Book Review - John Grisham - Double Shot

The Confession is John Grisham at his best.  And his best is pretty dang good.

A scary looking parolee walks into a small church one day asking to speak to the minister.  He confesses to the murdering a teenage girl 9 years ago.  The man convicted for that crime is due to be executed within the week.

Grisham's finest book, in my opinion, is The Innocent Man, a work of nonfiction.  Even if you are not a bleeding heart liberal (and I'm guessing you ain't) this book will make you question some long held societal beliefs.  It's clear that Grisham took a lot of what he learned writing that book and used it as a springboard for the fictional story in The Confession.  As the story unfolds, you witness how tragic that murder really was.  You get to see just how many people are affected by one violent act.  It's heartbreaking but, I think, necessary.

Grisham didn't take the easy road with this novel.  He made decisions that hit the reader like a gut punch.  But, in the end, I think he created a story that is believable even if you wish it wasn't.

The Litigators.  Oy...

This is John Grisham at his worst.  It almost seems like he didn't write it at all.

The premise is fine.  Two ambulance chasing older lawyers with a firm that is always just barely solvent.  Add to that a hotshot young corporate attorney who has a very early midlife crisis and winds up at their door.

After the very serious drama in The Confession, I can totally understand why Grisham would want to write a lighter novel.  And there is nothing wrong with that except that, in this case, it is done so sloppy.  For example, David, the young attorney, is lamenting the fact that his wife wants to have a baby.  He works so many hours at his corporate job that he is never home long enough to get his wife pregnant.  I'm not sure how realistic this scenario is but I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.  Then two weeks after he moves to the small firm, his wife is pregnant and shopping for baby clothes.  Do what?  I'm not saying this couldn't happen, I'm just saying that the timeline is a lil whack and any good editor should have told the author so.  Doesn't it seem like a literary superstar like John Grisham would have a stellar editor?

The book does have a few interesting storylines and I wouldn't consider it a complete waste of time.  But if you love John Grisham, I think you too will be left thinking that this could have been a much better book.