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3.45 AVERAGE
3.45 AVERAGE
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Alcohol
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I use John Grisham as a palate cleanser when I've just finished something gripping and can't decide what to do next.
As always, the pacing and writing style keeps you turning the pages... even when the plot is really lacking, which unfortunately is the case here.
As many have said, there's no protagonist. Who are we rooting for? The people doing the scamming? The guy helping the scamming? The people doing the lying? The guy not in charge of his own life and is just going wherever he's told? I don't care too much what happens because I don't care about any of the people.
Instead of much plot/good characters, this book relies on a general "Can you believe the strings that can be pulled?!?" and that's not as interesting.
And the book hasn't aged very well. The plot was based on a scam that ran through magazine ads and relied on the shame of being gay. To be fair, while homophobia is not as accepted, it does exist and it's not like there aren't still people living double lives and scammy people willing to exploit that. And that would still be a huge spill to a politician who wasn't out yet. But a crummy and low-tech scam 20 years after the book was published.
Overall, not one of the better Grishams.
As always, the pacing and writing style keeps you turning the pages... even when the plot is really lacking, which unfortunately is the case here.
As many have said, there's no protagonist. Who are we rooting for? The people doing the scamming? The guy helping the scamming? The people doing the lying? The guy not in charge of his own life and is just going wherever he's told? I don't care too much what happens because I don't care about any of the people.
Instead of much plot/good characters, this book relies on a general "Can you believe the strings that can be pulled?!?" and that's not as interesting.
And the book hasn't aged very well. The plot was based on a scam that ran through magazine ads and relied on the shame of being gay. To be fair, while homophobia is not as accepted, it does exist and it's not like there aren't still people living double lives and scammy people willing to exploit that. And that would still be a huge spill to a politician who wasn't out yet. But a crummy and low-tech scam 20 years after the book was published.
Overall, not one of the better Grishams.
Love the creativity of Grisham on this one, as well as the creativity of the characters! Superbly written.
Eh. Who were we supposed to be rooting for? What was the point? There was no suspense, no character development, no moral, no point. The cover would have you believe it's a thrill-a-minute crime caper. Instead, it takes half the book to get to the part of the story you discovered after reading the back cover, and if you keep reading to see if there's something else in store, you'll be disappointed.
The writing isn't bad, really, and it was a pleasant enough way to waste a boring few hours at work. Some of the characters were interesting, even though some appeared briefly and for no reason, and the CIA-driven conspiracy was hilarious (unintentionally, I'm sure). But unless you have a few hours to kill on mindless fluff, don't bother.
The writing isn't bad, really, and it was a pleasant enough way to waste a boring few hours at work. Some of the characters were interesting, even though some appeared briefly and for no reason, and the CIA-driven conspiracy was hilarious (unintentionally, I'm sure). But unless you have a few hours to kill on mindless fluff, don't bother.
¡Más John Grisham [JG]! Es lo que tienen los veranos. Lo cierto es que los libros de JG son difíciles de comentar. Suponen una lectura ligera, con tramas aceptablemente interesantes, con un gran desarrollo de la acción, y ya está. Se los lee uno estupendamente, aprende cosillas, y pasa un buen rato. Poco más hay que decir. ¡Ah, sí, el argumento! Pues ahí lo tienen, en la misma portada. Tres jueces se dedican a extorsionar a ciudadanos inocentes desde una prisión federal de baja seguridad. Pero uno de los ciudadanos que cae en sus redes digamos que tiene amigos que no permitirán esta extorsión. Si quieren más información, les remito a anteriores comentarios sobre libros de JG. Todos se parecen... Como siempre, el final es en tonos rosa pastel y naranja atardecer. Mi nota: Entretenido.
it was a semi-interesting crime book, mostly bland. and I really can't get over the homophobic undertones
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Typical Grisham action-packed novel. Quick read but not Grisham's best. It was formulaic and the characters weren't particularly interesting.
5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish