read by January LaVoy
Grisham can usually be relied upon to deliver the goods: instantly fascinating setting; troubled yet sympathetic protagonist; nasty (generally corporate) villain;
unforeseen plot twist; satisfying dénouement. He is a consummate storyteller, even if the prose can be undistinguished. He certainly keeps the listener wanting to learn more (so many audiobooks fall flat within minutes).
Unfortunately, with Camino Island, the ‘Author’s Note’ reveals Grisham’s flaw: ‘I learned with my
first novel that writing books is far easier than selling them … I know nothing about
the retail side of the business’. He should really stick to what he demonstrably
knows a great deal about: the law. In Camino Island, plot and characters really don’t convince. For this listener, his familiarity with academics, university libraries, rare books and even fellow novelists doesn’t ring quite true.
Unfortunately, with Camino Island, the ‘Author’s Note’ reveals Grisham’s flaw: ‘I learned with my
first novel that writing books is far easier than selling them … I know nothing about
the retail side of the business’. He should really stick to what he demonstrably
knows a great deal about: the law. In Camino Island, plot and characters really don’t convince. For this listener, his familiarity with academics, university libraries, rare books and even fellow novelists doesn’t ring quite true.
Grisham’s characters often have a ton of good fortune. Rare
book dealer Bruce Cable is no exception. He starts out with money and then discovers
that his late father had an enviable library of, mainly American, mainly twentieth-century,
first editions: items easy to overlook
as just a collection of second-hand books and a great tax dodge/money
laundering vehicle. He buys a bookshop in a tourist paradise and makes a huge
success of things: selling books, seducing authors on book signing tours,
adding to his collection of rare modern editions, getting for a song one of the
best old houses on the island and partnering a beautiful furniture dealer, an
expert in French antiques. Everything is so perfect you want to scream. But that, of course, is Grisham’s art. And his charm.
The theft of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s manuscripts from
Princeton University. And Bruce Cable’s inveigling into his deceptions of former
English professor cum novelist Mercer
Mann, who has been planted on Camino Island by private investigator Donna
Watson aka Elaine Shelby, the agent tracking down the priceless masterpieces … is sheer hokum. One comes away from Camino Island reeling off the manifold gaping holes in the plot. But Grisham manages, every pothole notwithstanding, to
entertain until the very last word in the book.
* * * *
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