Sparring Partners by John Grisham

On July 25, 2022August 14, 2022 By The Unseen LibraryIn Short Stories, Thriller8 Comments

Sparring Partners Cover

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton (Trade Paperback – 31 May 2022)

Series: Standalone/Short Story

Length: 306 pages

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

In the mood for more legal thriller awesomeness from the mind of legendary author John Grisham? Then make sure to grab a copy of his new short story collection, Sparring Partners.

John Grisham is an author who needs very little introduction, especially after dominating the thriller field for over 30 years. However, I must admit that I only recently checked out his work with the 2021 book, The Judge’s List. The Judge’s List was an extremely captivating novel that saw a determined investigator dive into allegations that a sitting judge was also a devious serial killer. I really enjoyed this fantastic book and it definitely convinced me that I needed to read more of Grisham’s books. Well, I recently got the opportunity to do so when I picked up a copy of Grisham’s latest release, the short story collection Sparring Partners.

Sparring Partners is an intriguing book that contains three of Grisham’s compelling short stories. Made up of Homecoming, Strawberry Moon and the story Sparring Partners, this collection was an awesome and fun read that will really appeal to established Grisham fans. I personally had a great time with it, and I ended up getting through it in three short intervals, knocking off one story at a time. All three stories are quite entertaining in their own right, and together they prove to be an excellent and awesome exploration of Grisham’s style and love of the legal thriller.

The first of these stories is Homecoming, which takes the reader back to Ford County, which has served as the fictional setting of many of Grisham’s novels. This story follows a small group of lawyers who find themselves in a unique situation when a disgraced former colleague returns to the fold. Homecoming starts when small-time lawyer Jake Brigance suddenly receives a letter from long-lost friend and fellow lawyer Mack Stafford. Years ago, Mack suddenly and unexpectantly fell off the grid, taking a stack of money from his clients and vanishing to parts unknown. Considered a legend by the local legal community, Mack left behind a wife and two kids, and no one has ever understood the reasons for his disappearance. Now, Mack is determined to return to Ford County and wants Jake and his friend Harry Rex Vonner to help navigate the waiting legal difficulties. But as Jake and Harry work to secure Mack’s return, some members of Ford County are less than eager to see him come back and will ensure that retribution is waiting for him if he does.

Now I must admit that the first entry in this book is probably the weakest, as Homecoming does not have the most gripping narrative of the three short stories in Sparring Partners, mainly due to its low stakes. However, it still proves to be a very compelling and interesting narrative that sees a disgraced fugitive lawyer who went through a major mid-life crisis attempt to return to the scene of the crime. Loaded with characters with big personalities, this proves to be a very entertaining entry, and I enjoyed the unique and character-driven narrative that it contained. Grisham provides some intriguing insights into small-town lawyering, while also taking the time to dive into some of the more significant characters. There is a great focus on the character of Mack, especially around why he did what he did, and I really enjoyed the moving moments that looked at the impact his actions had on his family. However, I did think that the story, while fast paced and interesting, was a bit bland and it never really went anywhere. Still, this was a great introduction to the sort of stories you can expect in Sparring Partners and I had a wonderful time reading it.

The next entry in Sparring Partners is the powerful and intimate story, Strawberry Moon. Set inside a death row of a prison, Strawberry Moon follows Cody Wallace, a young inmate with only three hours left until his execution. Waiting for his final moments while his lawyer tries and fails to save him, Cody reminisces on his life and the poor choices, tragedies, and an unfair system that led him there. But as the last minutes of his life tick away before him, Cody has just one request to the guards around him, one that will make all the difference in the world to him.

