Camino Island (by John Grisham)
John Grisham ventures into a different style of legal thriller with Camino Island. The book opens with a sophisticated heist of F. Scott Fitzgerald manuscripts from a secure vault in Princeton University. The story jogs to Camino Island in Florida where Bruce Cable buys a bookstore and turns it into a popular stop for authors on book tour. He puts everything into making this an impressive bookstore with a coffee shop on the second floor. He’s an avid reader and has great relationships with local authors. Bruce also builds a collection of rare books. He’s an excellent businessman and prominent bookseller.
The third component of the story involves Mercer Mann, a writer and college teacher who has recently been laid off. She is offered a large sum of money, by a very cryptic woman, to move to Camino Island and get to know Bruce Cable . She is coached on how to meet his author friends and get close to him. She is directed to report back on her findings.
I enjoyed the literary knowledge sprinkled throughout the novel. I absolutely loved the dreamy setting of Camino Island with the ease of coastal living, the lifestyle of the writers, and frequent dinner parties. All of the characters were likable, even the ones with an element of suspicion lurking throughout the story. Some aspects of the story were surprising and some were expected natural outcomes. For instance, the implications that may arise when you befriend people you are paid to spy on. The ending was enjoyable that provided closure, and yet makes me curious about the storyline for the next book in the series.
I purchased my signed first edition copy of Camino Island from VJ Books. You’re welcome to check out my author event blog post when I saw John Grisham in conversation with Sue Grafton here. You can read my reviews of other Grisham novels linked below.
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