The Racketeer

I think this book is certainly in the top 5 of Grisham’s work. What a wonderful plot. Don’t miss this one.

The book arrived finally as new mailman had put in wring mailbox! Couldn’t put the book down. If u r looking for a great book, this is the one!

Malcolm Bannister was living the life of a retail lawyer in a Virginia town, doing real estate transactions, wills, and the other routine work which occupies a three partner firm, paying the bills but never striking it rich. A law school classmate contacts him and lets him know there's a potentially large commission available for negotiating the purchase of a hunting lodge in rural Virginia for an anonymous client. Bannister doesn't like the smell of the transaction, especially after a number of odd twists and turns during the negotiation, but bills must be paid, and this fee will go a long way toward that goal. Without any warning, during a civic function, costumed goons arrest him and perp-walk him before previously-arranged state media. He, based upon his holding funds in escrow for a real estate transaction, is accused of “money laundering” and indicted as part of a RICO prosecution of a Washington influence peddler. Railroaded through the “justice system” by an ambitious federal prosecutor and sentenced by a vindictive judge, he finds himself imprisoned for ten years at a “Club Fed” facility along with other nonviolent “criminals”.Five years into his sentence, he has become the librarian and “jailhouse lawyer” of the prison, filing motions on behalf of his fellow inmates and, on occasion, seeing injustices in their convictions reversed. He has lost everything else: his wife has divorced him and remarried, and his law license has been revoked; he has little hope of resuming his career after release.A jailhouse lawyer hears many things from his “clients”: some boastful, others bogus, but some revealing secrets which those holding them think might help to get them out. When a federal judge is murdered, Bannister knows, from his contacts in prison, precisely who committed the crime and leverages his position to obtain his own release, disappearance into witness protection, and immunity from prosecution for earlier acts. The FBI, under pressure to solve the case and with no other leads, is persuaded by what Bannister has to offer and takes him up on the deal.A jailhouse lawyer, wrongly convicted on a bogus charge by a despotic regime has a great deal of time to ponder how he has been wronged, identify those responsible, and slowly and surely draw his plans against them.This is one of the best revenge novels I've read, and it's particularly appropriate since it takes down the tyrannical regime which incarcerates a larger percentage of its population than any serious country and shows how a clever individual can always outwit the bumbling collectivist leviathan as long as he refuses to engage it on level terrain but always exploits agility against the saurian brain reaction time of the state.The only goof I noticed is that on a flight from Puerto Rico to Atlanta, passengers are required to go through passport control. As this is a domestic flight from a U.S. territory to the U.S. mainland, no passport check should be required.I wouldn't call this a libertarian novel, as the author accepts the coercive structure of the state as a given, but it's a delightful tale of somebody who has been wronged by that foul criminal enterprise obtaining pay-back by wit and guile.

Clever story but a little slow in places and somewhat improbable plot. Intriguing enough to finish. A few good twists.

Great buy, must have.

Complex intrigue. You’re hooked on page 2! Another Grisham great!! Could not put it down. Five more words required. One more word

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.

I am not a dyed-in-the-wool everything-he-writes-is-five-stars John Grisham fan, so when I say this is a great book, I really mean this is a great book. And while the book might be an easy unputdownable read with a great story, it's the twists and turns which had me looking for the answer every which way that make this a stand-out book (mind you at times I wasn't that sure I knew what question I was trying to answer), and I really didn’t see the fine details of the denouement coming; and it's that attention to detail and those fine details that make this book so good.So, while it's only the beginning of August, (and yes I know it’s a bit early for handing out gongs) but "The Racketeer" is odds-on-favourite for my book of the year (well at least so far).PS I recommended "The Racketeer" to the Memsahib, and she's enjoying it, so that must be worth at least another star making this a six star read.

Nothing went wrong for the protagonist at any point. He was never close to failure or in any danger. Everything he attempted worked perfectly. A throwaway line at the end regarding how he couldn't believe his luck didn't even begin to cover it.I felt for him at the beginning due to being wrongly imprisoned and cut off from his family, but as the book went on he became steadily less and less likeable and relatable. No particular reason was given for his quasi-omnipotence. If it was that easy to con your way out of prison and run around North/Central America giving the FBI the finger, why aren't more people doing it?The book pretty much lost all momentum around the 30-40% mark and never really regained it. The gradual reveal sort of worked but there was only one point where I found myself genuinely unsure whether the protagonist was an anti-hero or a genuine villain. Ultimately I didn't care who killed the judge or whether Mal/Max's scheme worked. There wasn't a bad guy or antagonistic force to speak of.I wasn't surprised by the author's note at the end where JG admitted he hadn't really done any research. It showed.Also the tagline on the front makes little sense. The protagonist wasn't betrayed by the FBI as far as I could tell. And he didn't particularly seem motivated by revenge, but rather greed. The FBI got what they wanted in the end: the killer of the judge.

I had read a couple of Grisham's novels in the past before moving onto other Authors and their works. I have found them to be multi faceted with several converging stories or characters pulling the plot to the final ending, normally with a twist.With this in mind i revisited his works and selected a few to download to my Kindle. The first couple were great riveting reads as i had remembered so in no particular order i moved onto this one.The outline of a small time lawyer caught up in a large FBI investigation was a plausible one but i thought the sentence meted out a little harsh. The first part of the book outlined how he had lost everything and then how he settled into being the jail house lawyer for other inmates. There were very few clues as to the next part of the story before it kicked off with the murder of a Judge and his girlfriend. Another inmate was offered up as the culprit and the FBI took the bait. The middle part of the book then became a tedious boring monologue of the discovery and recruitment of another man for a documentary, with little explanation of where he was going with the story.The main character then suddenly changes from a law abiding citizen wrongfully convicted of a breach of legal code into one hell bent on getting someone locked up in a Caribbean prison. Grisham freely admits that he didn't research the plot before committing it to the story sand it showed. It was more like a trashy airport paperback than that produced by a consummate storyteller. Save your money and skip this one.

Only read one of Grishams before now ( the firm ). And while I enjoyed the firm immensely, I feel this one is better.The firm slowly ( but only slightly),declined as it went on in my opinion.Where as this one is solidly good throughout its entirety.The storyline is excellent and the characters , while few , are interesting and well described.I personally usually prefer fantasy and sword and sorcery type books.But like to read a thriller by Grisham or King now and again to keep things fresh.All round a solid book that I enjoyed and would happily recommend to a friend.

Grisham delivers, as only he can, with this novel, featuring a lawyer caught in a naive attempt to help his small-town firm earn a good payday. Holding a grudge against the Federal Justice system which swept his career, and family away, he gains revenge in cunning, bombproof scheme, enlisting the very system which took everything. As ever, this is an easy to go with story, enhanced by great character sketches, a swift narrative, and is a great read. Typical Grisham, very enjoyable!