TheWhistler by John Grisham
features Lacy Stoltz. She’s an investigator on the Board of Judicial Conduct, a
sleepy bureaucracy that monitors judges. Through unlikely circumstances, she
becomes involved in an enormous corruption case involving Indian casinos, money
laundering, murder, and a corrupt judge. As the story progresses, the scope of
the crimes continues to grow. A fast-moving legal thriller.
The case opens with the secretive Ramsey
Mix, living about a boat with the alias Greg Myers. He has information about a
corrupt judge and a criminal organization (Coast Mafia or Catfish Mafia).
Stoltz has never heard of the “Mafia” and the judge is highly rated. She has no
reason to believe Greg Myers or Ramsey Mix, whatever his name might be. To make
matters worse, his information comes from an unnamed middle person representing
an unknown informer.
Lacy Stolz and her partner Hugo Hatch
are lawyers, no badges, no guns. This is really something for the FBI, but Greg
Myers won’t work with the FBI, and the FBI is not interested (“tracking sleeper
cells and narco-traffickers was far more exciting than hounding derelict
judges.”)
John Grisham’s early novels dealt with
contemporary topics and often ended with negotiated settlements where both sides
compromised for the good of society. Much of the tension came from the
difficulty of judging which side had the better case. This book is an Old Testament
story of good and evil and plenty of old fashion vengeance. It is a great story
of the smart, good guys defeating the dumb, bad guys.
No ambiguity. Not one bad guy escapes unpunished,
nor do any good guys not get rewarded.
As usual, Grisham delivers excitement and
surprises. While his earlier novels presented important topics and often ended
with ambiguous results reflecting the complexity of these issues. This is a black-and-white
tale of good defeating evil.
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