The Judge's List: A Novel

John Grisham is pretty much the owner of his own niche of books: the legal thriller. There are many other authors who write this type of book, but it is Grisham who stands at the very top. Almost forty legal thriller novels, over 300 million books in print, etc. From the first one published in 1989, his legal thrillers have gone number one consistently. He's so good as an author, at plotting, at character building, at dialogue, at velocity, etc., he's the master.He most often will take a specific subject, in this latest outing, serial killers who are also sitting judges, research the subject thoroughly, and weave the facts and context and motivations into a story which draws us deeper and deeper with each paragraph. This latest, "The Judge's List," is, in my opinion, one of his best. To be writing at his best after 40 years on the job says a lot about how truly skilled he is.Grisham gives us Lacy Stoltz, an experienced investigator at the Board of Judicial Conduct in Florida, a backwater, sleepy agency which investigates complaints against judges. She gets a cold call from Jeri Crosby, whose father was killed 20 years ago. She has spent those 20 years tracking down her father's killer, and has discovered that the killer has killed at least ten other victims, using the exact same technique: a blunt instrument to the head, and a nylon rope tied around the neck with a unique knot at the end. Crosby believes the killer is a sitting judge; she files a complaint against the judge with Lacy, who is obligated by law to investigate all complaints. Thus, Grisham sets up an intriguing story—Lacy involves the various agencies and instruments of state, local and federal government to investigate and ultimately reveal the judge's crimes. How they unite and work together, how they track the judge, how they almost get killed by the judge, and how they ultimately solve the case, is Grisham at his best.When Grisham has wandered into fields outside the legal thriller neighborhood, such as his sports books and his young adult books, I felt that he was good, but not great. With every one of his legal thrillers, I always felt like I was reading the master. And so it is with "The Judge's List," Grisham at his best, giving us exactly what we want in a legal thriller. Can't wait for his next one.

Grisham is a terrific novelist & writer. This particular book is slow going in the early chapters which I believe his editor should have pointed out to him.Only my opinion but all writers need a good editor & proof reader. I’ve tried writing a novel, attempted self publishing only to be told that very thing. “Son get an editor the publisher advised adding, “You use far too many words when fewer would be more effective.”I’m not delusional enough to think I’m even close to being in Grisham’s class. My point: If you have several years in any profession, incidents, crazy stories, events, even theories will surface to give one an idea for a story to refer to or build around. I think Grisham is a good example of my theory.This story is okay, slow going as alluded to earlier but worth a read from a brilliant writer.

Just when I believe Grisham can’t top his last novel, he does. Once you start this tale you can’t put it down. Great plot and plenty of twists and thrills. I highly recommend!

Book is in excellent condition and delivered promptly

I gave been hooked on Mr Grievance books for many years. They keep you spell bound, so it's hard to pause your reading. I would recommend this if any other of his books if you like suspense and intrigue.

Great value ,

JUDGE’S LIST by John GrishamWell, I was so happy to go back to one of the loves of my literary like, John Grisham, and see that he’s back in shape. We parted a while ago when I read some of his work that was not worthy of Grisham. But I am glad we are back together..Judge’s List is part of the Lacy Stolz series. Stolz works as an investigator for the Florida Board of Judicial Conduct. A strong woman in her thirties, she is faced with unexpected complications that seem to belong more to the FBI than to the BJC. The woman who insists on seeing her, Jeri, is convinced that a respected judge is also a serial killer, and that one of his victims was her own father. For twenty years, Jeri built an enormous dossier on that judge, stalked him and, in the process, created several identities with different names, and untraceable phone numbers.What’s fascinating in this thriller comes from Grisham’s parallel between two obsessive and organized minds, Jeri’s and the judge/serial killer’s. One good and one evil, they use similar methods to get to their end, one looking for justice, the other looking for the next revenge murder. While working as a novel with psychological insights and complex analysis, it can be read also as a fable representing the human mind and its duality and inner fight between negative and positive forces. There is a paragraph toward the end where Jeri admits that part of her got strangely attached to the man who killed her father. Her decades-long investigation has made him an intimate part of her life. And, discovering the magnitude of her work, the killer himself thinks of this enemy, as brilliant as he is, with reverence.If I only gave three stars to the novel, it’s not because of the journalistic, minimalist prose characteristic of this author. Simplicity is not that simple. It’s because I compare Grisham to Grisham –a graving on a curve of sorts. I believe he has done better in the past. I am about to read one of his old books, and should I change my mind after that, I will add a star here. The other reason is the cute, sentimental ending. This ain’t a cute story and, should the reader need a release from this dark tale, Grisham could have placed it in an epilogue and not as the last chapter.It's definitely worth a read. Despite his nearly telegraphic style, or because of it and its efficiency, Grisham manages to go to the depths and conflicts of our human condition.6.5.23

I, quite literally, couldn’t put this one down. I didn’t want the ride to end! Definitely my favorite Grisham book.

buen "plot"

This book is very good. Interesting storyline. Great characters. Very well written by the greatest author of crime mysteries. Highly recommend it 👌.

Gostei do livro

I enjoyed this exciting mystery reading.

I pre ordered this book because I'm a collector, but sat on it when it arrived because I thought the 1st Lacy Stoltz book The Whistler was a 6 or 7/10. Finally read it and I'm kicking myself because it is a belter. The synopsis doesn't do it justice. Really fab narrative throughout and not a bad ending in terms of satisfaction. Great read.