The Racketeer: A Novel

I enjoyed this book and couldn’t put it down once I started reading. The author’s imagination is amazing and kept me guessing!

What you'll get in this one: the snappy characterizations and plot twists that make Grisham's legal thrillers so irresistible to his loyal fans. I received my book in the wee hours of release day, and stayed up reading the entire novel. It was too good to put down. Grisham wisely keeps readers guessing about how lawyer Malcolm Bannister may pull off a revenge scheme. I was hooked as soon as I grasped the basic plot. But this doesn't mean The Racketeer is flawless.. It took awhile for me to become fully engaged with the book -- mainly because Grisham took his time revealing crucial details and spent awhile describing prison life. Some of that is interesting and adds depth. But parts of the novel lagged for me. The Racketeer starts off with lawyer Malcolm Bannister describing his basic situation: he has been sent to prison for 10 years based on a sentence "handed down by a weak and sanctimonious federal judge in Washington, DC". I'm not giving away anything here because that info is revealed on the first page of my edition of this book (Kindle). Bannister has tried every appeal available. His wife, initially supportive, has left him. He misses his son. In short, his life is grim and depressing. Bannister can't imagine being incarcerated for 10 years, and he is desperate to get out. The reason he is in jail constitutes "a long story." but he is convinced he has been convicted of a crime he had "no knowledge of committing" (he does, however, admit to naivite' and stupidity which helped lead to his downfall). The rest of the details in the early half of The Racketeer mainly involved Bannister's carefully constructed plan to get out of prison, starting with info he knows about the murder of federal judge Raymond Fawcett. He says he knows who murdered the judge - and why. This is where I started to become intrigued, trying to figure out what if Bannister's plan will succeed- and anticipating the inevitable plot twists along the way. I also wanted to know how his conviction was connected to the murder of the judge. Bannister's exclusive information is what he plans to use as leverage. That's when I became impatient for Grisham to cut to the chase. But because of his writing style, still above par for many legal thrillers, I couldn't put The Racketeer down. Grisham doesn't give everything away at once. Information is revealed chapter by chapter. I wanted to know more. And I'm betting other readers will feel the same. I am not going to reveal any more about The Racketeer because I think there is enough info here to either interest potential readers and help them decide whether the book is of interest or not. I don't want to add spoilers or plot twists.

There are many ways to escape prison, and Malcolm Bannister, 43, is black, the only black ex-attorney at the Maryland prison campuses to escape. Malcolm is serving a ten-year sentence for his involvement in a crime he did not commit. Malcolm Bannister is now halfway through a ten-year sentence. He has come with some inside knowledge of events surrounding the death of a federal judge, which links to witness protection, drugs, Jamaicans, and some heavy bad guys. Bannister creates a charade of proof that enables him to convince the FBI to guarantee his safety, help him surgically change his appearance, and give him the reward money. Once he receives his freedom and reward money, he'll tell them about the judge's killer. Of course, the feds initially think he's just another inmate trying to get a Rule 35 ruling to get himself out of prison. Bannister is Grisham's longish, complex tale of cat and mouse. Every character in the book is believable, and though some of the plot turns seem improbable, the reader never quite knows whether things are going to work out for Bannister before he makes his plan work when he meets an accomplice and becomes involved in a lasting romance that leads to a new and most satisfying conclusion. There are plenty of surprises along the way. As ever, a solid, unflashy performance by Grisham. The book is an action-packed and riveting story.