Strawberry Moon was the most powerful and heartbreaking of all the three stories contained within Sparring Partners and it serves as the emotional heart of the entire volume. Grisham paints a grim and realistic picture of a young man who is about to be executed, by examining this remarkable figure’s remaining three hours. Grisham has produced a deeply compelling and concise narrative that reader will swiftly get drawn into. The story of Cody Wallace is beyond tragic, and the slow reveal of what he did and why he is about to die really gets to you, especially as it is interposed with scenes from his current existence and mentality, which has resulted in spending half his life in death row. Watching Cody take pleasure in some of the little things he has as he waits to die is extremely moving, as are his final interactions with some of the more important people in his life, even if they are only passing acquaintances. This story also serves as a rather blistering indictment of the death penalty system, and Grisham really got his point across extremely well, showing a mostly innocent person get killed for reasons outside of his control. Easily the best of the three stories contained within Sparring Partners, I had an incredible time with Strawberry Moon, and you will get hit hard in the feels when you read this one.

The final story is the amusing and fast-paced story Sparring Partners, which shares the name of the volume. Sparring Partners follows the unusual firm of Malloy & Malloy, a storied, family-operated law firm that is going through its greatest challenge. With the Malloy family patriarch currently in prison for murder, the two remaining Malloy lawyers, brothers Kirk and Rusty, attempt to manage the firm in his stead. However, the two brothers are polar opposites of each other and have very different ideas about how the firm should be run. With their feud reaching an all-time high, the firm is in dire straits, and only their neutral colleague, Diantha Bradshaw, seems capable of saving it from ruin. But Diantha has very different plans, and the firm of Malloy & Malloy may be in some real trouble.

This final story is a great entry as well, and it is definitely the most entertaining piece in the entire book. Following a law firm in crisis, this was a fantastic and fun blend of legal thriller and family drama, as the entire lawyer family goes at each other trying to win. Grisham sets the entire scenario up extremely well and shows the multiple conflicts, manipulations and twists in an awesome way. None of the characters in this story are likeable, and it proves quite enjoyable to watch them fight and bicker throughout Sparring Partners, especially as many of them get what they deserve at the end. While this entry did feature an extremely convoluted murder and investigation, which was a bit silly, there were a lot of good elements in Sparring Partners, and I had an awesome time getting through it. A fantastic concluding story for this excellent book!

Overall, Sparring Partners was an interesting read to get through, and I quite enjoyed the various snapshots into Grisham’s imagination and writing style. All three stories have some excellent merits, and while they aren’t the author’s best work they were very entertaining and compelling. I loved the mixture of legal scenarios and interesting characters featured within this book, and Grisham’s ability to craft together a concise story even in shortform was on full display. While Sparring Partners is very accessible to readers unfamiliar to Grisham’s previous works, this is probably best enjoyed by those fans of the author who are hankering for more of his unique stories in between books. I had a great time reading it and it gave me some more insights into an author I am still not amazingly familiar with.

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The Devil’s Advocate by Steve Cavanagh

On September 15, 2021May 23, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Thriller17 Comments

The Devil's Advocate Cover

Publisher: Orion (Trade Paperback – 27 July 2021)

Series: Eddie Flynn – Book 6

Length: 403 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Bestselling thriller author Steve Cavanagh returns with another exciting and over-the-top fun legal thriller, The Devil’s Advocate, an awesome read with a very entertaining plot.

Randal Korn is an evil man, a dangerous killer, and an unrepentant corrupting influence on everyone around him. Unfortunately for the residents of Sunville County, Alabama, Randal Korn is also their District Attorney, who uses his skills and influence to get the legal system to commit his killings for him. Known as the King of Death Row, Korn has sent more men to the electric chair than any other district attorney in US history, deriving great pleasure from every life his prosecutions have taken. However, not all of Korn’s victims have been guilty, a fact that Korn knows and deeply relishes.

When a young woman, Skylar Edwards, is found brutally murdered in Buckstown, Alabama, the corrupt sheriff’s department quickly arrests the last person to see her alive, her innocent African American co-worker Andy Dubios. After the racist cops quickly beat a confession out of him, Andy is set to stand trial with Korn prosecuting a seemingly airtight case. With the entire town already convinced of his guilt and with no chance of a fair trial, Andy’s death looks certain, until Eddie Flynn arrives in town.

