Book 181: The Rooster Bar by John Grisham (Audiobook)

This review is late because my brother was in town and I was so crazy busy I did not have time to finish my books.

Although it was not my favorite John Grisham novel of all time (that honor is reserved for The Rainmaker), The Rooster Bar was a fun read. The plot was inventive and had twists and turns that I really loved.

D.C. law students Mark, Todd, Zola, and their friend Gordy find themselves in a no-win situation in their final year of school. They're all deep in debt, without any good job prospects, even though they've been promised by their law school that their ensuing careers will give them the edge they need to get ahead of the student loans and make bank. Three of the friends embark upon a journey that has all the promise of making them rich, or at least breaking even. In the end, the decisions they make lead them to an ending no one could have guessed. At least, I didn't.

As all of my readers already know, I finished my master's degree in 2017. Even with tuition assistance from my employer, I still owe more than $60,000 in student loans, so this aspect of this book was familiar territory, and I felt I could commiserate with the characters in The Rooster Bar. (Hey Congress, want to score points with voters? Forgive student loans.)

As I said, The Rooster Bar was not my favorite Grisham read, and here's the reason: I love John Grisham's ability to weave a complex, multi-dimensional story. The Rooster Bar was sort of like John Grisham Light. Maybe you'll disagree, but that was my impression.

Ari Fliakos did a great job on narration - I thought his voices were wonderful.

The Rooster Bar was another loan from my dear coworker, Sherry, who kept me supplied with excellent audio books throughout 2017. As soon as I finished one, she had another one on deck. It's always nice to have someone like that around.

😊😊😊

Book 153: The Whistler by John Grisham - Audiobook read by Cassandra Campbell

The Whistler was a loan from my coworker Sherry who keeps me stocked with audiobooks she buys and shares with her mom and people in our office. (I can't keep up with her!) I listened to this awhile ago but wanted to make sure it appeared on my blog.

True to form, Grisham applied his legal expertise to this novel to bring it to life. I always learn something when I read his novels, and in this case it was about judicial review, jurisdictions, Indian reservation law, and forensics. Pretty interesting stuff, if you ask me.

For the most part, The Whistler kept my attention, although it got a little slow toward the middle. Just as he was losing me, Grisham whipped up a new twist that kept me going through the end. Still, I wasn't sold on every part of the book; there were elements that I as a mother did not find convincing.

Like many of the books I read and review on this blog, I don't want to tell you so much you don't need to read (or listen to) the book yourself. Instead, I'll just say that the characters were bold and interesting, the story line was good, and the author kept me guessing until the end.