Ford County Stories by John Grisham

I am a HUGE fan of John Grisham. I've read many of his books and whenever I go book shopping I always end up with a Grisham somewhere in my shopping bag. So I was excited to read his collection of short stories, which I bought at BookXcess for a very reasonable price.

Basic book description

These collection of short stories all take place in a place call Ford County, where life is simple and everybody knows everyone's name.

• Blood Drive: A mercy mission that did not go as planned.

• Fetching Raymond: A glimpse into the last moments of a death-row inmate waiting for salvation

• Fish Files: Small town lawyer catching the break of his life.

• Casino: The ultimate revenge for a broken man.

• Michael's Room: A lawyer comes face to face with his sordid past.

• Quiet Haven: A conman uses his guile and charm to prey on the elderly.

• Funny Boy: A dying man who finds compassion on the wrong side of town.

What I liked about this book

It was refreshing to read a short story collection since I have been quite busy lately. John Grisham manages to always add an interesting twist to his stories. My favourite was Quiet Haven and Michael's Room because they kept me guessing right until the end.

What I disliked about the book

The problem with short stories is that it is quite difficult to establish the characters. Several of the stories seemed to have no purpose and were merely a narration of events. A few had very familiar themes that had been done before (I don't know whether they came first or Grisham came first). Plus, I think the whole book as a series would have been more cohesive there was some connection between each story (like featuring a character from one in a less prominent role in the other).

A quote I like from this book

"Where are we going?" "You're going to hell, I reckon." (Not exactly the answer you want to hear when being held at gunpoint, hehe).

All in all it was an ok read, although I prefer John Grisham's normal novels and am more partial to Jeffrey Archer's short stories.

Rating: 3/5