John Grisham - The Broker

review by Brian Lowen live on show 24th May 2012.
Another good story from John Grisham.

In his final hours in the oval office the outgoing President grants a controversial last minute pardon to Joel Backman, a notorious Washington power broker who has spent the last six years hidden away in a federal prison. What no one knows is that the President issues the pardon only after receiving enormous pressure from the CIA. It seems that Backman, in his power broker heyday, may have obtained secrets that compromise the world’s most sophisticated satellite surveillance system.

Backman is quietly smuggled out of the country in a military cargo plane, given a new name, a new identity, and a new home in Italy. Eventually, after he has settled into his new life, the CIA will leak his whereabouts to the Israelis, the Russians, the Chinese, and the Saudis – the major powers that were involved with Backman in his scheme when it went wrong.

The CIA will then sit back and watch and wait to see which country seeks out Backman to kill him.

An enjoyable read that keeps you interested the whole way through but I was a bit disappointed with the rather tame ending. In the acknowledgements, John Grisham admits that he adores Italy and thinks Bologna, where Backman is housed is a wonderful town. This is obvious, as in the story we are treated to a virtual tourist guide to the place and after finishing this book you will be able to find your way around! It would have been helpful to have a town map open beside you when reading this story!

Recommended as a good story but not really a thriller.

John Grisham - The Testament

review by Brian Lowen live on show 16th August 2012.
Another excellent story from John Grisham.

Troy Phelan is a self-made billionaire, one of the richest men in the United States. He is eccentric, reclusive, confined to a wheelchair and looking for a way to die. He has a dysfunctional family with three ex-wives and six spoilt, lazy, out-of-work children who are all eagerly waiting for him to die so that they can get their hands on his money.

He outwits them all by making a last minute will, just before he dies in a spectacular fashion, leaving all his estate to Rachel Lane, his illegitimate daughter, who has chosen to give her life to God and has walked away from the trappings of modern life and gone to live as a missionary and doctor to a primitive tribe of Indians in the remote jungles of Brazil.

Troy’s family all contest the will and hire a team of lawyers to fight it through the courts.
Troy’s own lawyer realises it is essential to find Rachel and so he sends Nate O’Riley to find her. Nate is a high-octane Washington litigator who has lived too hard and too fast for too long. Emerging from his fourth stay in rehab he realises this is his last chance to stay sober and is grateful for this chance to prove himself by undertaking this great adventure into the Pantanal – a remote swamp like area in the deepest jungle of Brazil.
And so we follow Nate’s journey as he attempts to locate Rachel and tell her that she is now a very rich lady. He eventually finds her after a long and hazardous journey but she is not interested in the money and wants nothing to do with it and refuses to sign any legal papers.

Nate returns to Washington where all the Phelan family’s lawyers are clamouring for news about Rachel. How Nate destroys their case for contesting the will makes for some very enjoyable reading, as does the whole book really.

We follow Nate as his character gradually changes from a spent alcoholic to a decent clean living chap who accepts Rachel’s assurance that God has forgiven him for his former life as he confesses all to her. The story grips you right from the start and never lets go until the rather sad ending.

A really good read, thoroughly recommended.

1st October show

Hello and welcome to the bookshow on radio scilly 107.9fm, the bookshow is sponsored by Bourdeaux bookshop of st marys.

Barbara Simpson & Brian Lowen are guests on the show this week. Brian is reviewing Val McDermid's A Place of Execution & John Grisham's The Last
Juror. Babs' is going to be a surprise....as she doesn't know what she has
read yet..due to the host not asking her til the last minute as I was bogged down in trying to get a holiday sorted - why is it always the woman who has to sort these thing. So, what is Babs reading, well, ... Anthea Halliwell - Cuckoos Parting Cry & Mary Wesley - Sensible Life

Did you know..29 Sep 1973 W. H. Auden died. His poem 'Stop all the Clocks' featured in the film Four Weddings and a Funeral.
Plus,the Flinstones celebrate 30yrs anniversary it started on 30th Sept 1960, and if you look at Google they have done a lovely play on letters to celebrate.

