I’m going to admit something many book-lovers and
book reviewers will never tell you. Something you’ll never hear from a
self-respecting literary snob (and something I’d deny later if it weren’t out
there, online, for everyone to see)…
Sometimes, I like to read schlock.
Schlock, n (origin
- Yiddish): Books, art, music or movies of a crummy or common nature. – paraphrased
from www.urbandictionary.com
What I mean is that there’s often a time (usually on
a beach holiday or while you’re sick in bed) when you want to lie back with
something undemanding. Easy to read. Gripping. But entirely uncomplicated. And
often formulaic.
John Grisham, by virtue of the volume of books he’s
written, the short windows between them and his repetitive plots and character
profiles, is producing schlock. And I’m loving it – because in an uncertain
world, John’s writing guarantees my enjoyment. I don’t even have to read the
back cover.
The
Litigators, his latest novel, is
just as enjoyable as those before it. And very similar. It’s about – you
guessed it – a bunch of lawyers.
Two-bit ambulance
chasers Finley and Figg operate from their dingy little office in south-west
Chicago, where they’re always listening for the welcome sound of sirens and
waiting for their next big break. They bicker, arrive at work hung-over, hide
from their wives and sleep with some of their clients.
Then, thirty-something David
Zinc staggers in. He’s just chucked in his impressive (read: soul-destroying)
job at a top law firm and decided to do something different. To ‘slum it’ for a
while.
David injects Finley
& Figg with new energy, so that when the trio stumbles across the potential
for a massive multi-million-dollar class action suit against a pharmaceutical
giant, it seems to good to be true.
Is it?
If you like Grisham,
you’ll like The Litigators. I read the
book (yes, while I was on holiday), and I’m currently listening to the audio book. But please don’t expect anything unusual from our novelist friend John.
He doesn’t do unusual.
(Disclaimer: The only
element of this story that isn’t vintage Grisham is that it’s set in a bustling
urban metropolis, instead of a town in the deep South.)
