The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Grisham tackles bungling book thieves
As a diversion, perhaps, from his serious legal thrillers, John Grisham has written a delightfully lighthearted caper novel dealing with black market rare books and stolen manuscripts. The first chapter of “Camino Island,” 37 pages long, is called “The Heist.” On its own, this segment is a brilliant, step-by-step description of what seems to be a perfect crime: burglarizing the most secret, well-protected vault of Princeton University’s library to obtain five priceless handwritten manuscripts that comprise the entire literary opus of F. Scott Fitzgerald.
The perpetrators are five smalltime crooks, and have taken precautions to ensure that betrayal by any individual will result in dire consequences. Immediately after the crime is accomplished, they scatter. Things fall apart when it turns out that one of the thieves has left a drop of blood on the crime scene. He and his partner are apprehended by the FBI.
Their leader, a former Army Ranger named Denny, kills the member who escaped with him, dumping the body in an out-ofthe way swamp without a trace. The fifth man, a techie, flees the country. Denny sells the manuscripts for a paltry sum to a fence who uses a Boston dealer as intermediary, in turn unloading the goods for a much larger price to one Bruce Cable, owner of a respectable bookstore on Camino Island — a fictitious resort island off the Miami coast.
This isn’t a spoiler. It’s just the initial setup of Grishman’s fastmoving, entertaining tale. An underground agency, represented by a sophisticated agent called Elaine, is way ahead of the FBI. Elaine recruits Mercer Mann, a young novelist wrestling with a large student debt, to spy on Cable. Conveniently, Mercer has access to a family home on the island, and before long, she is ensconced in the colorful local literary society — not to mention a romantic entanglement with the bookstore owner.
The main plot concerns Mercer’s adventures on Camino Island. And there is an intriguing element of mystery as to just what role Bruce has played in the disposition of the Fitzgerald manuscripts, whether he has them in his possession and whether he knows (or cares) that they were illegally obtained.
Then there’s the issue of ultimate justice and retribution: who gets away with what and whether crime can really pay off in the end. That’s where Grisham provides us with his biggest twists and surprises.