The Judge's List

Over thirty years ago, I read my first John Grisham novel, The Firm. It was an outstanding legal thriller and for the next fifteen years, I devoured everything he published. As time went on, however, I noticed a steady deterioration in the quality of his work. Finally, I stopped reading him in about 2009. It was my impression that he was simply going through the motions, cranking out short, thin, formulaic novels for big paydays (a technique perfected by Larry McMurtry).

My wife continued to read him, so we generated quite a pile of Grisham works. Recently, on the verge of a trip, I finished a book and noticed that I had none in the queue, so I grabbed a two recent Grisham works just to fill the time. They were as I remembered them, not show more terrible, but certainly nothing to seek out or write home about, maybe 6 on a scale of 10. They filled the time.

Last week, a similar circumstance arose. Book finished, none in the stack, so I pulled this one. It is so offensively bad, that I question whether Grisham even wrote it. The premise is absurd, but the execution is even worse.

MILD SPOILER. The daughter of a cold case murder victim builds a strong circumstantial case, identifying a Florida Circuit Court judge as a serial killer. Does she take her evidence to the FBI or local law enforcement? Of course not. She takes it to the Florida Committee on Judicial Misconduct.

The first 100 pages can be summarized as:

“You have to help. Please.”
“We are not equipped to investigate murders.”
“But you have to help me!”
“I’m sorry, we can’t help you.”
“But, you HAVE TO help me!”
“Sorry, I can’t help you”.

Literally, one hundred pages of the most repetitive, annoying, offensively bad dialogue you can possibly imagine.

My theory is that Grisham, or whoever wrote this trash, finished up the book and discovered that even using all the standard techniques (large print, large spacing, wide margins, short chapters), he was still at only 250 pages, and you really need to be around 300 pages to justify charging for a “novel”. So, he went in and just repeated the first 25 pages four times.

It is exceedingly rare for me to abandon a book unfinished. Especially one that could be finished so quickly. This one is so offensively bad, that I’d rather watch television than read it. One of the worst books I’ve ever tried to read, and I’ve read over a thousand. show less

THE JUDGE’S LIST by John Grisham
This one grabs you on the first page and doesn’t let go until the end. A sitting judge may be a serial killer. The daughter of one of his victims is sure of it and informs Lacy Stolz still working for the Board on Judicial Conduct. Although not an investigative body, the BJC decides they will “look into” the allegation. That is when the fun begins.
Grisham is at or near his best here. There are a few spots where the action drags a bit, but you may need the breather. Lacy and Allie’s on again, off again romance is also front and center. A fun and scary way to spend a few afternoons or evenings.
5 of 5 stars

Lacy is a lawyer, working for an organization that investigates complaints against judges. She is contacted by someone who wants to remain anonymous about a judge (a current sitting judge!) who she says has murdered at least eight people, including her father over 20 years previous. Lacy hesitates taking the case, as they are not equipped to investigate murders, but Jeri refuses to go to the police, and they are required to start an investigation if there is a complaint. All the cases are cold (except the most recent), and there was zero evidence left behind. All Jeri has is motive and (I don’t remember what they called it) the same way of killing.

I thought this was really good, a unique scenario. It got especially creepy once we show more started “following” from the judge’s point of view about the middle of the book, but that, of course, ramped up the suspense a bit. show less

Fieldnotes:
Pensacola, Florida, Contemporary (p.2021)

1 Sitting Judge / Serial Killer
8+ Victims
1 Unusual Knot

1 Anonymous-ish Complainant
Danger!
Not Enough Investigation

The Short Version:
Unlike the previous book in the series, when it felt like Grisham was back in form, this one is a bit disappointing. The trouble is that we neither spend enough time with the complainant investigating the murders and putting all the pieces of the puzzle together with her (kind of like Darby Shaw in his Pelican Brief) nor do we spend time building a case to make sure the judge gets his comeuppance. So we're stuck in a strange limbo between investigation and courtroom thriller - either of which I would have been happy to read. But I'm not sure what the show more through-line of this story was meant to be (other than the dangers of reliance on technology) and the lack of structure/purpose shows. show less

Book 141 - John Grisham - The Judge’s List

One chapter…that’s all it took…even Grisham’s books normally take me a while to get hooked on but I know I always will…this one took one chapter. A sequel to ‘The Whistler’ from 2016 it immediately challenged me by following an old 19th century novel trope and diving straight in to the plot with little time to breathe.

Of his 45 books…37 novels, 7 young people’s books and 1 non fiction, this is my 16th Grisham book since I started my ‘Strange Times’ reads for those who like numbers…or minutiae…like me

A killer is on the loose and this time…he appears to be a judge…Lacy Stolz, investigator with the Board of Judicial Conduct, last seen escaping a horrific car accident show more in ‘The Whistler’ is on the case…sort of…she certainly seems to be railroaded into it. As for the the prospective serial killer…he doesn’t even appear ‘in person’ so to speak until we are half way through the book where, as usual, the novel shifts into high gear.