I'm writing this bc I haven't bought a Grisham book that wasn't deeply discounted or free in YEARS. I bought this book after the NYT review-- I think it's the first decent review of a Grisham book in a long time (last I remember). I have been on and off again about Grisham's books, (mostly off for a long time) honestly nothing for me will be as good as A Time To Kill, or The Chamber, or as fun as The Firm-- but I have read most of what he's written-- and mostly been "eh" about Grisham for several years. Ok having said that-- as the title of my review states, this is a book you absolutely have to suspend disbelief-- especially if you are even remotely associated with the legal profession and if you're a lawyer - (actually even if you aren't) you will roll your eyes at some points-- but you WILL CONTINUE reading, because, as preposterous as some of the plot turns are, you will want to see where he goes with this. The main character stays in kind of a 'foreshadowing" mode throughout the story- you kind of think and sometimes know where this is going but because the main character is also 'unreliable' - you are left unsure-- so as a reader you wonder if the narrator/main character plots against his 'foes' while simultaneously doing the same to the you (the reader) --- I did think that was pretty interesting on Grisham's part. I can't explain this anymore without spoilers. FYI-- The NYT review was bizarre-- some parts of the review made no sense after i finished the book--and i re-read the review-- this line in particular referring to the main character-- "And Mal happens to be black. That fact seems to have nothing to do with the book until Mr. Grisham makes shrewd use of race later on. " --- what? i don't know what they meant by "shrewd" or "shrewd use" -- and after reading the book, it seems as though the NYT just read a synopsis and Grisham's afterword. This is not a book that will stay with you long after you've read it, but you know what? Sometimes that's just fine. This is NOT a 'legal thriller' in the sense that we are used to. (Grisham admits as much in his afterword). It's not one of his great books, but it IS PRETTY GOOD-- that's why I gave it 3 stars. IF this sounds like I didn't like the book please just take it as a disclaimer because: This is FUN Grisham. It's a commercial break. It's a page-turning novel/thirller/mystery and it's ENTERTAINING- much like I'm sure the invevitable movie will be. I did enjoy this, I couldn't put it down. I do recommend the book with the following caveat: - wait for a lower price.

Though John Grisham consistently has improved as a novelist, and not just a legal novelist, in recent years, this latest book is somewhat reminiscent of some of his earlier work. As he has in some recent novels, Grisham uses this story to make some editorial comments about the criminal justice system. Like "The Confession," he is extremely critical of the interview techniques utilized by the FBI, as well as the cost and futility of the "corrections" system found in federal prisons. Once again, his opposition to the death penalty emerges. He is right on the money (perhaps from his own previous period of defense practice) in focusing on the unlimited range of threats federal prosecutors can employ to encourage a "confession" if there is a lack of "cooperation". In my opinion, he is also on target in disclosing how the FBI seeks to outmaneuver U.S. Attorneys through its extensive political influence within the Department of Justice in order to control, and not just support, federal prosecutors. The structure of the book is surprising, because at times it seems like two separate books woven together by a skilled craftsman. The main story, which is quite engrossing, focuses upon someone who escapes federal prison by "ratting" on a former fellow inmate, leading to some unhappy folks seeking the ultimate revenge. Grisham has not lost his ability to absolutely grab and capture a reader--a skill evidenced in his first blockbuster novel, "The Firm," which I (and many others) really could not put down. Here he sends shivers up your spine just with two sentences (on. pp. 161 and 275) that left me feeling like a needle had just been stuck in my eye. Then suddenly, at page 209 or so, it is like we have jumped into another novel altogether--the central character's efforts to manipulate and hoodwink a simple West Virginia bar owner as part of some manner of sting operation. In fact, the antics of the central character and his girl friend reminded me extremely of similar activities in the "Firm." Eventually, 100 pages later, Grisham links up the two stories quite effectively, but the transition between the two parts of the story is not smooth and I found it somewhat confusing until I eventually caught on. Hey, but what else can you say but that Grisham can really tell a legal tale, perhaps better than anyone. Suspense abounds (as do some legal errors) but I whipped through the 340 pages like I used to do when much younger and reading his early novels. This is a great read even if repetitive of some of his earlier work. Read and enjoy--I did!

A real page turner with a plot that is as suspenseful as it is imaginative. A pleasure to read and sorry when it ends. Once again Grisham proves to be a master of mystery. Highly recommended.