A Place of Execution by Val McDermid
one reviewer tells us why they enjoy her books:
'characters are believable ,and the setting throws up lots of interesting side issues,such as the prejudice of those living in the hamlet.the fact that the story is intertwined with the real life murders gives it an extra edge and its attention to detail and its realism were so good i trawled the net to see if it was a true story'.
(Hey simon kernick is suggested 'a like author' for val mcdermid.. - Brian agreed)

Anthea Halliwell - Cuckoos Parting Cry (I gotta say Babs, this is a Maggi kind of book)

The Last Juror by John Grisham
Reviewers on 'amazon' said:
'Good, but not the best, well written, full of interesting characters, but not entirely plot driven'.
ok book a good build up, but then just fizzled out'.
Brian disagreed - he loved the book

Mary Wesley - Sensible Life ...(author of the Camomile Lawn - became one of Channel Four's most successful dramas, telling an intricate story set during World War II and over two days in 1984) .another book about children during the war period ....- ..........I think you'll be taking over Maggies title of Vera Lynn soon, Babs!
Elizabeth Buchan a suggested like author - Babs agreed

John Grisham - The Abduction

Review live on bookshow by Brian Lowen 22nd Nov 2012 I understand that Theodore Boone has featured in other books by JG. He is a young 13 year old boy whose parents are both lawyers. He has a burning ambition to be a lawyer himself and so spends a lot of time at his parent’s small firm where he is given small jobs around the office. He is also well known at the local courthouse where he loves to listen in to the cases being tried in the court rooms. He hopes one day to rise to the position of a barrister or judge in his local courthouse. He is friendly with Alice who is in his class at school. She is a quiet, reserved girl who has dysfunctional parents, who often leave her on her own at night. Her Father is a faded rock star who spends a lot of time touring small towns with his band, and her Mother is usually high on drugs and out with her friends. Then one night April goes missing and the Police organise a manhunt for her abductor.. Theo’s Uncle Ike, a disgraced lawyer who keeps his ear to the ground in the shadier parts of town, and is a great friend of Theo, points him towards his Dad as being the abductor. Theo enlists the help of his schoolmates to search on their computers for all the places where his dad’s band might be playing and they eventually track him down. Ike drives Theo overnight to find the band who are playing for a college do in a small town four hours drive away. It doesn’t give much away to say that Theo succeeds where the police have failed. I found it quite an unusual type of story for John Grisham to write but of couse it still involves the law as all his stories do. A good tale, well written as usual, but not a thriller this time. Recommended.

Stieg Larsson - The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest

Review by Malcolm Martland on show Feb 25th.
This is a remarkable sequel to The Girl Who Played with Fire by a sadly deceased master of recent Swedish crime thriller fiction. It is the last book of The Millennium Trilogy. The Observer summed it up as “That rare thing – a sequel that is even better than the book that went before…..to be read in great hungry chunks.” But I feel it would not make a lot of sense to read this before you’ve read The Girl Who Played with Fire and preferably The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo before that.

The action commences exactly where the previous book left off. Computer hacker Lisbeth Salander with a bullet in her brain has been found by Mikael Blomkvist, a journalist, and friend of Lisbeth. Her father, Zalachenko has also been found seriously injured nearby. They are each responsible for the other's injuries and are airlifted to hospital while Mikael is arrested for police obstruction, and possession of a firearm, which he is trying to surrender to the police. Meanwhile Lisbeth's psychopathic brother Niedermann is on the loose having been allowed to escape by the incompetent police.

Then things get political, Lisbeth has been the subject of a plot to maintain that she is mentally incompetent since she was a child. There is an inner circle within the secret police that wants to keep it that way. But the inner circle is so secret that not even the Prime Minister knows about it, all dating from the time when Zalachenko, a Russian spy, was given refuge in Sweden. Vague links with the assassination of Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme. Some of the political chunks do get a bit heavy duty.