Clinical…nail-biting…stunning climax with twists and turns that are not predictable…again. We are slowly allowed in to the mind of a killer who has been waiting decades to get revenge…his method of killing is horrific…the one thing neither Stolz nor the complainant want, is to be put on to ‘The Judge’s List’

Couldn’t put it down. show less

This book was on the sale shelf at the library. Knowing that Grisham often writes legal fiction, I thought "The Judge's List" might be about choosing a nominee for the bench or what a nominee would go through to become a judge. Boy, was I wrong!

This novel brings back Lacy Stoltz, a character from Grisham's "The Whistler".

Overall, it was an intriguing read that kept drawing me back to it.

WARNING: SPOILERS MAY FOLLOW. READ ON AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION:

*****

The story really begins with the murder of a law school professor and his daughter who can't let it go and devotes her life to finding her father's killer (while still holding down a job). Somehow, she identifies a suspect from the few people who were "enemies" of her father and tracks show more down other murders with a similar MO and their connections to her suspect.

At this point, she contacts Lacy because Lacy's department must investigate complaints against judges in Florida.

Why she takes this tack vs. going to an agency like the FBI who could investigate multi-state murders? Who knows? Maybe she thinks the FBI will listen to Lacy and not dismiss her as a crazy woman with a theory but no proof. Maybe she's done her homework and knows Lacy is dating an FBI agent and figures Lacy will tell him and he'll convince his colleagues.

Another question: Jeri (the daughter of the law professor) begins the book timid, almost paranoid. Trying to leave no traces of her research or surveillance. Convinced that the judge could come after her. So why, after she turns the case over to Lacy, does she inform the judge that he's being investigated? Why does she taunt him with poems sent by mail? Seems like quite a change in her character.

I suppose she didn't realize just how tech savvy he is--though she seems to be aware that he has cameras everywhere and a well-secured home and office. (She could probably take a few pages from the judge's book since when she runs away from her house after he drops the letters she sent at her door, she doesn't think to change cars, only to watch for tails.)

The ending was a bit disappointing in that we don't get justice. One reviewer speculates that perhaps the judge isn't really dead (and plans to get his assets back from his secretary? One would think that the families could sue the judge's estate--at least the families of the two victims they could prove he was involved in killing--and the others might have cases too based on the similarities of the crimes--so I wonder if the secretary really will get anything. If I was her, I think I'd turn it all over to the authorities and let them sort out his estate if that were possible.)

We seem to see the end of Lacy's and Allie's current careers, though there's no inkling of what they're going to do moving forward, so I guess we could still see more of them in a future Grisham book. show less

This review originally appeared on the Mystery and Suspense Magazine at this link... https://www.mysteryandsuspense.com/the-judges-list/

Meet His Honor Ross Bannick—distinguished judge, charming gentleman and a vengeful serial killer! For more than two decades, Bannick has been killing people—each in a different state, and each murder a perfect crime that has eventually grown stone cold.

Where law enforcement agencies have failed, a private citizen named Jeri Crosby has doggedly pursued the judge’s trail and has compiled a list of His Honor’s victims over the years, one of whom is her own father. Unfortunately, all she has to connect these murders with Bannick is only motive and method, which is never enough to interest the Police show more or the FBI. But, there is one agency that is bound by the law to investigate the judge, if only Jeri could muster the courage to file a complaint.

Lacy Stoltz, a twelve-year veteran with the Board on Judicial Conduct, Florida—an understaffed, under-resourced agency that investigates misdemeanors of sitting judges—is pushing forty and has to take some important decisions soon if she wants to rejuvenate her career, and her life. Barring the deadly battle with a crime syndicate while investigating a corrupt judge three years ago, the scars of which she still carries, her job has ceased to excite her anymore.

When Jeri finally approaches Lacy with her allegations, Lacy is skeptical; a sitting judge being accused of murder is something entirely unheard of in the nation’s judicial history. But Jeri’s persuasion wins and Lacy takes up the case. Severely unequipped to handle such a complicated murder investigation, and unable to involve the mainstream agencies for fear of alerting the judge, Lacy walks a tightrope to ascertain in secret the merits of Jeri’s complaint. The devious judge has his own means of monitoring the murder investigations and soon gets wind of Lucy’s probe. Somebody is on his trail for the first time in twenty-plus years and—simultaneously thrilled and scared—Judge Bannick plans to neutralize the threat before it could take him down.

The Judge’s List by John Grisham—one of the greatest storytellers of our time—hooks the reader immediately with its premise of a serial killer judge and keeps up the grip until the very end. The plot moves forward smoothly, at precisely the right pace, narrated in Grisham’s simple yet engaging prose. The characters—both the major and the minor ones alike—are well crafted and their interactions are entertaining, especially the ones between Lacy and her brother, Gunther. Judge Bannick is sure to be remembered for a long time by readers for his patience and brilliance, and his extreme efforts to avoid getting caught. The ending, while not wholly satisfactory, is unique and feels realistic. As always, I wanted the pages of The Judge’s List to move both fast and slow at the same time—fast, so I get to know what happens in the end quickly, and slow, to let me enjoy Grisham’s storytelling for a bit longer. Some repetition at places and a few unneeded sequences are the only issues—minor ones at that—with this engrossing tale.

The Judge’s List is yet another proof of Grisham’s supreme ability to delight his readers and I wish he keeps doing it again and again!

My sincere thanks to Doubleday Books for the review e-copy in exchange for my honest review! show less