TITLE: The Racketeer
AUTHOR: John Grisham
GENRE: Fiction, Legal thriller
PUBLISHED: October 23, 2012
RATING: ★★★★☆
PURCHASE LINKS: Amazon , iBookStore , Kobo
MOBILISM LINK: Mobilism
Review:
DESCRIPTION: An African-American lawyer is wrongly convicted and sentenced to 10 years in jail. But Malcolm Bannister is not just any lawyer. When a federal judge and his mistress are found dead in a cabin next to a behemoth safe, he sets his immaculate plan in motion. He does not only get himself out of jail but also earns a fortune. But for how long will his luck last? Will he finally be able to go through life without looking over his shoulder all the time?
REVIEW: A typical Grisham. Twists galore, clever plot that will keep you turning pages. Was it his best? Certainly not. Was it good? Sure as hell.
Malcolm Bannister is halfway through his ten year sentence in a Frostburg prison camp. There are no walls or barbed wire to keep him locked up for a crime he didn’t commit. He misses his son, his wife, cursing over-zealous prosecutors and jurors who have brought him here. He is tempted but he can’t leave.
“I wish there was a wall, one ten feet tall, made of solid brick, with coils of glistening razor wire along its top, one that would keep me from gazing at the hills and dreaming of freedom. This is a prison, damn it!”
But while serving a prison sentence, Bannister acquires what he hopes will be an incredible bargaining chip that will serve as his “get out of jail card.” A federal judge, Raymond Fawcett, has been murdered at his weekend home in rural Virginia. There is no physical evidence or witness to help solve the crime. In addition, the judge was killed after emptying the contents of the large safe hidden in the cabin, located in the wilderness. No one has any idea of the safe’s contents. Banister knows who committed the murder and the motive for the killing; all he demands in exchange for the information is a new identity, a new life and his immediate release from prison. Grisham introduces RULE 35, according to which, a prisoner can be released if he helps the police/FBI catch a criminal.
Grisham also shows his socially conscious side in this novel. Bannister observes early in the novel that his incarceration in prison costs Americans $40,000 per year. At the same time, our nation spends only $8,000 annually to educate a child in our public schools. How ironic!
Bannister is successful in getting out by implicating one Quinn Rucker, one of the prisoners who was in cohorts with him. It is then that his dish of revenge is prepared. Armed with a new identity and false papers, he sets out to seek out what was inside the judge’s safe. **SPOILER** With the help of a female accomplice, he discovers the real killer and steals more than 500 solid 99.9% pure gold bars. The loot is divided among the team members. Using various decoys, it is transported to various parts of the world.**SPOILER**
The depiction of the protagonist Bannister was a great winner for me. He may start out looking like a patsy, but he’s got more leverage, more tactical skills and employs more strategic thinking than the FBI can muster as it considers giving him a deal. The best thing about “The Racketeer” is that you know something big is going on, you just can’t fathom what it is until the author ties all the ends together at the end and a perfect picture emerges.
A couple of things that put me off to a certain extent: the novel seems to be going in nowhere in the middle. I almost lost interest at a couple of places. The other was while the gold was being moved. No metal detectors anywhere? Not even airports? In the 21st century? I don't buy that.
But then I am picking nits. A solid 4 star rating for an enjoyable and entertaining read.
Thanks!