Lisbeth undergoes successful surgery to remove the bullet in her brain and is convalescing in the hospital which also is treating her father. She is suspected of murder and attempted murder and accordingly there is a police guard at the hospital. Fortunately the doctor who is looking after her refuses to let them interrogate her. He also brushes aside any attempts of mental assessment by the psychiatrist who originally incarcerated her in a mental hospital, and who is linked with the secret police’s plan to keep her silent.

Mikael in the meantime is released. He is also a close friend of Lisbeth. He sets out to help Lisbeth to clear her name, to see that her enemies are eliminated, and to see that she is declared mentally competent. She has not spoken to him for two years so communications need to be re-established. He manages to get her pocket Palm computer smuggled in and even sets up internet access for her – something that is a challenge for some of us even without the high security. Lisbeth contacts her ring of hackers and they provide her with as much information as she needs for her defence. Mikael suggests that his sister, Gianinni, act as Lisbeth's lawyer and accordingly she is allowed access. Mikael also attempts to expose the section of the secret police handling the Zalachenko affair. Mikael is quite a multitalented chap.

Meanwhile the secret police assassinate Zalachenko in the hospital. Dead men can't talk. It’s all very complicated, linked with former prime ministers and national security. I should say at this point that there is quite a high body count throughout and a degree of violence (surpassed only by Stuart McBride in my recent reading).

Eventually Lisbeth faces the court and in a defence worthy of a John Grisham novel Mikael's sister, Gianinni, demolishes the prosecution and has the declaration of mental incompetence revoked. I have to say Lisbeth is not totally innocent of all the charges and her methods of obtaining evidence are very dubious, but the reader’s sense of justice prevails – in her favour! The book comes to a very exciting but satisfactory conclusion with all the loose ends tied up and a few more bodies added to the criminal heap.

I think the Millennium Trilogy would make a great TV series – I think Kenneth Branagh, following his part as Wallander, would have to play Mikael Blomkvist, but who would, who could, play Lisbeth?
the psychiatrist who originally incarcerated her in a mental hospital, and who is linked with the secret police’s plan to keep her silent.

Mikael in the meantime is released. He is also a close friend of Lisbeth. He sets out to help Lisbeth to clear her name, to see that her enemies are eliminated, and to see that she is declared mentally competent. She has not spoken to him for two years so communications need to be re-established. He manages to get her pocket Palm computer smuggled in and even sets up internet access for her – something that is a challenge for some of us even without the high security. Lisbeth contacts her ring of hackers and they provide her with as much information as she needs for her defence. Mikael suggests that his sister, Gianinni, act as Lisbeth's lawyer and accordingly she is allowed access. Mikael also attempts to expose the section of the secret police handling the Zalachenko affair. Mikael is quite a multitalented chap.

Meanwhile the secret police assassinate Zalachenko in the hospital. Dead men can't talk. It’s all very complicated, linked with former prime ministers and national security. I should say at this point that there is quite a high body count throughout and a degree of violence (surpassed only by Stuart McBride in my recent reading).

Eventually Lisbeth faces the court and in a defence worthy of a John Grisham novel Mikael's sister, Gianinni, demolishes the prosecution and has the declaration of mental incompetence revoked. I have to say Lisbeth is not totally innocent of all the charges and her methods of obtaining evidence are very dubious, but the reader’s sense of justice prevails – in her favour! The book comes to a very exciting but satisfactory conclusion with all the loose ends tied up and a few more bodies added to the criminal heap.

