Sparring Partners: Novellas

I was surprised when the Amazon wagon pulled up to my door with John Grisham’s newest book, “Sparring Partners” (2022, 306 pages). Having read all 39 of his previous books for adults, I was expecting a novel; what I received was a collection of three short stories. Perhaps there should have been a warning label on the cover.Homecoming At 123 pages, I suppose the first story would be called a novella (short novel) if it had been published alone, but because it is one of three stories in this book, I’ll stick with my description of it as a short story -- a long short story. It’s interesting and well written, as are the vast majority of Grisham’s works, but it’s like a French movie of the 1950’s or 1960’s. That is, it captures one’s interest and builds the suspense. Then it ends. When I was in college, I saw a lot of foreign films, because that’s what college students of my generation did. I usually enjoyed the French flics, but I often left the theater wondering why there was no resolution. We Americans expect resolution. But we were not occupied by a foreign force during World War II, and I always wondered if that was why French writers and directors left us to wonder how things turned out. In “Homecoming,” the story revolves around a lawyer in Clanton, Mississippi, the setting for the author’s earlier “A Time to Die” and “A Time for Mercy.” This lawyer, familiarly known as Mack, stole money from his clients, left his family, and ran off to various countries in Central America. After a few years, he contacts Jack Brigance (the lawyer in the aforementioned novels) and tells him that he has come home. Will he have to face up to the consequences of his crime? Will he be able to reunite with his daughters? (Hint: French ending.)Strawberry Moon In the second story, Cody Wallace has only two hours to live. He’s 29 years old and has been on Death Row for the past 14 years. A lawyer from a benevolent organization has worked tirelessly for him for years, and he’s out of tactics to delay Cody’s execution. Cody has no family and no friends, so he spends the last moments of his life talking with the warden, prison guard, and priest. Then, a retired schoolteacher shows up in a wheelchair. She’s sent him about 2000 paperback books over the years, and during their conversation, he tells her that books have taken him to “other worlds, other places.”Sparring Partners The last story provides the title for the book, and it’s the story where Grisham really hits his stride. Bolton Molloy, the founder of a prestigious law firm, Molloy & Molloy, is in prison for killing his wife. His sons, Kirk and Rusty, are running the business, but they can’t stand to be in each other’s company. Therefore, Diantha Bradshaw, managing director, takes care of business. Everyone at Molloy & Molloy hopes that Bolton will stay behind bars, but the great man has other plans. A few years ago, he filed as part of a huge class-action suit against tobacco companies, and $3 million per year is piling up in secret off-shore accounts that were set up by Stu Broome, the reclusive accountant. As you might have guessed, Kirk, Rusty, Diantha, and Stu have their own plans for Bolton and his money. This eponymous story, alone, makes reading the book well worthwhile....Jim Glynn

Sparring Partners is a collection of three novellas.Jake Brigance, the hero of Grisham’s novels A Time to Kill, Sycamore Row, and A Time for Mercy, figures prominently in the first novella, Homecoming. Three years prior to the opening of the story, Mark Stafford, another Clanton, Mississippi lawyer, had abruptly divorced his wife, filed for bankruptcy, and disappeared. He wants to come home, but he may have done something illegal. He enlists Jake and Harry Rex (another lawyer familiar to followers of the series) to scope out if there are any active warrants for his arrest.The second story, Strawberry Moon, details the last hours of Cody Wallace, a young man on death row. Fourteen years earlier, when Cody was fifteen, he and his older brother Brian broke into a what they thought was an empty house with the intention of burglarizing it. Unfortunately, the owners were home, and when the husband prepared to defend his home with a shotgun, Brian drew a 9mm and shot both the husband and the wife. Before he succumbed, the husband fired back and killed Brian. Cody was the only one who survived, and he was sentenced to death. Hours before his execution, he receives a visit from a person who made his incarceration bearable. In a series of flashbacks, we learn what Cody’s life was like before his fateful last day of freedom.The third novella is Sparring Partners. The law firm of Malloy & Malloy is run by the two Malloy Brothers, Kirk and Rusty. The founder of the firm, their father, Bolton Malloy, is serving a ten-year sentence for killing their mother, his wife, who no one particularly mourned. Rusty, once a promising trial attorney, has lately been losing his cases, and the firm is in danger of financial ruin. The brothers know their father has a lot of money stashed offshore, and they want to get their hands on some of it. But Bolton has a plan to get out of jail soon.Although I enjoyed reading all three of the stories, I was disappointed with the ending of Homecoming. It felt unfinished.Strawberry Moon was beautifully constructed. We are given Cody’s backstory little by little, and the more we know, the more we long for a different ending. Grisham is an advocate for the wrongly incarcerated. Sadly, there are many Codys in the prison system. Grisham does justice a service by shedding light on their plight.The third story, Sparring Partners, is also effectively structured. As horrible as the Malloys all are, Diantha and Stu, the firm’s long-suffering managing director and accountant, ultimately come out ahead and the Malloys get what they deserve in a very satisfying wrap-up.Together, the three novellas in Sparring Partners are a good read, but not quite as good as Grisham’s full-length legal thrillers.

I am a huge fan of John Grisham and have read all of his books so I thought I would give this a try even though I don't really like short stories. Two of the three stories seem unfinished. There could have been so much more to the story. I gave it 4 stars because it is still great writing but left me wanting to read more so not a 5 star.

Not a typical Grisham in that it’s 3 shorter stories rather than one novel. All three all feel unfinished and could or should have had a lot more added to create a full book in their own right. It’s almost as though they finish mid story with a fair chunk of the start missed out too.Judging from the dates in one of the stories they may have been early in the authors career and maybe left on the shelf unfinished as a result.This just left me disappointed as I’ve really enjoyed the majority of his previous novels. Hopefully his next book will get back to form.

I always buy JG's latest, and of course in terms of output,when a top writer who has to produce something every year, you the reader are bearing the risk of whether it's representative of his best. This is not. 3 short stories non of which are well developed in characterisation or plot.Yes it's always a page turning read but the literary reward is absent. Oh well I guess there is 2023!

3 short stories, not the usual standard

Crime is a cruel matter for short stories and novellas; there just isn't room to develop the plot. With that in mind, Grisham has a fair bash at writing crime stories of this length.

I can find no fault with anything John Grisham writes. His stories are gripping, full of twists and turns and in Strawberry Moon heart achingly poignant. I'm always overjoyed when I see "a new book by John Grisham available soon" and look forward to reading The Boys from Biloxi.