Title: The
Racketeer
Author:
John Grisham
Publisher: Random
House
Publish
date: 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7393-7843-2
Malcolm
Bannister is a former attorney convicted for money laundering and serving ten
years at Frostburg Prison Camp. Then a federal judge gets murdered and the
tough get going as the proverbial going gets tough.
I smiled a
lot while reading this novel, and have to confess to a personal liking for it
for several reasons.
a) By the end of the first few opening
chapters you find yourself rooting for Bannister, an ex lawyer, not even a successful
one, technically did the crime he’s convicted for but holds himself morally
innocent and blames the government. At first glances it doesn’t sound like an
easily likeable character. But Grisham pulls that first stunt off with
remarkable ease.
b) The story winds round itself in an
audacious dance of literary, self-referential flirtation. Now, this is often
attempted but seldom pulled off. As Malcolm morphs into his new identity under
the Witness Protection Program, we literally see the writer at work, choosing
his character, drawing up the plot diagrams, forging the story – within the
story. And it’s amusing, not the self-aggrandizing and navel-gazing display
that’s often put on show by lesser mortals. It continues for the rest of the
book, with the reader quite happy for the main character to be in cahoots with
his author and leading you by the nose over some rather rough territory.
c) It’s meticulously plotted prior to
writing, but a bit slapdash on character development. Why is this a good thing?
Well it’s not, but it happens to be how I write, too. If John Grisham can get
away with it, there’s hope for me yet. Even the ending is one I sympathize
with: the increasingly devious and unbelievable plot is thrown at the reader’s
feet in a messy pile of happy-ever-after with a ‘there, that’s what you wanted,
wasn’t it?’ echoing behind the residual sound of fingers hitting the keyboard.
I dig it. Although if there were one thing I’d like to change it would be to
hang onto reality a little more towards the latter quarter of the novel, but
hey, who’s counting.
In short, recommended.
Gets 3.5 out of 5 Moose Hoofs up.