Hired after Andy’s previous lawyer goes missing, former conman turned brilliant New York lawyer Eddie Flynn heads down to Alabama with his team to try and save Andy’s life. However, the moment he arrives, Eddie begins to understand just how stacked the deck is. Thanks to Korn’s immense influence, the entire town is hostile to him, the police are refusing to cooperate, witnesses are threatened or arrested by the sheriff, the judge is already on the prosecutor’s side, and any potential juror will already believe that Andy is guilty. To save his client’s life, Eddie will have to use every single trick he has to con the jury into finding Andy not guilty, but even that might not be enough. Worse, it soon becomes apparent that the killing of Skylar Edwards was only the start. A dangerous murderer still stalks Buckstown, killing whoever gets in their way to achieve their own sinister agenda, and their sights are now firmly set on Eddie.

This was a pretty awesome and wildly entertaining novel from the talented Steve Cavanagh. A lawyer himself, Cavanagh burst onto the crime-fiction scene a few years ago with his debut novel, The Defence, the first book in his Eddie Flynn series. There have since been several other Eddie Flynn books, each of which places the protagonist in a unique legal situation. I have been meaning to read some of Cavanagh’s books for a while now due to the awesome sounding plot synopsis and I currently have a couple of his novels sitting on my shelf, waiting to be read. Unfortunately, I have not had the chance yet, although I think I will have to make a bit of an effort after reading The Devil’s Advocate, which I was lucky enough to receive a little while ago. The Devil’s Advocate was an outstanding and captivating novel and I swiftly got drawn into the exciting and amusing narrative.

The Devil’s Advocate has an awesome story to which is extremely addictive and enjoyable. When I picked up this book, I initially intended only read around 50 pages in my first sitting, however, once I started I honestly could not put it down, and before I knew it I was halfway through and it was well past my bed time. Cavanagh produces an extremely cool narrative that starts with an awesome scene that introduces the main antagonist and ensures that you will really hate him. From then, Cavanagh quickly sets up the initial mystery, the introduction of the legal case, and the plot that brings the protagonist to Alabama. The rest of the narrative neatly falls into place shortly after, with the full details of the case, the corruption of the main setting, and the massive injustice that is taking place, coming to light. From there, the protagonists attempt to set up their case while facing sustained and deadly opposition from pretty much everyone. While the initial focus is on the legal defence aspect of the thriller, the story quickly branches out into several captivating storylines, including an examination of the antagonist’s corrupting influence on the town, planned action from a white supremacist groups, attempts to run off or kill the protagonists, as well as mystery around who really killed Skylar. All these separate storylines are really fascinating and come together with the plot’s central legal case to form an exceptionally fun and electrifying story. The reader is constantly left guessing about what is going to happen next, especially with multiple red herrings and false reveals, and I ended up not predicting all the great twists that occurred. While I did think that Cavanagh went a little too political with the overall message of the book, The Devil’s Advocate had an outstanding ending and I had an exceptional time getting through this thrilling story.

One of the best parts of this entire story is the outrageous and unfair legal case that the protagonists must attempt to win. This case forms the centre of The Devil’s Advocate’s plot, with most of Eddie and his colleagues’ appearances focused on their upcoming legal battle. Cavanagh really went out his way to create a truly unique and compelling set of legal circumstances for the protagonists to wade through, with the case so tightly sewn up against their innocent client before they even get there. Despite this, the protagonist goes to work with a very effective, if unconventional, legal strategy that plays to the antagonist’s underhanded tactics. The entire legal case soon devolves into crazy anarchy, with both sides doing outrageous actions to win, which Cavanagh writes up perfectly. I found myself getting quite invested in the case, especially after witnessing several blatant examples of the prosecution’s corruption, and these terrible actions really got me rooting for the protagonist, who had some entertaining tricks of his own. This all leads up to an excellent extended trial sequence, where the various strategies and manipulations in the first two-thirds of the novel come into play. There are some brilliant and entertaining legal manoeuvrings featured here, with the protagonist initially focusing more on pissing off the prosecution and the judge rather than producing alternative evidence. However, there are some great reveals and cross-examinations towards the end of the book, as Eddie has a very good go at dismantling the case. The way it finally ends is pretty clever, and I really liked the way some of it was set up, even if it relied a little too much on a minor character’s conscience finally flaring.

