Camino Island by John Grisham @HodderBooks

Author : John Grisham
Title : Camino Island
Pages : 297
Publisher : Hodder & Stoughton
Publication date : June 6, 2017

Priceless F. Scott Fitzgerald manuscripts stolen in a daring heist; a young woman recruited to recover them; a beach-resort bookseller who gets more than he bargained for—all in one long summer on Camino Island.

Original manuscripts by F. Scott Fitzgerald are stolen from the library at Princeton University. With the FBI hot on their heals, the thieves have no option but to quickly get rid of their priceless loot. Mercer is recruited to find out if a reputable bookseller on Camino Island is somehow involved.

I am a massive John Grisham fan and have been reading his books since dinosaurs roamed the earth. Okay, maybe a bit less than that but for a long time anyway. Even though the last few years some of his books have been rather hit or miss with me, as soon as word hits that there’s a new book being published, I hit that pre-order button like a mad woman.

Now, while I enjoyed this one, I still don’t feel it’s up to par with, let’s say for instance A Time to Kill, which is one of my all-time favourite Grisham books. Then again, Camino Island isn’t a legal thriller so maybe that comparison is unfair. Despite that, John Grisham remains one of the most fabulous storytellers out there.

As a reader and book lover, I of course loved the setting and the bookstore scenes, as well as the conversations between various people trying to write books. While the plot was brilliantly executed, I always felt the outcome was too obvious, which left me a bit disappointed, and like something was lacking although I can’t put my finger on exactly what that should be.

Still, despite certain misgivings, I remain a fan and I will continue to stubbornly buy whatever Grisham writes next and remain hopeful there’s another mind-blowing legal thriller on the horizon somewhere.

Camino Island was published on June 6th.

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