Ten Must-Read Grisham Novels
John Grisham is one of my favorite authors. His books hold my attention from beginning to end. Most of his novels are courtroom dramas, but almost all contain suspense. Get your no spoiler, must-read Grisham Novel recommendations and buy the book here.
#10 — Camino Island
2017. Camino Island is a novel about the theft of five original, hand-written F. Scott Fitzgerald manuscripts from Princeton’s Firestone Library by five cunning yet nerdy guys. The heist goes south rather quickly after the FBI discovers a small drop of blood left by one of the thieves.
The insurance company hires a young female writer to find out how much Bruce Cable, a Camino Island bookstore owner, knows about the theft and if anyone had offered to sell him the manuscripts.
If you are a Grisham fan, you may or may not like this story. Those who are not Grisham fans will probably like it more. They won’t be expecting a courtroom drama, which this is not.
Despite only 66 percent of seven thousand, five hundred, and three (7,503) verified Amazon buyers giving it either four or five stars. I believe if you can put aside the fact this is not the usual Grisham novel, you will enjoy it.
Buy it on Kindle for $9.99: https://amzn.to/2Hp2vZ7
#9 — Gray Mountain
2014. Gray Mountain is a story about a corporate lawyer who gets furloughed by her NYC law firm (Scully & Pershing, the largest in NYC). In order to retain seniority, health insurance, and the possibility of going back to work for the firm later, she must accept an intern position for one-year. She accepts an internship with a volunteer family law service in Brady, Virginia with a population of about 2,000.
Despite the large coal mining corporation regularly screwing their workers out of the benefits of black lung, most of the community see these corporations as their only means of putting food on the table. Samantha soon finds herself in the middle of a legal and ethical fight she hardly understands. Especially after one of her first acquaintances in the town gets killed. His brother may hold the key to her survival. He certainly holds one of the keys to her heart.
This to me is another case of readers expecting Grisham’s usual fast-paced courtroom fare. Eighteen thousand, three hundred, and thirty-two (18,332) verified Amazon buyers gave Gray Mountain 3.8 out of 5 stars, only 62 percent gave it four or five stars. I enjoy it. I’ll leave it to you to form an opinion.
Buy it on Kindle for $9.99: https://amzn.to/2LG61zY
#8 — The Racketeer
If you are looking for courtroom thrills and suspense, then John Grisham is the right choice. What’s more, The Racketeer is a good first Grisham novel. It is riddled with plot twists and will leave you longing for another John Grisham book, the very best of which are listed here.
“The Racketeer is guilty of only one thing: keeping us engaged until the very last page.” — USA Today
Eleven thousand and eighty-one (11,081) verified Amazon buyers gave The Racketeer 4.2 out of 5 stars, 79 percent gave it either four or five stars.
Buy it on Kindle for $9.99: https://amzn.to/34ooHwq
#7 — The Chamber
This novel was one of the very few John Grisham did not outline before he began writing, or so he says. However, it does have courtroom drama and suspense, like many of his other books. The opening of this book is strong, which brings the reader into the story quickly so that they want to continue to find out what happens. Set once again in Clanton, like several of his other novels, The Chamber is a must-read for Grisham enthusiasts.
Two thousand, four hundred, and eight verified Amazon buyers gave The Chamber 4.2 out of 5 stars, 74 percent gave it either four or five stars.
Buy it on Kindle for $9.99: https://amzn.to/2N2Nelg
#6 — The Rooster Bar
2017. The Rooster Bar hit the shelves. This novel seemed to examine many areas of social injustice that would interest millennials, like for-profit colleges, lying or exaggerating college recruiters, fake law firms, immigration, and the student loan hustle. It is about four friends who are graduating from law school; they are loaded down with student debt, each with around $150,000 and no job prospects, or more appropriately, no good job prospects. Soon, they hit the streets hustling jobs without having a license to practice law or even passing the bar. They hang a fake shingle and take DUIs and simple traffic ticket cases…until they get caught. But they have a way out of that too.
Five thousand and twelve verified Amazon buyers gave The Rooster Bar 3.7 out of 5 stars, 59 percent gave it either four or five stars.
