This is my first attempt at a John Grisham novel in quite a number of years (not counting his comedy, Skipping Christmas). For a while in college, he was all I read, but then I finally got burned out on reading about burned-out lawyers and their daily grinds, and I needed a bit more spice. That’s what first drew me to Clive Cussler. For my “first second-attempt” with Grisham, however, I can at least report that Camino Island gripped me, and I enjoyed the read.

Camino Island begins as a real caper, which I didn’t expect. Professional thieves heist a valuable collection of manuscripts but can’t quite figure out how to pawn them off safely and for the greatest return. Once the second chapter rolls around, these thieves are all but ignored and forgotten, as Grisham chases down the story of another, seemingly unrelated character—something he does a few times. As the novel unfolds, the reader finds himself in a touchy-feely cat-and-mouse game with artsy snobs, most of them semi-successful authors. The FBI is also involved, but only in a supporting role.

The characters in Camino Island are mostly unpleasant, but the story engages. In this book, Grisham introduced me to a world I’ve admittedly thought about but in which I’ve never had much interest, namely that of the struggling young author.

A little backstory first. When I published my third book, I enjoyed a single book-signing event at a local book store, where I met zero “fans” and sold even fewer books. Of course, I’m a reasonable person, so I didn’t view that experience as a failure. I was an author in a book store, ostensibly signing books! Who cares if no one knew me. That’s the whole point isn’t it, to get one’s name out there?

With all that in mind, I was a bit annoyed watching this whiney protagonist, Mercer, and her new author-friends—folks entirely reminiscent of random classmates from my creative writing class in college—complain about the sad lives they lead, drink themselves silly at dinner parties, sleep around, and share secrets. I truly didn’t care about any of the characters in this book as much as I did the story.

I was fascinated by Bruce’s local book store on Camino Island and the subculture of rare book collectors. I enjoyed his fervor in searching out the next big score, and even more so his intense care for the prizes he had already collected. The vault in his basement is a dream space, climate-controlled and protective, hidden from the world and where he also goes to hide from the world. It’s no metaphor, I’m sure, just downright cool.

Overall, I enjoyed the fact that this book wasn’t about lawyers and never mentioned tort. Still, Camino Island is not among my favorite Grishams.

©2018 E.T.

Read More from John Grisham:

• The Rainmaker (1995)
• The Street Lawyer (1998)
• Skipping Christmas (2001)
• A Painted House (2001)
• The Summons (2002)
• The Broker (2005)
• Playing for Pizza (2007)
• Gray Mountain (2015)
• Camino Island (2017)
• The Rooster Bar (2017)