Cavanagh also featured some great and entertaining characters in The Devil’s Advocate, with a combination of new characters and returning protagonists from the previous novels. The author makes great use of multiple character perspectives throughout this novel, especially as it allows the reader to see the various sides of the battle for Buckstown’s soul. Seeing the moves and counter-moves of the protagonists and antagonists enhances the excitement of the novel, especially as it shows the creation of several traps that could potentially destroy Eddie and his client. Most of the characters featured in the novel are very entertaining, although I think in a few cases Cavanagh went a little over-the-top, with some of the villains being a bit cartoonish in their evilness.

The main character of this novel is series hero Eddie Flynn, the former conman who now works on impossible cases as a defence attorney. Eddie was an awesome central protagonist, especially as his unique sense of justice and criminal background turns him into one of the most entertaining and likeable lawyers you are likely to ever meet. I loved the very underhanded way in which he worked to win his case, and the variety of tricks and manipulations that he used were extremely fun to see in action, especially as it rattles the police antagonists and completely outrages the other lawyers and judges. I loved his style in the courtroom scenes, especially as most of his appearances eventually end up with him thrown in jail for contempt (it is a pretty wise legal strategy). Eddie has a very fun code in this novel, and I think that I will enjoy seeing the earlier novels in which he transitions from conman to lawyer.

Eddie is also supported by a fantastic team from his small law practice, each of whom get several chapters to themselves and who serve as great alternate characters who in some way overshadow the main protagonist. These include his wise old mentor character, Harry; the younger lawyer, Kate; and the badass investigator, Bloch. Each of them brings something fun and compelling to the overall story, and I liked the way that Cavanagh ensured that they all get their moment throughout The Devil’s Advocate. I really enjoyed some of the great sub-storylines surrounding these three supporting protagonists. Examples of this include Harry, a genuine silver fox with the ability to attract a certain type of older lady, who serves as the team’s heart and soul, although he’s not opposed to some improper legal tactics. I also enjoyed Kate’s appearances as a secondary trial attorney, especially as she serves as a good alternate to the flashier Eddie, while also finding her feet in a murder case that has rattled her. I personally enjoyed the gun-toting investigator Bloch the most, mainly because of her hard-assed attitude and inability to be intimidated by the various monsters lurking around town. Bloch has some very intense and exciting scenes, and it was really entertaining to see her stare down rabid militiamen and crooked cops. These protagonists end up forming an impressive and cohesive team, and it was a real joy to see them in action.

I also must highlight the outstanding villain of the story that was Randal Korn. Korn is a truly evil and terrifying creation who is pretty much the direct opposite of the more heroic Eddie. Cavanagh has clearly gone out of his way to create the most outrageously despicable antagonist he could, and it really works. Korn, who apparently is a bit of a pastiche parody of five real-life American prosecutors who always seek the death penalty, is a man who became a lawyer solely so he would have a legal way to kill people. The pleasure he receives from controlling people and ensuring that they die, even if they are innocent or undeserving, is terrifying, and it ensures that the character will go to extreme lengths to win his case. The author does a fantastic job painting him as a despicable figure, including through several point of view chapter, and there are some interesting examinations about his psyche and his desires. Having such an easily hated villain really draws the reader into the narrative, mainly because the reader cannot help but hope that he gets what is coming to him. Despite that, I think Cavanagh went a little overboard in some places (the self-mutilation and the rotting smell are a bit much), and the whole soulless creature angle is layered on a bit too thickly. Still, the author achieved what he wanted to with this antagonist, and I had a wonderful time hating this character from start to finish.