Buy it on Kindle for $9.99: https://amzn.to/315RAeX
#5 — The Reckoning
2018. The Reckoning takes us back to Clanton, Mississippi (the author’s fictitious southern town). The story’s plot centers around the ’46 murder and trial of the town’s prominent patriarch Pete Banning, who is a war hero recently returned from the Philippines and World War II. Grisham’s fictional Ford County has been the site of six Grisham novels, A Time to Kill (his first novel), The Summons, The Chamber, The Last Juror, and Sycamore Row. If you like historical fiction, this will be more to your liking than Grisham’s usual courtroom dramas.
It is evident, you either love this book or hate it. I am a history buff, and since I live in the Philippines now, I have been to Corregidor Island. The heat is so oppressive, how any survived the Bataan Death March is beyond my comprehension.
Four thousand and eighty verified Amazon buyers gave The Reckoning 3.7 out of 5 stars, 57 percent gave it either four or five stars.
Buy it on Kindle for $9.99: https://amzn.to/2N4ww54
#4 — Sycamore Row
2013. Twenty-five real-world years after John Grisham’s first novel, Grisham takes us back to Clanton in Ford County, Mississippi. And, a sigh of relief was heard from tens of thousands of Grisham fans. In his return to Clanton, many rediscovered why they love Grisham’s courtroom dramas.
Three book years after Jake Brigance successfully defended a black man accused of murdering the two white men that raped and killed his daughter in A Time to Kill, Grisham renews his story of Jake and Judge Attlee. We slide back into Clanton as if we never left. Once again, we feel the racial tensions that abound in this small southern town.
Nineteen thousand, one hundred, and sixty-five verified Amazon buyers gave Sycamore Row 4.5 out of 5 stars, 89 percent gave it either four or five stars.
Buy it on Kindle for $9.99: https://amzn.to/34yeY6G
#3 — The Pelican Brief
1992. In this book, two supreme court justices got murdered. The circumstances around their deaths, as well as the deaths themselves, shock and confuse a politically divided nation. A law student believes she knows why the justices got killed. This was Grisham’s third novel, including A Time to Kill and The Firm.
Five hundred and seven verified Amazon buyers gave The Pelican Brief 4.5 out of 5 stars, 82 percent gave it either four or five stars.
Buy it on Kindle for $9.99: https://amzn.to/2HUQLOr
#2 — The Firm
1991. If you want courtroom drama, savvy lawyers, and brilliant villains, and why wouldn’t you if you are reading John Grisham? Isn’t that basically what we all seek from his work? From the first few pages to the very end — it is well-written and robust. The Firm also became a multimillion-dollar film starring Tom Cruise. It’s a remarkable story. If you haven’t read it for a while, try it again.
Eight hundred and fifty-one verified Amazon buyers gave The Firm 4.6 out of 5 stars, 80 percent gave it either four or five stars.
Buy it on Kindle for $9.99: https://amzn.to/2PSL6ig
#1 — A Time to Kill
1989. A hard-hitting, fast-moving drama from start to finish. After a ten-year-old black girl is brutally raped and killed by two callous and uncompassionate killers, her father takes justice in his own hands with a rifle.
For a week and a half, America sits shocked and spellbound by the gruesome activities on Clanton’s streets. Crosses burn, and rifle shots explode into the ears of its residents. Jake Brigance struggles to save the life of his client — and his own. If you haven’t read it for a while, get a copy as I did. It was one of the few Grisham novels I did not have on my shelf after so many years.
Two thousand, four hundred, and forty verified Amazon buyers gave A Time to Kill 4.6 out of 5 stars, 80 percent gave it either four or five stars.
Buy it on Kindle for $9.99: https://amzn.to/2ZYU4Ky John Grisham weaves his crafty stories in the courtroom most of the time, but some, like Playing for Pizza, Bleachers, Calico Joe, and a few others are sports stories. All of his novels have action and suspense, some more than others.
Besides being a novelist, John is also an attorney, activist, and politician. Many of his novels are sold worldwide and translated into 42 different languages. As of 2018, John’s net worth was said to be around $350 million. He attended Mississippi State University, the University of Mississippi School of Law, and Delta State University.
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Steve Dalton is a writer, blogger, book reader & reviewer. Web content for Home, About Us, Contact Us, and Blog pages on your website are only an email away. Steve is a retired US Army First Sergeant with a degree in journalism from the University of Maryland and a Certified US English Chicago Manual of Style Editor. He provides a discount for Veterans, First Responders, & students.
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