The Racketeer
John Grisham, 2012
★ 3.91 from 121.8k ratings on Goodreads
A disbarred lawyer in a minimum-security federal camp explains the rules of his new life—and what a man with nothing left can do with them. A brisk, dryly funny prison-yard voice keeps you curious and slightly uneasy about how much the narrator is steering.
Feels like curiosity, unease and joy. About power and adventure.
Who it’s for
You may like it if you enjoy legal thrillers with a scheming insider voice and a satirical edge. Some readers found the lead unlikeable and the plotting implausible, so expect a divisive, talky ride rather than a warm character study.
Why read it
It offers a wry look at federal prison rules and lawyerly gamesmanship, with enough uncertainty to make you want the next chapter.
A page from the book
Divorce papers arrive by mail, and prison has its own rules about tears.
Eight months and six days after I began my time, I received a thick envelope. Prisoners crave mail, but this was one package I could have done without. It was from a law firm in Fairfax, Virginia, one that represented my wife, who, surprisingly, wanted a divorce. In a matter of weeks, Dionne had gone from being a supportive wife, dug in for the long haul, to a fleeing victim who desperately wanted out. I couldn’t believe it. I read the papers in absolute shock, my knees rubbery and my eyes wet, and when I was afraid I might start crying, I hustled back to my cell for some privacy. There are a lot of tears in prison, but they are always hidden. What readers say
Readers split sharply: many found it gripping, fun, and twisty; others were disappointed and bored, citing an unlikeable lead, implausible plotting, and weak character development.
John Grisham.Before writing, Grisham practiced criminal defense and personal-injury law in Mississippi and served in the state House from 1983 to 1990.
Books that feel like this
More by John Grisham
The Rainmaker
John Grisham, 1995
A broke law student sues an insurance company for a family it refused to help, and finds out what a lawsuit really costs.
The Pelican Brief
John Grisham, 1992
A law student's hunch about two murdered Supreme Court justices makes her the target of a hunt she never asked for.
The Street Lawyer
John Grisham, 1985
A young associate witnesses a terrifying heist in a high-stakes law firm, forcing him to confront the true power structures that lie beneath the veneer of corporate justice.
Where to get it
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Questions readers ask
- Is The Racketeer for me?
- You may like it if you enjoy legal thrillers with a scheming insider voice and a satirical edge. Some readers found the lead unlikeable and the plotting implausible, so expect a divisive, talky ride rather than a warm character study.
- What is The Racketeer like?
- A brisk, dryly funny prison-yard voice keeps you curious and slightly uneasy about how much the narrator is steering. Feels like curiosity, unease and joy. About power and adventure.
- What should I read after The Racketeer?
- If you liked The Racketeer, try The Circle (Dave Eggers), I, Robot (Isaac Asimov) and Wicked (Gregory Maguire).
A taste of the feed
The strange comfort of learning that no one was ever in charge.
“But you are telling me, Susan, that the ‘Society for Humanity’ is right; and that Mankind has lost its own say in its future.” “It never had any, really. It was always at the mercy of economic and sociological forces it did not understand—at the whims of climate, and the fortunes of war. Now the Machines understand them; and no one can stop them, since the Machines will deal with them as they are dealing with the Society,—having, as they do, the greatest of weapons at their disposal, the absolute control of our economy.” “How horrible!” “Perhaps how wonderful! Think, that for all time, all conflicts are finally evitable. Only the Machines, from now on, are inevitable!”
I, Robot · Isaac Asimov
What it costs to be the last person in the room still disagreeing.
The truth isn’t a thing of fact, or reason. It’s simply what everyone agrees on.
Wicked · Gregory Maguire
When the lights go out, what is the first thing you see in the dark?
Cracks of thunder follow; the skies grow dark and the rains come. A deluge, pounding the angry waters taken by surprise, distorting vision, crashing down on the giant spray, Geneva’s trademark on the lake, the jet d’eau, that geyser designed by man to dazzle man. When sudden revelations come, the gigantic fountain dies. All the fountains die and without the sunlight the flowers wither. The bright reflections are gone and the mind is frozen.
The Aquitaine Progression · Robert Ludlum
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