NB - To avoid any criticism from the trolls let me state this review is based on the US copy of The Racketeer, which was published October 23rd 2012, I purchased it from Amazon.Com. That's why I'm able to write this review on publication day.
In a departure for John Grisham, this tightly plotted new thriller The Racketeer, is pure fiction. ''There is no federal prison at Frostburg,'' he writes, ''no uranium lawsuit, no dead judge to inspire me, and no acquaintance in prison scheming to get out, at least not to my knowledge.'' This book is pure Grisham fiction, and all the better for it.
Grisham introduces us to a small-town Virginia lawyer named Malcolm Bannister, who's dubiously convicted and has a 10 year sentence "handed down by a weak and sanctimonious federal judge in Washington DC". I'm not giving anything away, as this is revealed on the first page. The reason for the jail time is "a long story", but Mal's convinced he's been convicted of a crime he had "no knowledge of committing". Grisham's hero is flawed and perhaps somewhat naive but the author goes on to map Mal's revenge plot from his federal penitentiary cell, a plan that's twice as elaborate as the one cooked up in The Count of Monte Cristo.
Like many of Grisham heroes, Mal is a legal insider. He knows how to work the system to his advantage, as a way out of prison he utilises Rule 35 - stating that a prisoner helping solve a crime committed outside can be given commuted sentence and even witness protection. Mal is able to give the Feds a name of the murderer but ONLY after he is guaranteed his freedom.
Mal is a lone wolf, an ex Gulf war veteran Marine, he is willing to sacrifice anything in pursuit of a very long and entertaining con. Grisham draws the reader in quickly and gives us a series of well developed and believable characters, Mal's family - his wife and son- are especially well written. The story is never dull, and the author deals with a large cast of characters and an intricate story with verve.
Grisham writes with detail about Winchester, Virginia and the area around it. Roanoke, Fairfax, Frostburg, all feature heavily in the story, and lend the novel a verisimilitude-
The rest of the details in the first part of The Racketeer involve Bannister's carefully developed plan to get out of prison, which is linked to the murder of Raymond Fawcett. Grisham weaves an intriguing tale, as the reader tries to figure out if Bannister's plan will succeed- and the plot twists are startling, you just don't see them coming, rare in a modern legal thriller.Grisham spins a web of intrigue that involves private jets, Caribbean islands, murder, lies, and even more twisty twists.
The Racketeer is a page turner and I couldn't put it down. Grisham feeds us the plot slowly. Exposition is kept to a minimum, I won't say any more about The Racketeer as I hope there's enough here to interest potential readers.
After a few books that have been, to my mind, less than stellar, Grisham keeps up the standard set by his last book, "The Litigators", and his fans will be all the more grateful for that. A fast and enjoyable read ,"The Racketeer" is Grisham at his best.
