Sparring Partners: Novellas

John Grisham

May 2022 · Sold by Vintage

About this ebook

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • John Grisham is the acknowledged master of the legal thriller. In his first collection of novellas, law is a common thread, but America’s favorite storyteller has several surprises in store.
 
“Homecoming” takes us back to Ford County, the fictional setting of many of John Grisham’s unforgettable stories. Jake Brigance is back, but he’s not in the courtroom. He’s called upon to help an old friend, Mack Stafford, a former lawyer in Clanton, who three years earlier became a local legend when he stole money from his clients, divorced his wife, filed for bankruptcy, and left his family in the middle of the night, never to be heard from again—until now. Now Mack is back, and he’s leaning on his old pals, Jake and Harry Rex, to help him return. His homecoming does not go as planned.

In “Strawberry Moon,” we meet Cody Wallace, a young death row inmate only three hours away from execution. His lawyers can’t save him, the courts slam the door, and the governor says no to a last-minute request for clemency. As the clock winds down, Cody has one final request. 

The “Sparring Partners” are the Malloy brothers, Kirk and Rusty, two successful young lawyers who inherited a once prosperous firm when its founder, their father, was sent to prison. Kirk and Rusty loathe each other, and speak to each other only when necessary. As the firm disintegrates, the resulting fiasco falls into the lap of Diantha Bradshaw, the only person the partners trust. Can she save the Malloys, or does she take a stand for the first time in her career and try to save herself?

By turns suspenseful, hilarious, powerful, and moving, these are three of the greatest stories John Grisham has ever told.

Don’t miss John Grisham’s new book, THE EXCHANGE: AFTER THE FIRM!

Ratings and reviews

John Grisham latest book of three novelas is a MAJOR disappointment & MAJOR waste of time! His writing for years now is similar to James Pattersons' style....i.e., marketed for adult readers via murder & theft, but written in childish verbage. His latest offering is over the top simplistic; a sure cure for insomnia! No complex story plot (not much of a plot at all, just talk that goes nowhere), no interesting characters, no reason one wants to continue reading onward. However, if one does continue the endings are so vanilla the reader wants to scold themself for the collosal waste of time. Pablum for adults or maybe suitable for adults in remedial reading sessions!

Three novellas that have been packaged together but, beyond the typically enjoyable Grishom writing style, have little point or substance. I can see why they were never developed into novels.

I loved these Novellas! If I had to rate them, the best one would B "Sparring Partners", #2 "Homecoming & the last one was so sad, "Strawberry Moon".

About the author

John Grisham is the author of forty-seven consecutive #1 bestsellers, which have been translated into nearly fifty languages. His recent books include The Judge's List, Sooley, and his third Jake Brigance novel, A Time for Mercy, which is being developed by HBO as a limited series.
 
Grisham is a two-time winner of the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction and was honored with the Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for Fiction.
 
When he's not writing, Grisham serves on the board of directors of the Innocence Project and of Centurion Ministries, two national organizations dedicated to exonerating those who have been wrongfully convicted. Much of his fiction explores deep-seated problems in our criminal justice system.
 
John lives on a farm in central Virginia.