I think the Millennium Trilogy would make a great TV series – I think Kenneth Branagh, following his part as Wallander, would have to play Mikael Blomkvist, but who would, who could, play Lisbeth?
Review by Malcolm F. Martland 25 February 2010

Mark Gimenez – The Abduction

Mark Gimenez – The Abduction
I was looking on the shelves of the library for inspiration when I picked up this book – why this book? Maybe part of the blurb on the back “riveting action packed thriller”……”next Grisham”. I had just taken one unfinished book back (after 4 pages, which I had re-read 6 times because it wasn’t holding my attention, I gave up!), so fingers crossed that this one would be ok. This is the first book I have read of this author.
It’s present day America in a small town in Texas and Gracie Brice is playing in a soccer match. Her geek dad, John Brice, is there supporting her. One eye on the match and one ear on his mobile phone and a camcorder in the other hand supposedly to record Gracie’s winning performance. As John Brice clinches his billion dollar deal on his mobile Gracie waves and goes off with her soccer buddies to the snack stand.
Gracie’s mother, Elizabeth Brice, a hot shot attorney, turns up late as usual. John ends his deal clinching call as she approaches.
“Where’s Gracie?”
John indicates the snack bar. But Gracie isn’t there.
Soccer coach ‘Wally’ informs the mother that her brother had come for Gracie to take her to see her mother who’d had a stroke and was in hospital.
“I don’t have a brother! And my mother lives in New York and you just pointed her out to him!”
Gracie has been abducted. The FBI are brought in.
Gracie’s grandfather Ben Brice, an ex-army Colonel, a decorated hero of the Vietnam War, senses that something is wrong and flies down to Texas to his estranged son and family. Ben is an alcoholic, it’s the only way he can erase the memories of the war.
As the FBI and family look at the video tape that Gracie’s dad took, they spot the abductors and SUV van. With PC wizardry they zoom in on the end of a tattoo on one of the abductors arms. Ben recognizes it as the same one he has, an ex- member of the Vipers, a crack squad in Vietnam, who worked under covert orders from the president.
Is this a revenge abduction? Is it for ransom from her now multi-billionaire dad? Is it something to do with a murder case her mother had worked on in the past? Or a sexual predator? Is she alive or dead? One of her soccer boots is found and the outer pair of shorts she was wearing, but still no contact from the abductors.
When they find evidence in a van belonging to an employee of billionaire John’s firm, the case is closed and Gracie is presumed dead. But grandpa Ben believes she is still alive, that the evidence and the accused doesn’t add up.
When a sighting comes in from Idaho of a girl fitting Gracie & her abductors description, the FBI say they followed up the lead but it was a bogus one, that they were just after the $25mill reward put up by the parents.
But grandpa Ben doesn’t believe it and wants to follow up the lead himself, Ben becomes a crusading Rambo and takes to the mountains looking for her along with his son John.
It’s a tangled web of parents not being the real parents and people living a lie.
I found myself, at the beginning, going back a chapter as it jumped without warning to another person/time and place: Ben’s flashbacks to Vietnamese War, John’s flashbacks to his bullied childhood, Elizabeth’s flashbacks to her happy former self.
The abduction happened by page 30. The other 450 pages were leading up to getting her back. Gracie was only 10 but she seemed to be handling the abduction incredibly well
The ending became very predictable and there was never any real reason for the adduction. Also, events fell into place far too unrealistically like when an ex-major is wanted by the FBI for war atrocities, kidnapping and evading justice. The FBI just happens to turn up on the beach at the right time to shoot the major, even though he hadn’t been seen for 2 days.
This made me smile: ‘Juniors mother had died when Junior was only a boy. Jacko had always felt sort of responsible. On the Majors orders he had put a bullet in her brain because she was a security risk…………sort of responsible!!.......
I did enjoy reading the book as it was pacy, explosive at times, a not to be taken serious but thrilling ride . Grandpa Ben is Rambo go get'em boy!
review by showhost

