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Book 15: The Racketeer, by John Grisham



Finished May 9, 2022


John Grisham is a master storyteller, and part of the reason for that is his voice. He walks that delicate line between description and action that brings the reader into the scene, yet keeps things moving at a pace modern readers find irresistible. 

In this novel, we are treated to an intricate plot to get justice, dish out some come-uppance, and get very, very rich in the bargain. The title is in itself a puzzle; who, exactly, is running a racket, the guy in the Federal prison who's got information that could get him released, the murder, the murder victim, or the FBI? Or maybe all of them.

The complex plan, which I won't summarize here, is told with enough foreshadowing to keep the reader involved in filling in the blanks. The reader is not given the full picture until the end. At one point, I remember wondering what in Tarnation the main character was even doing, spending all this time, effort, and money on something that seemingly had nothing to do with the murder case. And yet it did. We do get a satisfying denouement, and all questions are answered. I kept waiting for some last-minute foil to come out of left field to spoil the protagonist's victory -- such as the woman who's helping him suddenly making off with all the loot -- but satisfyingly, it never came. I was pulling for him to succeed, cheering him on, and indeed his master plan did work. 

It's not literature, but everything doesn't have to be literature. What it is is an absorbing, fast-paced book with characters who are consistent and likable (or unlikable, as called for), a really great scheme, and enough hiccups along the way to make one wonder whether this crazy plan is going to work. By not letting the readers in on the plan, we experience events though the eyes of the FBI and the mark, only WE know something's up, IF WE COULD ONLY FIGURE IT OUT. 

Some books are not great, but they're still good, just as a Twinkie is not cuisine, but it's good. Other books are not great, but they're still good, like street tacos are not cuisine, but they're good. This book is a street taco, made by someone who LOVES street tacos, who has perfected the ultimate street taco, and whose food truck has been making the tacos everyone raves about for a couple of decades. 

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