The final point-of-view character that I want to mention is the mysterious figure known as the Pastor. The Pastor is another antagonist of this novel whose identity is kept hidden from the reader for much of the book. This is mainly because he is the real killer of Skylar Edwards, whose death was part of an elaborate plan. The Pastor is another great villain for this novel, due to his crazed personality, murderous tendencies and horrendous motivations for his crimes. I think that Cavanagh did a great job utilising this second villain in his novel, and I liked the tandem usage he had with Korn. I was especially impressed with the clever mystery that the author had surrounding his identity, which was kept hidden right till the very end. It took me longer than I expected to work out who the Pastor was, thanks to some clever misdirects from the author, but the eventual reveal was extremely good and helped tie the entire story together. Readers will have a lot of fun trying to work out who this character is, and I really enjoyed the extra villainy that they brought to the table.

The fantastic Steve Cavanagh has once again produced a captivating and intense legal thriller with The Devil’s Advocate. This latest Eddie Flynn thriller was an amazing ball of crazy fun that I powered through in two sustained reading sessions. With some over-the-top characters, a clever legal case, and an exciting overarching conspiracy, The Devil’s Advocate proved to be next to impossible to turn down and is really worth checking out. I will definitely be going back and reading some of Cavanagh’s earlier books, and I look forward to seeing what insane scenarios he comes up with in the future.

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Quick Review – The Chase by Candice Fox

On May 15, 2021February 2, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Quick Review, Thriller11 Comments

The Chase Cover

Publisher: Bantam Press (Trade Paperback – 30 March 2021)

Series: Standalone

Length: 449 pages

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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Australian thriller author Candice Fox returns with another fast-paced and intriguing thriller novel, this time utilising an extremely fun prison break premise to create The Chase, a compelling and addictive read.

Candice Fox is a bestselling Australian author who debuted in 2014 with Hades, the first novel in her Archer & Bennett trilogy, a fantastic Australian crime series that followed two very damaged detectives. She then followed that up with her Crimson Lake trilogy, as well as collaborating on the Detective Harriet Blue series with James Patterson. Since then Fox, has written a couple of standalone crime fiction novels set in America, including the 2020 release Gathering Dark, which is the only previous novel of Fox’s that I have read and which proved to be a fun and fantastic book. As a result, I was interested in reading more of Fox’s work, especially after I saw what kind of story her new novel would feature.

Synopsis:

When more than 600 of the world’s most violent human beings pour out from Pronghorn Correctional Facility into the Nevada Desert, the biggest manhunt in US history begins.

But for John Kradle, this is his one chance to prove his innocence, five years after the murder of his wife and child.

He just needs to stay one step ahead of the teams of law enforcement officers he knows will be chasing the escapees down.

Death Row Supervisor turned fugitive-hunter Celine Osbourne is single-minded in her mission to catch Kradle. She has very personal reasons for hating him – and she knows exactly where he’s heading . . .

I am sure that I was not the only person drawn in by The Chase’s cool plot synopsis, I mean, 600 convicts escaping from prison at the same time, who can resist that? I really enjoyed this book’s awesome story and I ended up finishing the entirety of The Chase in just over a day. This was mainly because The Chase had such a strong and captivating start to it, with someone using deadly blackmail to instigate a mass breakout as cover to free one unknown prisoner. This was one of the more awesome starts to a novel that I have seen, and I really loved the initial moments of this story, with the prisoners all heading off in various directions, including protagonist John Kradle, while other protagonist Celine Osbourne is left in shambles with all her Death Row charges escaping.

Fox soon breaks this narrative up into several smaller stories; you follow Kradle as he makes his escape, you also see Osbourne dealing with the fallout of the escape, and there are short descriptions of some of the other escapees and the people that encounter them. The main two storylines surrounding Kradle and Osbourne continue in an awesome way towards the middle of the book. I had a great time seeing Kradle attempt to evade the police and overcome an insane killer who is tagging along with him, while also heading home to solve the murder of his wife and child. Osbourne’s story was also very compelling, as it details some of the initial hunts for the escaped fugitives, the investigation into who was responsible for the breakout, and the start of Osbourne’s obsessive hunt for Kradle. The various smaller stories of the other escapees prove to be fun interludes to the main narratives, and Fox also includes key flashbacks to enrich the backstory of her central protagonists and showcase the reasons for emotional and combative history with each other.

