Ninth in publishing order by John Grisham, this legal thriller has a creative beginning: a distraught, homeless man takes several lawyers and employees in a rich law firm hostage. He says he has a bomb strapped to his body and will blow them up if his demands aren't met. His demands revolve around asking the rich what they've done lately for the poor. One of the hostages is promising upcoming young attorney (a familiar Grisham protagonist), and first person narrator, Michael who must shamefully admit he hasn't done much except try to climb the firm's ladder in a quest to make more, more, more money and become a partner.

The standoff with the bomber has a quick, bloody ending and leaves Michael on almost a spiritual quest to cleanse his soul with morality that he felt lacking. Michael visits homeless shelters, helps out at food banks and runs into a street lawyer firm that targets helping people first and money a distant second. They help many of their clients for no money at all, simply because it's the right thing to do.

I wish this story would have been tighter, focusing more on the bomber and the other homeless (we never really learn much about them except that they are homeless) and Michael had stayed at his firm versus choosing the less plausible scenario.

It's tough to bag on a novel that essentially involves a wealthy attorney on a mission to help the homeless, but it seemed more like Grisham channeling an event from his real life. Like he'd taken a trip to Washington D.C. and saw a bunch of homeless people and thought, hey, they could make a good story. They could have, if there had been more action involving them--instead of merely about them--but it wasn't about them so much as about Michael exorcising personal guilt. Too dry for a thriller and not logical enough for a poignant drama. For example, Michael is offered a great deal from his existing employer: he could take a one year sabbatical, keep his well-paying job (possibly preventing his marriage from falling apart) and still help the street people pro bono for a year. His answer to this offer is bizarre, at best. Mike, you could still have gone this route and chose to leave a year later. Come on.

For a little while I was a bit puzzled where this was going to go from a thriller angle. The beginning was so strong and then it starts looking like it might become a character study for Michael and less to do with what happened to the bomber. I started to lose interest when Grisham reeled it back in, focusing on how the bomber and others he lived with in a warehouse became homeless. That becomes the central plot, shared with Michael's self-redemption. The recurring theme becomes the homeless bomber's 'what have you done for the homeless lately?' pleas. Michael, clearly traumatized by the hostage situation, become almost possessed to destroy his career, marriage and financial stability to help those in need.

Before the ending there is some courtroom action, but it's mostly over settling two important legal cases. No strong Perry Mason like moments.

The character relationship conflict between Michael and his wife added almost nothing to the story.

Despite the shortcomings, this is still a good, albeit often depressing read. Yes, we know there are homeless people out there and it's sad. Could most human beings do more to help those with lesser means? Yes. But people need to take care of their own families first or they'll be added to the ranks of the homeless. This story doesn't seem to address this reality in a practical, common sense way. It's more like, hey, we should think Michael is the greatest guy on earth because he dropped everything to help the homeless--when he didn't need to.

I haven't read a Grisham novel yet that I've disliked, but this one falls apart in several story-related areas that are bound to irritate some readers. It's a slow-paced thriller (once again, it's more drama than thriller), the opening scene excluded. The characterization is a bit puzzling at times and there are some unnecessary characters.

This could have been a great novella. I think the padding, particularly with the wife conflict, disrupted the overall tempo and flow. The ending tries to pull it together, but leaves an overall aura of implausibility. 3 stars. 4,904 Kindle locations. Approximately 466 pages.

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Created Sep 01, 2013 at 4:47am • Submit your own review...