John Grisham - Skipping Christmas

General synopsis (waiting for Malcolms review)
Grisham's story revolves around a typical middle-aged American couple, Luther and Nora Krank. On the first Sunday after Thanksgiving they wave their daughter Blair off to Peru to work for the Peace Corps, and they suddenly realize that "for the first time in her young and sheltered life Blair would spend Christmas away from home."
Luther Krank sees his daughter's Christmas absence as an opportunity. He estimates that "a year earlier, the Luther Krank family had spent $6,100 on Christmas," and have "precious little to show for it." So he makes an executive decision, telling his wife, friends, and neighbors that "we won't do Christmas." Instead, Luther books a 10-day Caribbean cruise. But things start to turn nasty when horrified neighbors get wind of the Krank's subversive scheme and besiege the couple with questions about their decision.
Grisham builds up a funny but increasingly terrifying picture of how this tight-knit community turns on the Kranks, who find themselves under increasing pressure to conform.

show 17th dec 09

First of a christmas special. this week we had six guests (Maggie Perkovic, Corinna Christopher, Brian Lowen, Malcolm Martland, Ro Bennett & Babs Simpson)in the studio and looked back over the centurys fiction & non-fiction bestsellers in decades, so we had 1909. 1919, 1929 etc.right up until 2009. This was also interspersed with a sprinkling of christmas jokes.
A quick taste of the fiction books that were around, remember any?:
1909: The Trail of the Lonsesome Pine by John Fox Jnr. (well most of us know the song)
1919: The Four Horsement of the Apocalypse by V Blasco Ibanez
1929: All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque ( recognised non-fiction was 'Believe it or Not' by Robert L Ripley)
1939: Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck & Rebeccas by Daphne Du Maurier (recognised non-fiction was Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler)
1949: Pride's Castle by Frank Yerby (couple of us had read his books), interestingly there were 3 non-fiction all about Canasta!
1959: Dr Zhivago by Boris Pasternak, Hawaii by James Michener (very good author) & Lady Cahtterley's Lover by DH Lawrence. (Maggie had to swoon over the non-fiction Twixt Twelve and Twenty by Pat Boone).
1969: The Godfather by Mario Puzo, Inheritors Harold Robbins (NF: the Galloping Gourmet, Graham Kerr).
1979: We are getting into Robert Ludlum, Arthur Hailey, Stephen Kind, John Le Carre (NF: Steve Martin, Henry Kissinger, Lauren Bacall)
1989: Ken Follett (Pillars of the Earth), Danielle Steel, Tom Clancy, Salman Rushdie,
(NF The Memoirs of Nancy Reagan)
1999: John Grisham, Michael Crichton, Maeve Binchy, (NF Guinness World Records)

Mark Gimenez - The Case against William

review written and read live on the bookshow by Brian Lowen on 2nd Oct 2014

The author is still being quoted as the new John Grisham and I would agree with that as I think Grisham’s Books have become a bit tired.

However, to really enjoy this book you have to be a fan of American football, as the author goes into great detail about the game, which spoilt it for me. Also MG makes no allowance for his English readers by including a lot of Americanisms in his story. Luckily the dictionary on my Kindle was able to explain them all.

Frank Tucker takes central spot in this story – he is a top class Lawyer working in Texas, but he only takes cases to defend people he thinks are innocent. So far he has won all his cases and is in high demand for his services.

We meet Frank’s son as a twelve year old rising star on the football field and we follow him until he becomes the best quarterback in the country.

Meanwhile Frank is successful in getting a footballer off a charge of rape and murder because he was sure he was innocent, but he was guilty and rapes and kills another girl. Frank is traumatised and considers he is responsible for the girl’s death. He hits the bottle and eventually becomes a drunkard, losing his job , his house and his wife.  He finishes up as a beach bum living in a

shack on the coast with three other drunks: an ex- con, an ex- coach and an ex- cop.

Then he gets the shattering news that his son, William has been arrested on a rape and murder charge. Even though Frank has lost his licence as a lawyer, he sets out to prove his son is innocent with the help of his three friends and a rookie lady lawyer who the court have appointed as William’s defence lawyer.

I did not enjoy this book as much as some of his previous books, ie The Governor’s Wife which was excellent, and also his first book The Colour of Law. That is because it focuses so much on the American football game, but I did enjoy the part of the book where the four ‘ex’s’ set out to prove William innocent. There are some good humorous touches here.

