John Grisham’s latest novel (much like Barbara Kingsolver’s latest) also transported me back to the mountains of Appalachia where I’d spent many years as a young woman. Because it is in the many small and forgotten towns buried deep in these mountains and off the main Interstate 81 that our man Malcolm Bannister, aka Max Baldwin, finds himself—first as a small-time lawyer, then as a wrongly incarcerated felon, and finally as a slick mover and shaker who befuddles the FBI, the cops, and the entire legal system to unfold a gruesome murder mystery that also serves as his ticket out.
Grisham, the master crime and legal storyteller doesn’t disappoint, and in a most unassuming tone, has Mal narrate the series of events that span not just Appalachia but the entire eastern seaboard, as well as several countries in the Caribbean.
For those familiar with the American system of law enforcement and criminal justice, it is a thrilling ride; and for those who might not be so familiar, it is a brilliant and fascinating primer to America’s style of justice that aims to keep the bad guys off the street and does not discriminate between blue-collar and white-collar crime– and all the while wheels and deals in espionage and subversive tactics to get at the truth.
A fine ride it is, and confirms yet again that Grisham is king of this genre. I’ll bet good money there will soon be a motion picture made from it, and one can only hope it will be just as entertaining as the book.
