The Guardians: A Novel

After his last two books, which were - quite frankly - abysmal, to say the least, Grisham to returns to what he knows best: the legal thriller.The characters, plot and writing are reminiscent of his earlier books and it was a joy finding that Grisham's talent is not entirely gone. A few circumstances sort "fell into the plot" to make it move faster, granted, but overall I enjoyed the story and found it worthy of all five stars.If you're a fan of old Grisham, then this is the book for you.

Grisham hits it out of the park with this one. When a trial weary attorney suffers a breakdown and leaves the practice of law for seminary, the novel sets the scene for the exoneration for wrongful imprisonments of many innocent people. Based on a true story, this one is Grisham at his finest.

This is John Grisham's 33d novel and he is still going strong as a legal novelist. While this latest legal thriller is not a "page turner" like "The Firm," which kept me awake until I finished it, it is a good solid craftsman effort that has many interesting rewards. I have noticed, and discuss in other Grisham reviews, that he is now inclined to use his stories not only to entertain but also to inform. That is, recently he has used his novels to explain and explore a number of key legal developments--including mass torts, death penalty cases, public interest law firms, and state lawyer disciplinary boards-by building them into his novels. I think this only enhances the enjoyment of his legal fiction.Here, he is at it again invoking private jails, prisons as profit centers for their communities, how "snitches" can be bribed into testifying for prosecutors, the abuse of expert witnesses, FBI investigations, blood stain analysis and experts, and DEA investigative techniques. His central character in the novel, both an Episcopalian priest and lawyer (that collar does come in handy in getting into prisons), works for a small public interest law firm whose mission is to exonerate prisoners who have been wrongfully convicted. It is a small version of the well known Innocence Project. Two million folks are incarcerated, one million employees tend to their needs, and $80 billion is the price tag on all this. An estimated 10% of all prisoners are actually innocent of the crimes for which they were convicted. So it is good that Grisham is bringing these important legal actors to our attention.I always enjoy Grisham when he is writing about his southern homeland and its legal systems. The novel runs 370 pages, and I certainly enjoyed it, as well as all his other novels. But as the reader nears the conclusion, while interesting, there is no pounding need to keep reading in search of the big Grisham finish as used to be the case. Perhaps this just reflects Grisham's growing stature as a novelist; he doesn't need people jumping out of skyscraper windows and similar devices to hold his readers' interest. A good, solid Grisham legal mystery and informative as well.

I have read this book and it's fantastic! I do like John G's books but this one really knocks it out of the park. It is the proverbial page-turner. READ THIS BOOK!!!! And then Google Centurion the organization he based his character on.

Because of The Rooster Bar and Reckoning I had reservations on The Guardians. I am glad that I did buy the book because I really enjoyed it.

I received this book from Amazon and read it in 2 days. It would have been sooner; however, I do have life to live.The plot, characters, and action of this novel are simply perfect. They merely needed John Grisham to bring them to life as a legal thriller. How exciting can a novel about death row convicts regaining their freedom and being declared innocent be? In this instance, it can all be pretty exciting and enlightening. The novel is a page-turner from the beginning; and it never lets up. We readers see a number of death row inmates reclaim their freedom, while we get a intensive look into our American justice system's failures in assuring that the innocent go free and the guilty face justice. Thank God for organizations like Centurian and the Innocence Project. Justice would not work without them!Other reviewers have commented that other Grisham novels have not been up to par; but I have found his novels remarkably consistent in quality, although varying in legal topics. Each is a lesson in what the American Judicial System really is and how it works in the real world. That is a unique service that Grisham provides for us all.My congratulations on another stunning achievement for John Grisham; and I personally hope to be reading many more of his novels to come. Can the movie of this one be far behind????

Never read a John Grisham novel that I didn't love. His books are always well researched and extremely well written.

This is the most disappointingly, inaccurate piece of crap I have ever read by a person with a law degree and, as a lawyer,I have read some pretty outlandish submissions by attorneys! It mischaracterizes our justice system in a dangerous and irresponsible manner. It is clear that selling books has reached an all new low. I am a prosecutor with twenty years of experience and am astounded at the lack of understanding of the ethical responsibilities that nearly all prosecutors adopt and strive to fulfill. In my world, we often have to ensure that accused are adequately represented by their often unqualified attorneys. I have enjoyed many of Mr. Grisham’s novels, but I will never waste my money on another. I couldn’t even make it through this one! I gave it one star for looking like it would be a good book enough to sucker me into buying it.

It's not often I spend £10.99 on a Kindle book but I always do to buy the latest Grisham. Yes he turns one out every year and frankly the quality of that offering has been variable of late. He is back to full on legal process and as usual he is well researched and credible. However I found the novel, although very readable to be somewhat tedious in it's early pages content and repetitive as he jumps from one innocent prisoner's situation to another. However on balance if you like legal novels then this is certainly worth a read and no doubt will be available at a lower price point after launch. By about 45% read it does start to gain that unique Grisham momentum!

Difficult for the non-lawyers but masterly none the same. If the American legal system is as corrupt as described it is horrendous. Well done John Grisham for describing its flaws.

I was worried when I started reading this Grisham novel that it was just going to be the same again - he’s written the story of a man on death row over and over again - but it managed to retain my interest and tell an interesting story from a slightly different angle.It does feel though like this is a bit cookie cutter - Grisham can clearly output legal thrillers almost with his eyes shut now, and his other works seem to be the ones that have more interesting characters and plots, exploring other genres. The narrative here is perfunctory and dry - the classic Grisham move of sticking to fact fact fact, and not adding emotion or colour - it does read a bit like it’s being narrated by a neutral lawyer rather than someone passionate.An enjoyable read, but not particularly anything special - and I am beginning to wonder whether I want to keep investing my time in reading Grisham’s output.

This is an excellent read and one of John Grisham's best novels of late. He has always been one of my favourite authors, particularly his legal tales.The Guardians are a small organisation dedicated to freeing those languishing in jail following a wrongful conviction. They are always short of money and run the risk of retribution from organised crime gangs.Classic Grisham and well worth a read!

Some iffy dialogue but a cracking unputdownable story in the classic Grisham style. The fact that it’s based on a true story is the kicker.