So I would recommend it to lovers of the American football game.

Mark Giminez - The Abduction

Reviewed live on the bookshow by Brian Lowen 15th August

Mark Gimenez has been dubbed the new John Grisham but to my way of thinking he is better than Grisham because there are no long scenes set in courts and no legal battles, in fact he seems to have a very poor opinion of the legal profession. Instead the story is packed with non-stop action.

This is his second book – the first being Colour of the Law which was very good, but this is even better.

A very well contrived, detailed plot, that has many twists and turns. The build up of characters is excellent, from the well dressed, glamorous  wife to the hen pecked husband who is only permitted sex twice a month, and the Grandfather, an ex- marine and war hero having served with distinction in Vietnam and collected a string of medals.

It is the 10 year old daughter who is abducted after a football game when all the kids go to the concession hut which appears to be the tuck shop or ice cream stall. There are many Americanisms in the story which are not explained, also many abbreviations, which is a great shame as I would have thought Mark G. would have wanted his book to be understood in other countries apart from the USA. This is a small criticism though of a great story.

The daughter is abducted from behind the concession and whisked away before anybody notices – least of all her dad who is sitting in the stand busy on his mobile talking to his stockbroker. When the Mother arrives late, delayed by a long court case, to collect her daughter she is informed by the coach that her uncle has picked her up. But she does not have an Uncle! The Mother goes ballistic at the Dad for not looking after her properly and a State wide search is put in place by the local police and the FBI who also get involved as it is a child abduction case.

The local police think they have caught the kidnapper but he has been set up and subsequently hangs himself. The cops close the case without the daughter being found, so the grandfather sets off to find her accompanied by his son who is determined to do something to prove himself a man, after a childhood being continually bullied.

I won’t give any more of the story away, only to say that it had me on edge right the way through until the dramatic conclusion on a mountain in Idaho. There are flashbacks to the grandfather’s time fighting in Vietnam, which eventually show why the child has been abducted.

Thoroughly recommended as a great thriller. I am now looking forward to getting his next book which is called The Perk.

John Grisham - The Confession

 Review live on bookshow by Brian Lowen 7th Feb 2013

Whilst I realise that J G’s expertise lies in the law, it would be nice to have a story that did not include lots of legalise for a change because he does write a good novel.

Travis Boyette is a murderer. In 1998, in the small east Texas city of Sloan, he abducted, raped, and strangled a popular high school cheerleader. He buried her body where it would never be found, then watched and waited as Police and Prosecutors arrested Donte Drumm, a young black football star with no connection to the crime. Tried, convicted and sentenced, Drumm was sent to death row: his fate had been decided.

Nine years later, Donte Drumm is four days from execution. Over 400 miles away in Kansas, Travis faces a fate of his own: an inoperable brain tumour will soon end his life. Reflecting on his miserable life, he decides to do what is right and goes into a local church to confess to the priest, Keith. He believes his story and manages to convince Donte Drumm’s lawyer, Robbie that he has a chance of saving Donte’s life.

And so the rush starts to convince lawyers, judges and politicians that they are about to execute an innocent man.

There is an unusual ending to a great story that illustrates the amount of distrust and ill feeling between the black and white population in the deep south of America.

I enjoyed it and would recommend it, but it cannot really be called a thriller as stated on the cover.

