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The Racketeer: A Novel Kindle Edition

4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 71,504 ratings

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The Racketeer is guilty of only one thing: keeping us engaged until the very last page.”—USA Today In the history of the United States, only four active federal judges have been murdered. Judge Raymond Fawcett has just become number five.

His body is found in his remote lakeside cabin. There is no sign of forced entry or struggle. Just two dead bodies: Judge Fawcett and his young secretary. And one large, state-of-the-art, extremely secure safe, opened and emptied.
 
One man, a former attorney, knows who killed Judge Fawcett, and why. But that man, Malcolm Bannister, is currently residing in the Federal Prison Camp near Frostburg, Maryland. Though serving time, Malcolm has an ace up his sleeve. He has information the FBI would love to know. Malcolm would love to tell them. But everything has a price—and the man known as the Racketeer wasn’t born yesterday.

Don’t miss John Grisham’s new book, THE EXCHANGE: AFTER THE FIRM!
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Popular Highlights in this book

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The Racketeer was one of Amazon's mystery/thriller Best Books of the Month picks for October. A Q&A with the author:

Describe The Racketeer in one sentence.

A federal judge is murdered, and our hero in prison knows who did it, and why.

What's on your nightstand/bedside table/Kindle?

Ian McEwan’s latest novel, Sweet Tooth; a friend’s manuscript; and a Kindle Fire loaded with daily newspapers, magazines, and about three dozen books.

Top 3-5 favorite books of all time?

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; A Confederacy of Dunces; The Grapes of Wrath; Little Drummer Girl

Important book you never read?

There are so many. Atlas Shrugged, though I’ve been told for the past 30 years that it’s unreadable.

Book that made you want to become a writer?

To Kill a Mockingbird made me question race for the first time in my young, insulated, white life. It also inspired me to try and write something great.

Memorable author moment?

I received a note from Harper Lee, along with an autographed first edition of To Kill A Mockingbird.

What's your most prized/treasured possession?

A first edition of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, signed by the author.

Pen envy - book you wish you'd written?

Harry Potter – he’s the only dude I can’t outsell.

Author crush - who's your current author crush?

I’m 57 years old. Crushes are for sophomores.

What's favorite method of procrastination? Temptation? Vice?

Don’t get me started. I can waste enormous amounts of time, and with no guilt whatsoever. Currently, I’m doing so on the golf course, playing a game that I took up only four years ago and is driving me nuts.

What do you collect?

First editions, primarily Faulkner, Hemingway, and Steinbeck.

Best piece of fan mail you ever got?

The letter began: “As the newly elected President of the Arkansas Bar Association, it is incumbent upon me to suggest various topics for your future novels……” I don’t think I finished reading the letter.

What's next for you?

I’m hard at work on Theo 4 - “Theodore Boone, The Activist.”

>See all of John Grisham's books.

>Read a New York Times review of The Racketeer

(author photo by Bob Krasner)

Review

Critical Acclaim for the Undisputed Master of the Legal Thriller

“With every new book I appreciate John Grisham a little more, for his feisty critiques of the legal system, his compassion for the underdog, and his willingness to strike out in new directions.”—
Entertainment Weekly

“John Grisham is exceptionally good at what he does—indeed, right now in this country,  nobody does it better . . . Grisham’s books are also smart, imaginative, and funny, populated by complex interesting people, written by a man who is driven not merely by the desire to entertain but also by genuine (if understated) outrage at human cupidity and venality.”—Jonathan Yardley,
The Washington Post

“The secrets of Grisham’s success are no secret at all. There are two of them: his pacing, which ranges from fast to breakneck, and his theme—little guy takes on big conspiracy with the little guy getting the win in the end. —
Time

“The law, by its nature, creates drama, and a new Grisham promises us an inside look at the dirty machineries of process and power, with plenty of an entertainment.” – Los Angeles Times

“John Grisham is about as good a storyteller as we’ve got in the United States these days.”—
The New York Times Book Review

“Grisham is a marvelous storyteller who works readers the way a good trial lawyer works a jury.”—
The Philadelphia Inquirer

