The Racketeer by John Grisham

Genre: Fiction

Pages: Paper

Publisher: Dell

JAGS: 6

Malcolm Bannister, a former attorney, is convicted to spending 10 years in federal prison for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. A federal judge and his young mistress are found dead with no evidence or apparent motive, and Malcolm Bannister knows who has done it. The only problem, Bannister is in jail, and the FBI has no leads.

Everything has a price, including the ace up Bannister’s sleeve as he plots with and against the FBI for an early release, and to catch a killer. You see, Malcolm would love to help out the FBI, but as the man who is known as the Racketeer, everything has a price, and sitting behind cell bars makes his information all the more valuable.

This is a typical Grisham novel about the redemption of a wayward lawyer who was caught with his hand in the cookie jar, except that The Racketeer isn’t as nearly as predictable as Grisham’s previous Courtroom dramas. The Racketeer is a fast-paced read with more than its share of plot twists. Out of all of Grisham’s novels, this one by far is better than most, and has the potential of Hollywood movie magic. Quick weekend read.


The 500 by Matthew Quirk

Genre: Fiction

Published by: Little Brown

Pages: Hard Cover

Ratings: 4 JAGS

One part Grisham’s The Firm, (Especially the tail end of Chapter 14 where you can’t help but picture Tom Cruise and the Quaker Oats actor in a heated exchange.) one part Wall Street the movie, The 500 is an action packed thriller that reads like Joseph Finder’s novel Paranoia. 

Mike Ford, recent Harvard Law School graduate and son of a grifter con-man, is courted by the powerful Washington DC think tank The Davies Group. The 500 of Washington’s most powerful members and game changers of the U.S. government use The Davies Group to lobby and monopolize power and policy. Mike realizes his rise to the circles of Washington’s elite comes with a price, and with that, a world of cons, marks and ultimately death that he has been trying desperately to leave behind.

Great last minute airport or poolside read. With a release date of June 5^th, Matthew Quirk’s The 500, is being championed as the next Brad Meltzer and David Baldacci. The screen rights have also been picked up by 20^th Century Fox. This is a definite quick vacation read.

The Litigators by John Grisham

Typical Grisham. Pick up any of his previous works and you have the exact storyline, plot, character development and climax. The Litigators was drawn out to to long and could have been shortened considerably to save the reader valuable time. The last 100 pages were the only exception to this tiring tale.

Large Law firm + overworked lawyer who loses control + Small Law firm up against Large Law firm + redemption + the good fight – Hollywood = The Litigators.

Please wait till it is on the clearance rack at local bookstore, discount book venue, or discarded with the trash. Still mad that I wasted $30.00 dollars for this book new. What was I thinking? I should not be too mad with myself since the last interesting legal thriller that John Grisham wrote was The Firm and The Pelican Brief.

1 JAGS