Sycamore Row

Since I read A Time to Kill and I remember liking it a lot, I was ready to jump into the next book in the series when I found out about it. Although I like John Grisham a lot and I read a few of his books, I didn't find out that there is not one, but two sequels, until recently. I don't remember everything about A Time to Kill, I also didn't read that one in English so I can't really compare them in terms of writing, but I liked that there were some hints about what happened there. I definitely forgot some details so it was appreciated. However, the books can be read as standalone perfectly fine.

I do know I liked Jake Brigance in A Time to Kill, I remember one specific scene that I hope I'm not confounding with another book. I liked him in Sycamore Row too, he is great. A pretty good guy and a better lawyer. I'm already looking forward to seeing him again, in A Time for Mercy.

I always love how realistic John Grisham's books are, how every side of the trial is shown, nothing is left out. It gives a lot of insight and I feel more immersed in the story. When it comes to the plot of this book, I overall enjoyed all of it, I liked most of the characters, and liked the dialogue very much.

While I can't stop the nagging that everything could have been easily avoided if the will would have been changed properly, in advance, through a lawyer, I get it. I get why it was made this way, what the purpose was, and on that part I think it worked perhaps better than intended. In a way. My point is the plot is definitely believable, people do stuff like this on a daily basis.

One small thing I liked a lot was Jake being described as 'seething'. It's such a small thing to mention, but I loved the use of the word. Jake is a lawyer, he's a man who likes what he's doing and he's a man who doesn't like when things don't go his way. His words, not mine, his ego is really big and it shows. While he is fundamentally one of the good guys, I liked having this side of him. Valid for the other characters as well, everything is an array of shades of grey.

For me, John Grisham's novels are very entertaining, I absorb every word and I enjoy every little detail. While Sycamore Row isn't one of his best, it's pretty high up there. It is definitely a great read, especially if you are a fan of the genre and/or of John Grisham.

I haven't read a Grisham since the early days of The Firm and The Client. I remember taut, sharply written thrillers that pulled you through with excitement and drama. So when my flatmate left this lying around - the sequel to another riveting page-turner A Time To Kill - I looked forward to reacquainting myself.

How disappointing. This was a tedious, badly written, overlong, predictable mess. What a shame! Next time I'm going to check a few reviews before casually assuming a classic author is still at the height of his powers.