Genre: Legal Thriller
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If you are a true fan of Grisham's legal thrillers Camino Island may disappoint you, but my introduction to the popular author was The Firm, many years ago. Although this is not quite The Firm in excitement and character development, we do meet a young woman who, much like Mitch McDeere in The Firm, finds herself in over her head.
The beginning of Camino Island captured my interest immediately with a planned heist of priceless F. Scott Fitzgerald manuscripts from below Princeton University’s Firestone Library. The small group of thieves create a diversion on campus and abscond with their loot, leaving a small clue as to their identity.
Mercer Mann, a young novelist is recruited to help find the missing manuscripts, and tracks down a bookstore owner, Bruce Cable, who deals in rare books. Since Cable is known to deal with those who are not always of the highest character, Mann befriends him, in an attempt to see if he has the stolen manuscripts, but when she learns too much, trouble follows.
Mann's character is annoying at times. She is having trouble finding a storyline for a new novel, and I wanted to yell out for her to just look around Camino Island. I was able to understand why she took on this challenge...the group that hired her offered to pay off her school loans and give her a large pay check, but I never fully understood why she was chosen in the first place.
I found Cable more interesting with his colorful clothing and never ending chatter. The book lover in me enjoyed reading about his collection of first editions. His life is an interesting one, entertaining authors and the townspeople of this Florida resort town.
Since Grisham does have a way with characterization, even the supporting characters held my interest, and the plot itself had just enough twists to have kept me going. I think Grisham had quite a bit of fun writing this particular novel (he got the idea while driving through Florida), and I believe you will have just as much fun reading it.
- Beverly
Publisher - Doubleday
Date of Publication - June 6, 2017
The beginning of Camino Island captured my interest immediately with a planned heist of priceless F. Scott Fitzgerald manuscripts from below Princeton University’s Firestone Library. The small group of thieves create a diversion on campus and abscond with their loot, leaving a small clue as to their identity.
Mercer Mann, a young novelist is recruited to help find the missing manuscripts, and tracks down a bookstore owner, Bruce Cable, who deals in rare books. Since Cable is known to deal with those who are not always of the highest character, Mann befriends him, in an attempt to see if he has the stolen manuscripts, but when she learns too much, trouble follows.
Mann's character is annoying at times. She is having trouble finding a storyline for a new novel, and I wanted to yell out for her to just look around Camino Island. I was able to understand why she took on this challenge...the group that hired her offered to pay off her school loans and give her a large pay check, but I never fully understood why she was chosen in the first place.
I found Cable more interesting with his colorful clothing and never ending chatter. The book lover in me enjoyed reading about his collection of first editions. His life is an interesting one, entertaining authors and the townspeople of this Florida resort town.
Since Grisham does have a way with characterization, even the supporting characters held my interest, and the plot itself had just enough twists to have kept me going. I think Grisham had quite a bit of fun writing this particular novel (he got the idea while driving through Florida), and I believe you will have just as much fun reading it.
- Beverly
Publisher - Doubleday
Date of Publication - June 6, 2017
