I went to law school in the early 1990s so I’m supposed to be a John Grisham fan. The lure of doe-eyed law school graduates getting hired by big law firms paying big salaries was shadowed by the sinister practices in The Firm.
I did read Grisham’s first few books and stopped. I enjoyed the writing the plots were less intriguing.
Someone recommended that I read his latest novel, Sycamore Row.
He goes back to the setting and characters from his first book, A Time to Kill. It’s three years after the murder trial and Jake Brigance is still practicing law in Ford County, Mississippi. Jake gets handed a will contest that is tainted with race and just a touch of mystery.
I have to admit that I have a hard time reading the book and not envisioning Matthew McConaughey speaking Jake’s dialogue. That means I kept waiting for “Alright, Alright, Alright.”
Like most sequels, Sycamore Row is not as good as the first novel. But if you like John Grisham, or at least A Time to Kill, you’ll enjoy this one.
It was good bus-ride reading.
