens next.
Told in the voice of a little kid in Arkansas who dreams of playing baseball for the Cardinals when he grows up, he witnesses much more adult stuff than he should, and tries to make sense of it all. The characters in this novel are so real, I could spot them in a police mug shot book. Hank Spruel, the hateful redneck throwback, Cowboy, the sneaky Mexican with a switchblade knife who likes his revenge served cold make for a pair of enemies to remember.

Thank you John Grisham for giving us a glimpse of life in rural Arkansas in the early 1950's. Grisham paints such a vivid and realistic picture of the day to day life of these people that at times I had to remember I was reading a novel and not watching a movie. I hope John Grisham finds the time sometime in the future to let us know what happens to these great characters.