I think the bar is set higher because it's Grisham. Readers expect a clever plot with nuances and a message. There usually is some social justice theme presented to the readers by his likeable characters. Instead, in this book, John Grisham moves the reader from a prison setting, to southern United States, Antigua and Jamaica. Grisham does not have a pointed social justice missive, but he does bring home a good, solid page-turner narrated by an attorney who is wrongly sentenced to 10 years in prison. Malcolm Bannister is African-American, a smart guy, who apparently was very naïve when he was indicted and found guilty of RICO violations along with his criminal client. Grisham does pontificate about the wrong guys doing time. There are many white-collar businessmen who are innocent and those who don't deserve long sentences. That is probably Grisham's sole lecture. Malcolm's wife left him, he no longer sees his son and his father makes dutiful prison visits, which are rather heart breaking with disappointment. Malcolm has served five years when the novel opens, and he is hell-bent on not spending another five. He has created a rather bizarre plan to get out of prison, enter the Witness Protection Program and change his physical appearance when a federal judge and his secretary are brutally killed. He convinces the Feds he knows who murdered Judge Fawcett and his secretary in the Judge's remote cabin. The complex storyline begins. There are important secondary characters but Malcolm (who later becomes Max) drives the plot from beginning to end. Is it believable? No, not really, but Grisham held my attention and Bannister's complicated plan is always one step ahead of the reader. This is pure fiction and for Malcolm to carry out his plan, all the details must fit into place. Hardly plausible, but assuredly fun for the reader to enjoy conning government agents, identifying the real murderers and Grisham always manages to teach the reader new details. For example, I never knew about Rule 35 and the lack of security for private jets in our country. Great escapism on many levels!

Normally I do not listen to audio books; however, they were useful while recovering from a minor surgical procedure that kept me from reading for about a week. I enjoyed those audio books and after reading a cyber friend's (K. Corn) exceptionally helpful amazon.com review, I ordered the abridged compact disk (CD) version of John Grisham's new novel "The Racketeer." An abridged, as opposed to an unabridged is a condensed version that intends to shorten a story without changing the plot. In this case, veteran actor and superb audio book narrator, J. D. Jackson brought this 5 CD, 6.5 hours legal thriller to life. It was the perfect entertainment for my wife and me during our 474 mile round trip last weekend. The story was enjoyable and the drive seemed to pass quickly. The protagonist, Malcolm Bannister, is "The Racketeer." A partner in a 3-man struggling law firm, this young lawyer's life changes dramatically after being charged with a white collar crime that landed him in Federal Prison near Frostburg, Maryland for a 10-year stint. After reading a newspaper article reporting the seemingly unsolvable brutal murder of Federal Judge Fawcett and his secretary in his remote lakeside cabin, Malcolm is back in the driver's seat again once he convinces the FBI and Attorney General that he knows who killed the victims and why they were assassinated. Malcolm barters for a new identity and relocation under the Federal Witness Protection Program, the reward money, immediate release from prison and his criminal record expunged in exchange for the indictment of his former jail house friend, a vindictive and ruthless leader of a family drug dealing cartel. The drug lord quickly penetrates the witness protection program and Banisters location and identity. In an attempt to survive his ordeal, Malcolm uses his considerable skill to ditch the fed's and the long reach of his adversaries. Listeners will find themselves engaged and spellbound as the antagonist and the author via a talented narrator takes them on a mysterious and suspenseful ride that will not be unraveled until the very satisfying end. Enjoy!

J'avais peur de lire *encore un Grisham avec des tas d'avocats* et j'ai été rassurée. Forcément il y a des hommes de loi, mais cette fois-ci ce n'est pas du classique, et ce n'est pas non plus une chasse à l'homme-suspense-action. Non, c'est une intrigue bien plus subtile que ça, où on ne voit pas les pages passer, où on ne croit pas nos yeux quand vient le dénouement. Je recommande!

One who uses his brain and is bold. You cannot leave it to chance / circumstances. Good holiday read Subra

Consigliato a chi piace Grisham, da leggere in lingua per non perdere le sfumature sello slang confederato, copertina morbida come al solito...

The suspense is stunning, the storyline amazing. All filled with legal details. Well researched. It is a bit of a lengthy drag when Max deals with Nattie since the reader does not have a clue what he is getting at until at the end all is revealed. it overall a great book! Thank you

John Grisham roza la perfección con su nueva novela. Es apasionante, adictiva, sorprendente y emocionante. Me la leí en un par de días!!