BOOKS: Sparring Partners: John Grisham

Jul. 16—John Grisham books can be disappointing.

Not all of them but some.

Others are satisfying. Even great reads. So satisfying that Grisham fans keep coming back for his new titles even after a disappointing one.

"Sparring Partners" is Grisham at his best.

The book contains three novellas that are at turns brutal, funny, insightful and even heartwarming.

In "Homecoming," Jake Brigance returns. Brigance, a fictional Mississippi attorney, has been the main character of a few Grisham novels, including "A Time to Kill."

In many ways, Jake Brigance and some of the regular characters from his novels are all just backup characters in "Homecoming."

Mack Stafford wants to come home, or at least visit his daughters back home and maybe even see the dying ex-wife he abandoned a few years earlier. Mack absconded with the majority of a $500,000 settlement for a handful of clients. He abandoned his family and disappeared.

Now, he contacts Jake Brigance with the hope of returning to the states. Jake helps Mack return to the South and visit his oldest daughter. But the heart of the story lies in those meetings between Mack and his daughter.

"Strawberry Moon" is the soul of "Sparring Partners." Grisham delves into the last day of a death row inmate. Cody is only 29 years old. He's been jailed since he was 14 years old, convicted and sentenced to death in connection with the violent death of homeowners during a burglary.

He meets the older woman who's been sending him hundreds of books through the years. He questions the rules that dictate his last day. Cody is ready to face his fate, but in the moments leading to his death, he changes his mind on a few things. And he has one last request as Grisham reveals the events that led to him spending half of his young life on death row.

"Sparring Partners" is the last novella and is about two sons who followed in their father's footsteps to become attorneys. Their father has been sent to prison, leaving the practice to his two sons. The brothers are total opposites. One is Republican, the other Democrat. One likes the opera, the other sports.

They have split the offices down the middle and rarely speak to one another. It's up to their mediator, the woman who runs their offices, to either save the firm or voice her thoughts for the first time in years.

"Sparring Partners," the book, is must-read Grisham.