John Grisham's "The Guardians"

If you've been waiting for John Grisham to deliver another solid book, the 2019 issuance of The Guardians is probably your best bet. Grisham, of course, has made a habit of taking small-time or at least small-town lawyer story's to breakneck-speed endings while spinning a vast (if not luxurious) web of possible plots across a reader's mind.

I'm a fan, but there have been a few stumbles in my opinion, such as The Whistler, and Camino Winds, that move slowly and lack the thrill of the chase I found in earlier books.

Fortunately, Grisham's on the ball with this book, and I was happy to get trapped for hours inside the covers of my bed and the book itself.

In this "wrongful conviction" story, lawyer Cullen Post takes a series of cases as far as he can, saying "I have five cases...., I've watched one of my clients die. I still think he was innocent. I just couldn't prove it in time."

Such is the pressure and turmoil of a pro-bono lawyer and law firm out of Birmingham, Alabama trying to save the life/conviction of Duke Russell. As usual, Grisham sets the story and the ticking of the clock early. That should grab your attention, and if it doesn't, keep in mind that the story is loosely based on the work of Centurion Ministries and James McCloskey, who was a divinity student at the time.

There is some clutter to the first few chapters, as Grisham introduces a series of prisoners who may also be wrongly-convicted. If you stick with the reading and give the Old Master a chance, the backstory will fall away and you'll be rewarded with a book more reminiscent of his earlier work.

Keep in mind that it is also timely, with some "political correctness" or should I say "political correction" as we get a look at how prisons (especially those that are for-profit) work, how wealthy clients reap benefits those short on cash don't, and how it might just be that more than 10% of all those convicted and imprisoned may have been found guilty for charges harsher than their crimes or not guilty at all. That's a mind-bender if there ever was one.

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