Scott

Since my evenings and weekends are filled with homework, I have been trying to read this on my lunch breaks at work for a couple of months now. Unfortunately since I have chatty coworkers that seem to completely disregard the fact that I'm reading when they sit down at my table and start talking to me, that wasn't getting me anywhere. I finally made the commitment to finish this book this weekend while I'm on a small break from my classes.

I must admit was mildly let down by this book as I kept hearing all this buzz about it. I had expected more twists, but they never materialized. A friend of mine recently commented about how he doubted that anyone could figure out the twist and turns beforehand, but my hand to God, I did. I guess I just have a knack for this sort of stuff. Daryl complains that I often ruin movies for him because I figure them out so darn early in the film. The same was true of this book. I guessed at the central mystery regarding Harriet almost immediately upon being introduced to it, and there were plenty of clues along the way that confirmed my suspicions. I thought that my suspicions were too obvious, so I expected to be wrong. I was disappointed when I wasn't.

My biggest complaint with the book is that it seemed to reach its peak about two-thirds the way into it. After that point, everything else seemed like resolution. I also wasn't very engrossed by the secondary plot involving the Wennerström affair. There were no clues to solve regarding it; it was just a bunch of stuff that happened.

Now lest I sound too critical, I did find it an enjoyable read. I just found myself waiting for a twist I didn't see coming that would really knock my socks off. I still plan on reading the next book in the series and hope it offers a few more surprises than this one.

Despite being 240 pages, this reminded me more of a short-story than a full length book. Geared toward the teen/youth category, it's a quick read and I finished it in one day. I can't really discuss the book since there are some twists that shouldn't be given away. While I had considered the possibility of the final twist earlier in the book, I thought the book was going in another direction so it still caught me off guard. Overall, an enjoyable read though the ending may be polarizing.

Very funny- this book had several LOL moments. You can't help but be won over by Jenny Lawson's self-depreciating humor. She helps you realize that life Is absurd, but that is also what makes it special.

This book got my heart racing. Has a Hitchcock feel to it. Recommended.

I chose a John Grisham book to help me get back into the habit of reading as, in the past, I've found his books to be quick page-turners- hard to put down. This, his latest book, had good reviews and the premise seemed intriguing.

Alas, I was largely dissppointed by the book. The plot centers around a lawyer in jail for racketeering who supposedly knows the identity of the murderer of a federal judge. Right off the bat several elements of the plot seemed largely implausible including the claim that the protagonist was more or less innocent of the charges that landed him in jail. More annoying was Grisham's use of the first-person narrative interjected with occassional passages of third-person. In another setting, this might have worked, but here it was clumsy.

The storytelling lacked any real excitement - at no time did I ever feel the characters to be in peril. Instead it was the slow, and at times laborius, detailing of a convulted scheme. There are countless passages that read like a travel itinerary as though Grisham was merely trying to fill pages.

Two final quibbles: Grisham almost brags in the Author's Note at the end that he did no research for this book. It is painfully obvious in his whole attitude towards the story. I suppose when you are successful as Grisham, you can phone one in from time to time as he does here.

My other quibble is that Grisham, who is white, chose to make the protagonist African-American, then write in first person. Ultimately it doesn't ring true leaving us with a character who is neither likable or memorable.

Some have called this book a “return to form” for Grisham, but I know he has written much better.