“John Grisham owns the legal thriller.”—
The Denver Post

“John Grisham is not just popular, he is one of the most popular novelists of our time. He is a craftsman and he writes good stories, engaging characters, and clever plots.”—
The Seattle Times

“A mighty narrative talent and an unerring eye for hot-button issues.”—Chicago Sun-Times
 
“A legal literary legend.”—
USA Today

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B007SGLZP8
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Vintage (October 23, 2012)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 23, 2012
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 4269 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 353 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 71,504 ratings

About the author

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John Grisham
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John Grisham is the author of forty-seven consecutive #1 bestsellers, which have been translated into nearly fifty languages. His recent books include The Boys From Biloxi, The Judge's List, Sooley, and his third Jake Brigance novel, A Time for Mercy, which is being developed by HBO as a limited series.

Grisham is a two-time winner of the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction and was honored with the Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for Fiction.

When he's not writing, Grisham serves on the board of directors of the Innocence Project and of Centurion Ministries, two national organizations dedicated to exonerating those who have been wrongfully convicted. Much of his fiction explores deep-seated problems in our criminal justice system.

John lives on a farm in central Virginia.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
71,504 global ratings
THE BEST OF THE BEST.........
5 Stars
THE BEST OF THE BEST.........
Extremely well written, out of the ordinary, many twists and turns, and held my interest up till the very end. You never go wrong choosing a John Grisham book!
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Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2024
I haven't quite finished reading but his books are always a good read light reading I like his writing style good story
Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2012
According to other reviewers, this is Grisham taking a break from serious fiction. Are they kidding? Is not the mark of a good commercial writer the ability to write page-turning prose that's fresh, fast, and sells a cajillion copies? I have always thought that one of the reasons Grisham is still a top-ranking author is because he hasn't succumbed to "series seizure" like so many of his peers. He continues to develop great plots, interesting characters, and the only thing that ties them all together is that they revolve around the law somehow.

This book is fast, fun, and utilizes a unique twist on foreshadowing. Facts are revealed intermittently and only when the main character, Malcolm, decides to release the info. If you read too fast, you'll miss a couple so I suggest you re-read a couple of pages if you feel you've missed something important; odds are you have.

I think it's one of his best. Admitting (in the afterword) that he did little research and that none of the basic locations and situations resemble reality was probably his consience warning him that critics would nail him for that. As a fellow writer, I love the fact that he made a lot of the *&^% up. That's the license that comes with writing creative fiction. Who says we have to verify everything to be factual and accurate in all regards? If it makes sense at the time and the reader isn't left with a "that wouldn't work" feeling, then it's great writing...even greater big screen fodder.

Malcolm, Vanessa, Quinn and Cooley are ripe characters for a fun and frivolous flick in the vein of the popular heist movies of the 80s and 90s. The actors would be lighthearted but believeable: Maybe Jamie Foxx if he can rein it in a bit. Even the FBI foil, Westlake, would be well played by a serious Kevin James.

I enjoyed this book and I hope Grisham continues to create new characters, new rackets, and fresh endings (in this one, the bad guys/good guys/right guys get away). Because it's fun. Can't say the same with some other so-called best selling authors who have slipped into the mire of repetitive characters, plots and endings, disguising them as fresh new fiction. At least Grisham offers something new every time. I hope he's having as much fun doing that as I am reading the end results.
3 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2023
There are many ways to escape prison, and Malcolm Bannister, 43, is black, the only black ex-attorney at the Maryland prison campuses to escape. Malcolm is serving a ten-year sentence for his involvement in a crime he did not commit. Malcolm Bannister is now halfway through a ten-year sentence. He has come with some inside knowledge of events surrounding the death of a federal judge, which links to witness protection, drugs, Jamaicans, and some heavy bad guys. Bannister creates a charade of proof that enables him to convince the FBI to guarantee his safety, help him surgically change his appearance, and give him the reward money. Once he receives his freedom and reward money, he'll tell them about the judge's killer. Of course, the feds initially think he's just another inmate trying to get a Rule 35 ruling to get himself out of prison. Bannister is Grisham's longish, complex tale of cat and mouse. Every character in the book is believable, and though some of the plot turns seem improbable, the reader never quite knows whether things are going to work out for Bannister before he makes his plan work when he meets an accomplice and becomes involved in a lasting romance that leads to a new and most satisfying conclusion.
There are plenty of surprises along the way. As ever, a solid, unflashy performance by Grisham. The book is an action-packed and riveting story.
7 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2013
Remember THE FIRM? It was Grisham's break-out second book, and just as ridiculous as this one. I remember thinking it was a lawyer's (Grisham's) wet dream. This is his second. I didn't realize how moist the vision was (the firm) when I read it. Only recently have I learned that Grisham "never managed to make any money" as a lawyer. Now he makes a great deal of money as a former lawyer, and delights in telling us how someone else could do it.

