Review: The Racketeer

It’s been a long time since I’ve read a Grisham novel. I was an early fan but he lost me when he evolved into a non-legal-affairs writer. He tried to branch out into general topic novels and put out some very tepid tomes including The Painted House and the just plain awful, Skipping Christmas, which became a terrible movie called Christmas with the Kranks. I swear those books would have never seen the business end of a printer if John Grisham’s name wasn’t attached to them.

cover of The Racketeer

But my husband urged me to pick up The Racketeer. It’s Grisham in fine form with legal twists and turns. Although I found the first few chapters were full of cliches and, frankly, rather ordinary and predictable writing, I’m glad I stayed with it. Truthfully though, it started out rather disappointing. But the back half of the book lassoed me with a story I simply couldn’t figure out. I love that!

No spoilers here: The Racketeer is the story of a wrongly convicted and imprisoned man trying to salvage what’s left of his life on the backs of the FBI and other authorities. It was a compelling page-turner. My idea of a worthwhile book is when I think about when I can get back to it and look forward to that, even while I’m doing something else.  Once The Racketeer got rolling, it had that kind of lure.  If you gave up on Grisham, like I did, maybe this is the novel that will bring you back. Just be patient with the build-up. It’s slow to start.