Tom Mayer: 'Sparring Partners': John Grisham goes for a knockout in his first collection of novellas

May 31—There are six basic punches in the world of boxing, and John Grisham lands three of them in his knockout new offering, "Sparring Partners (Jake Brigance Book 4) (Doubleday).

This collection of three novellas is a first for the author with dozens of best-sellers in his corner, but the resurrection of a popular character gives the project both its subtitle and an air of comforting familiarity — though calling this the fourth Brigance book is a stretch. The fictional lawyer Grisham created to star in three of his most important novels ("A Time to Kill," 1989; "Sycamore Row," 2013; and, "A Time for Mercy," 2020), makes a significant appearance in the first of the novellas, but it's more an accessory role, acting as a foil to the main character.

Still, about those characters: Characterization is a Grisham trademark, and the strength of these three stories is that the author manages to get us novel-invested in the span of much fewer pages than he typically has to work with.

In "Homecoming," we're back in Ford County and Brigance is called upon for help from an old friend, although not as an attorney. Former lawyer Mack Stafford earned both secret admiration (from his old colleagues) and blatant scorn (from everyone else) when he stole nearly $400,000 from his clients, divorced his wife, filed for bankruptcy and vanished, leaving his family behind. When Jake gets an envelope from Mack containing a note and enough cash for a weekend trip to Costa Rica with his wife, all he's asked for in return is to bring back a message and tender the response.

Mack, living well in paradise, has buyer's remorse and wants to reestablish a relationship with his two teenage daughters. For all of his despicable actions, Mack is unexpectedly sympathetic, but the denouement is whether his family will want a renewed relationship.

In "Strawberry Moon," the capstone and most touching of the book, Grisham brings us to death row, where 29-year-old Cody Wallace sits just hours before his execution for a robbery-turned-murder committed when he was 14. Cody's age at the time of the crime and that he didn't pull the trigger support a subtle theme that runs through the story, and the appearance of an aged pen-pal, a Midwestern woman who had been his sole correspondent and donor, advances some of the most tender dialogue the author has ever offered. The formerly illiterate inmate's cell is a miniature library and bastion of hope because of Miss Iris' gifts throughout the years.

"I had to use a dictionary just to read some of your letters," Cody tells his benefactor. "I loved the words, but I craved the stories. They took me away from here, took me all over the world, in this century, last century, the next century. They set my imagination on fire and I realized I was not going crazy, like everybody else around here." Minutes later, Cody is on his final walk, escorted by a friendly jailer from whom he asks one last favor. The request is against the rules but hard to refuse — and could easily get the guard fired.

The title story is the last of the book and the most "lawyerish" of the group. It also comes like a jab: While the first stories are warmhearted, the third is a mean-spirited brawl between two brothers and their father — an uber-dysfunctional family of lawyers.

Bolton Malloy, disbarred from the firm he created, is in prison for killing his wife. That the main sentiment of the murder is that Bolton wasn't careful enough in covering up the crime indicates how disagreeable the victim was, and from this partnership came Rusty and Kirk, two lawyer sons who detest each other.

Because their father forced them to sign an agreement that would result in acute penalties were they to leave Malloy & Malloy, their bond is indissoluble and toxic. The only thing that could make their situation more poisonous would be for Bolton to rejoin the firm, and when their father comes up with a scheme to get out of prison, the boys devise a plan to keep him where he is. Add a seemingly sympathetic office manager who turns out to be as thoroughly disagreeable and manipulative as the rest of the cast, and by the end of the tale you just want everyone to go down on a TKO.

Grisham's fans will enjoy the dysfunction, betrayal and compassion of this solid beach read, but better, it's also the warm up to a main event. Grisham announced in May that Doubleday will publish an as-yet unnamed legal thriller centering on the Dixie Mafia in October.