This is a fascinating book, although I am amazed that fully half the reviews gave him a whopping 5 stars. It just doesn't deserve that. There are far better writers in the genre. What he does have is an always winning narrative style that sucks you in and makes it easy to keep reading; although in this one he got really sloppy. He's breezing along with one narrative path, then digs up a private eye and chases another one to the true object of the book. The "real" murderer.

While he has history with this guy, we are given no clue of this that I could find. I read seventy or eighty pages and ended up watching my protagonist working his scam in a Jamaica jail. I was convinced I must have missed something, some reference that, however quick or oblique, made this sudden divergence in the dialogue make sense. If I missed it, I was unable to find it with several hours of scanning. The good news is I learned to use some features of the Kindle that makes it a truly neat product. I "searched", and I moved from chapter to chapter quickly. That part was rewarding. I finally gave up and finished the book confident that Grisham would tie it up in the end.

He did. It's a brilliant story. An amazing scam. But, again unless I missed something, his hero was an accessory before the fact to a brutal murder, torture and robbery. I got the impression he was plotting the scam in prison before the murder was committed. Shame on you Malcolm/Max/John!

I'll bet Grisham wrote this--actually wrote this--in just a couple of weeks from musings he's had for years. I think it was a page turner for him as well as us. (I confess, the story really hooked me, but Grisham's no Scott Thurow.) Further, I'd be surprised if he even gave it a second reading, much less a careful edit. I recommend it, but reluctantly.

Top reviews from other countries

David Sharples
5.0 out of 5 stars Riveting
Reviewed in Canada on April 14, 2023
It felt like I was with the characters. The story continued to grow and became more interesting with every chapter.
One person found this helpful
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Subra
5.0 out of 5 stars who is a Racketeer
Reviewed in India on October 1, 2023
One who uses his brain and is bold. You cannot leave it to chance / circumstances.
Good holiday read
Subra
Linda + Leo
5.0 out of 5 stars EXCELLENT
Reviewed in Spain on January 6, 2021
John GRISHAM is the best: he cannot write books quickly enough for me & my wife to literally devour them.
And, as we live in southern Spain, getting the original english versión is only possible through Amazon...
Norman William
5.0 out of 5 stars Remarkable and entertaining
Reviewed in Germany on December 6, 2020
It requires no great leap of faith to believe that major corporations destroying nature to line their pockets would stop at nothing to gain their ends. It also does not beggar belief that corrupt officials should be willing to aid and abet such criminals for a price. The arrogance of power, the bumbling ineptitude and resort to intimidation as their default setting by the various and sundry alphabet agencies of a government playing only lip service to the notion of democracy is guaranteed to get the blood boiling and the sympathies of the reader squarely on the side of the protagonists and their scheme to gain freedom and affluence from a posture of undeserved adversity. Of course, as a Grisham fan, I confess to some bias on his behalf.
ian
5.0 out of 5 stars What a great read
Reviewed in Australia on December 13, 2022
It was so refreshing to find a book that captured and kept your attention from beginning to end
Grisham is an excellent story teller and it is hard to go wrong reading any of his books
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