February 26, 2021 - Staff Reviews

 Staff Reviews

Camino Winds

By John Grisham

Release Date: April 28, 2020

Audiobook Available from WV Reads!

https://wvreads.overdrive.com/wvreads-wvlc/content/media/5115438

1 Star - Honestly, I hadn't been able to get into Camino Island so I was a bit behind with this sequel. Bruce's bookstore makes for an intriguing set piece for the unfolding mystery. His quirky life in South Florida is avoiding hurricanes and holding writer parties and groups worthy of the 1920s. But I have to admit, it was all just a little too weird for me from the start.

Grisham's characters here are interesting but I couldn't call them relatable. I pretty much only sank into Bruce's life, not the other cast of misfits. Maybe Grisham knows a lot of wacky writers but I don't know any real people like this. Or maybe he just had too much fun making them up. While I think his intention was that these unbelievably hilarious and wonderfully non-judgemental people are writing stories for the world to enjoy, I felt like they were mocking us average and less eccentric types.

I will say that there's something so enjoyable about getting immersed in a warm setting while reading in a cold winter. Grisham's trademark prose and style are here. And that part is also enjoyable. Like so many Grisham fans, I guess I just long for his old courtroom thrillers. Michael Beck, in my opinion, is a poor choice of narrator for Grisham's work. His Southern accents are deplorable, hard to understand and garbled, and the dialouge is overdone. He does a decent job with the descriptive half of the story. The book itself might have been a 2 star read but the audio is definitely lower. Now, I won't say there isn't some good stuff here for another reader to like. This little writer world he's created is vivid and the story could be lots of fun for fans of Ernest Hemingway and Agatha Christie. But anyone who is fan of Grisham's older work and looking for a gritty mystery I doubt will be impressed by more than the atmosphere.

(NS)