Mark Giminez - The colour of Law

review by showhost If you enjoy John Grisham then you will enjoy Mark Giminez. A. Scott Fenney is a very successful, American corporate lawyer. He drives a ferrari, lives in a mansion in an elite village in Dallas (where the only non-whites are employed as maids/nannies and home helps), is a member of the prestigious golf club and eats expensive lunches at a members only luncheon club. He has a very beautiful wife, (who has an open account, doesn't work, but climbs the social ladder and plays tennis) and a 10 year old daughter Boo who attends a prestigious Dalla school, is still a tomboy, much to her mothers despair, and hates wearing pretty clothes. Life for A Scott Fenney begins to change after a gala legal dinner and a speech given by himself. Scott delivers a convincing speech about the publics perception of lawyers and how they should be aspiring to Atticus Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird). His speech impressed a federal judge who was sat in the audience. Scott was summoned by the judge to take on a civil criminal case. A black, heroin addicted prostitute is accused of shooting dead the son of a Senator, a Senator who is in the running for the Presidential election. The judge wants Scott to be her defence lawyer because he believed Scotts words in his speech, he believed that Scott is different from the usual money grabbing corporates, he believes that Scott has morals. Scotts does not want to take the case because he doesn’t get paid, he’ll lose money and she’s guilty anyway. His firm do not want him to take the case but they can't afford to offend the judge. They strongly advise the accused to plead guilty on the grounds of self-defence, which should bring a sentence of life imprisonment instead of execution. The accused refuses - she is pleading innocent. Scott and his firm try to appoint a downtown criminal lawyer (a buddy of Scott’s from university days) to represent her but the accused refuses and the Federal judge upholds her rights. Scott is stuck with the case and as he upsets the Senator by carrying on with the case he finds his standing in the community slowly diminishing: memberships recinded, losing high profile clients and banks foreclosing. Its a courtroom drama with moments of light humour and a human element. It is somewhat predictable at times but I found it an entertaining read. also, very reminiscent of 'To Kill a Mockingbird'

Mark Gimenez - The Perk

Review written and read live on the show by Brian Lowen 17th April 2014

Another excellent book from the ‘new’ John Grisham.

The story starts off quite dramatically with a rich film star in his chauffeured limousine accepting the plaudits of his fans as he drives through Austin, Texas.

One particular blonde bimbo takes his eye so he invites her into his car, gives her alcohol and cocaine, gets her high, then rapes her in the back of the car when they are out of town.

He thinks she has fallen asleep, but later finds that she is dead so they speed through the night and dump her in a roadside ditch near the little town of Freidricksberg.

The story then switches to Chicago and the Hardin family. Beck is a successful lawyer earning good money, but his perfect world collapses when his wife Annie dies of cancer and he is left to bring up his two young children, Meggie and Luke. He just cannot manage a full time job and bring up his children so he decides his only way out is to resign his job, sell his house and move back to his childhood home that he has not visited for the last twelve years. He was born on a large ranch in Freidricksberg but left after his Mother died. His Father, who gave him a hard time as a kid, never the less is glad to have him back home.

Now we see how the first two chapters of the book come together as he learns from his old college chum, Aubrey,  that his daughter, Heidi was brutally murdered and dumped in a roadside ditch, but her killer has never been found. Beck is therefore determined to track down this famous film star to make him pay for his crime. He feels he owes it to Aubrey, but we do not learn why until later in the story.

We learn some interesting historical facts about this part of Texas. It is not blacks against whites here as there are no blacks. The community is split three ways: there are the old Germans who set up the original colony of Freidricksberg who do not get on well with the Anglos – the white Americans, and certainly have nothing to do with the Latinos – the Mexicans, mostly illegal immigrants from across the border, who keep their heads down and do not cause any trouble for fear of being deported back to Mexico.

Beck naturally gets involved with all three communities as he continues his investigation.

A thoroughly enjoyable story with some good characters that puts out a powerful message that one should always stand up for the right. Well recommended.

 

John Grisham - The Last Juror

review on show by Brian lowen 30/9/10
In 1970 one of Mississippi’s more colourful weekly newspapers, The Ford County Times, went bankrupt.

A young reporter on the payroll managed to get a loan from his Grandmother and purchased the paper, complete with a substantial building and printing press.

The story then follows the fortunes of the new 23 year old owner, Willie Traynor, as he struggles to make the paper profitable. The future looks grim until a young single mother is brutally raped and murdered by a member of the notorious Padgitt family. Willie reports all the gruesome details and his paper begins to prosper as circulation rises.