Unfortunately, I found the last half of The Chase to be somewhat of a letdown after its outstanding beginning. Kradle’s hunt for his family’s killer soon becomes one of the least interesting parts of the entire book, especially as it has no connection with the wider breakout. His investigation is also loaded with way too many coincidences, unusually helpful witnesses, and strange motivations. The eventual reveal of the killer was honestly pretty weak, and Kradle’s entire storyline only concludes satisfactorily due to a serendipitous appearance from a supporting character. I was also not amazingly impressed with the identity of the person behind the prison escape, and I think that Fox missed a few opportunities, such as maybe tying Kradle’s personal investigation into a larger conspiracy. Still, there were some fantastic highlights in this second half of the book, including Osbourne’s gradually changing relationship with Kradle, the action-packed conclusion to Osbourne’s hunt for the organisers of the prison break, as well as the extended and entertaining storyline of one escapee who managed to make the most of their situation. While I would have loved a couple more extended storylines about some other outrageous inmates, I think that this was an overall good narrative, and I did have a lot of fun getting to the end.

I did really enjoy several of the characters featured in this fantastic novel. The most prominent of these is John Kradle, the Death Row inmate accused of killing his wife and son. Kradle is a likeable character, and you are quickly drawn into his desperate hunt for the person who framed him. Fox makes great use of several flashback sequences to explore Kradle’s past, which paints an intriguing picture of a former recluse who eventually finds love and ends up raising a son by himself. The reader does a feel a lot of sympathy for this unusual character, and he proves to be a fun protagonist to follow. The other major character in The Chase is the supervising prison guard of Pronghom Correctional Facility’s Death Row, Celine Osbourne. Osbourne is a strong and independent character who becomes obsessed with hunting Kradle and dragging him back to Death Row. I really enjoyed Osbourne as a character, especially as Fox comes up with a very traumatic and clever backstory for her that perfectly explains her obsession. Both lead characters serve as perfect focuses for The Chase’s narrative, and I had a great time seeing how their arcs unfolded, even if one was a little weaker than the other.

Fox also made use of several great side characters throughout The Chase. My favourite is probably street hustler Walter Keeper, better known as Keeps, the one inmate at Pronghom who did not escape, as he was due to be released. Keeps is dragged into Osbourne’s hunt for Kradle somewhat against his will due to his knowledge and intelligence. Keeps serves as a good supporting act to Osbourne for much of the book, although his character arc goes in some very entertaining and ironic directions as the narrative progresses. I also quite enjoyed tough-as-nails, no-nonsense, US Marshal Trinity Parker, who leads the manhunt. Parker is a very entertaining character who serves as a perfect foil to Osbourne’s obsessions, mainly due to her absolute refusal to take any BS from her. While I do think that Parker was a little over-the-top at times, she was still a fun addition to the cast. The final character I want to talk about is one of the escapees, Old Axe. Axe is a geriatric inmate who escapes from Pronghom on a whim and slowly makes his way to freedom. I quite enjoyed the various sequences that highlighted Axe’s escape efforts, even if they were tinged with a sinister edge, but his arc was one of the more distinctive parts of the book. All these characters were great, and I was really impressed that Fox was able to introduce them, build up their backstory and also provide satisfying conclusions for all of them in just one novel.

Overall, I really enjoyed The Chase and I felt that Candice Fox wrote a very entertaining and compelling narrative. While this book did have its flaws, I had a fantastic time getting through it and readers will find it very hard to put this exciting novel down. This was an awesome and addictive thriller, and I cannot wait to see what this amazing Australian author comes up with next.