Ho-hum. The movie was better. ( )

Echoes of my father's influence in my taste in books. Good Memories. Been digging through the trunks of books selecting what I'm shipping across two continents to my new home, found so many by John Grisham, Robert Goddard and the rest of the Detective/Mystery Ratpack. Looking back, I was way too young to be reading any of my dad's books. Then again I was to young to be watching all his cop show Procedurals, this book is literally a core memory. ( )

One of the great Grisham stories, its engaging, evocative and fast paced. The author's expertise in the legal realm pushes the boundaries of this story. It's difficult not to enjoy his work if for no other reason than reader engagement. That said, this is on par with "The Firm" and others affording it appeal across all genres. ( )

“That fool has two nominations. That means eight of the nine will be Republican choices.”
“We won’t recognize the Constitution in ten years. This is sick.”
“Someone or some group wants a different Court, one with an absolute conservative majority.”
“He’ll nominate two Nazis.”

Are these quotes from the actions of the Trump administration? Nope, but they sure do read like it! This book was written in 1992, but it sure does feel timely!

Khamel is killing Supreme Court Justices, but why, and for whom? Could it be the President, who will be able to restructure the Court due to the assassinations? It's a good story, and for the first half or so, a real page turner! But it does run out of steam around then, and I became tired of the chasing-and-just-missing Darby Shaw plotline. I also started to not believe that her character was just not authentic, as she was just too good at evading the professional hitmen and planning out her every move perfectly. I started to wonder if it was going to be revealed that she had had some secret Jason Bourne training that just activated after she witnessed the car bomb. It felt that unreal.

Also, the friendship between Callahan and Verheek, and his relationship with Darby seems stiff and unnatural. And actually, all non-pelican brief dialogue felt stiff and hollow. It just didn't 'sound' like the way real people talk about everyday things. The legal and political dialogue read well, but not the run-of-the-mill stuff. Just my opinion.

In the end, I still think Trump did it. ( )

this was a former CAE set text, so i decided to make my students in the pre-CAE class read it -- mostly because i didn't want to read PD james' the lighthouse ever ever ever again. it was pretty much what i thought it would be, but worse because the "tension" was drawn out way too long, and the exciting climax included way too much typing. ( )