Book info

• Title The Racketeer
• Author John Grisham
• Year 2012
• Genre Mystery

Given the importance of what they do, and the controversies that often surround them, and the violent people they sometimes confront, it is remarkable that in the history of the USA only four active federal judges have been murdered. Judge Raymond Fawcett just became number five. His body was found in the small basement of a lakeside cabin he had built himself and frequently used on weekends. When he did not show up for a trial on Monday morning, his law clerks panicked, called the FBI, and in due course the agents found the crime scene. There was no forced entry, no struggle, just two dead bodies - Judge Fawcett and his young secretary. I did not know Judge Fawcett, but I know who killed him, and why. I am a lawyer, and I am in prison. It's a long story.

Thoughts

A solid work by John Grisham that follows the story of a lawyer who believes he was wrongfully arrested and works out a way to get an early release by revealing the culprit of another crime. As you might imagine, it’s nowhere near as simple as that and the reveal of the culprit’s name is just the beginning.

I didn’t feel like this was as strong as some of Grisham’s other works, and he admits at the end that he didn’t put much research into the story, but then again, it doesn’t feel like it really needs any. It’s more of a winding, twisting narrative that keeps you guessing - firstly whether our guy is telling the truth, secondly what his ulterior motive is, and finally, back to whether he’s telling the truth again or not.

It all wraps up into a neat conclusion, and it’s always fun to have someone supremely clever being one step ahead of everyone else, but I did leave the book feeling a bit on edge - should we have been rooting for this guy or not?

Rating: 3 / 5