The murderer, Danny Padgitt, was tried before a packed courtroom in Clanton, Mississippi. The trial came to a startling and dramatic end when the defendant threatened revenge against the jurors if they convicted him. Nevertheless, they found him guilty, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment. But in Mississippi in 1970, ‘life’ doesn’t necessarily mean life, and nine years later Danny Padgitt manages to get himself paroled. He returns to Clanton and the retribution begins as some of the original jurors start getting shot.
Willie meanwhile has befriended a large black lady who has a family of seven children all who have graduated from university and have made a success of their lives. He visits Miss Callie every Thursday for lunch while he researches her family history and then writes a series of articles in his paper about how well her family has done, quite an achievement in those times when segregation between blacks and whites still existed.
Miss Callie is chosen as one of the jurors in the Padgitt trial – the first black juror, and when Danny is released form jail all her family return to Clanton to protect her from any retribution.

We learn through the story of the tremendous differences that existed in those days - blacks lived on the south side of the railway track in the poorer district. They had their own schools, shops and churches. Some shops and cafes on the north side of the tracks refused to serve blacks, or if they did, they would charge them a higher price.

Then to the consternation of the white population, a law is passed that all schools must be integrated. This is another great story that Willie exploits to his and the newspaper’s great advantage. Due to his courageous reporting Willie is gradually accepted into society in Clanton and becomes a respected citizen.

This is a great story of the deep south of the USA and vividly describes what life was like in those not so far off times, particularly for the black population. I thoroughly enjoyed it and can recommend this book.
review by Brian

John Grisham - Skipping Christmas

REview by Malcolm Martland Nov 2008
This is a departure from Jon Gresham’s usual courtroom dramas. There are parallels to other Christmas stories like Dickens Christmas Carol – Skipping Christmas means no tree, no card, no present, no office parties, no decorations, no donations, and no annual home party - word quickly spreads throughout this small town that the Krank's are not celebrating Christmas and will not be participating in the neighbourhood or town festivities. Instead their time is spent in tanning booths in preparation for the hot Caribbean sun. The neighbours harass them every chance they get and picket signs even appear on their front lawn. The neighbourhood blames them for not winning the annual "best decorated street contest", as theirs is the only house not decorated!
On Christmas Eve, the Krank's get a surprise call from their daughter Blair who is away in Peru with the Peace Corps that she will indeed being coming home for Christmas and will be there in six hours. Will the Krank's go on their cruise or will they "attempt" to celebrate Christmas?
Of course they abandon their cruise but faced with no Christmas preparations – most of the shops closed what will they do? Christmas spirit kicks-in and shows the true meaning of Christmas – it’s not money spent or gifts bought or Frosty's on the roof. Neighbours rally – and they all have the best party ever.
It is a hilarious read, and not too long, a great stocking filler for Christmas.

Mark Giminez - The Colour of Law

review live on show 3rd Jan 2012 by Brian Lowen
  A Scott Fenney is a Dallas corporate lawyer in the prime of his life. Raking in $750,000 a year with a beautiful house, a beautiful wife and an adored daughter, life could not be better. But when a rich Senator’s son is murdered Fenney is asked by the federal judge to put his air-conditioned life on hold to defend the accused – a black, heroin-addicted prostitute, who proclaims her innocence.

Fenney realises he is in danger of losing all he has gained over the years as he will not be able to combat the wrath of the crooked Senator who has his eyes set on the White House and realises the bad publicity generated from his son’s dark deeds will destroy that ambition.

It takes several chapters for Fenney to make up his mind as to whether he stays in the good books of the judge and complies with his basics instincts, or whether he complies with the Senator and drops the case, so maintaining his high standard life style.

It says on the book cover that Mark Grimenez is the new John Grisham and after reading this book I can accept that as it is an excellent story. It is somewhat degrading for the American legal profession where it appears justice comes second place to winning a case and making money.