This chapter contains, and I mean that in the truest sense of the word, the bad guy action. I guess there are only so many ways you can describe one man threatening another with strangulation, but I do appreciate at least a stab at originality.
Some Grisham readers say that "Camino Island" is Grisham-light and that his other books are more thrill-worthy. I will have to trust them - because I don't plan to read anymore Grisham. But I do wonder why the thrills in this book are so by-the-book.
Take this scene that reads more like a description of every scene that eventually happens in detective TV films and series -
'With an iron grip he grabbed Jazik's throat and rammed his head against the back wall of the elevator. "Don't talk to me like that. A message for your client. One wrong word to the FBI and people will get hurt. We know where his mother lives, and we know where your mother lives too."
Jazik's eyes bulged as he dropped his briefcase. He grabbed the stranger's s arm but the death grip just got tighter. '
and even in detective books:
'In desperation she tried to jerk herself free from Hank. But her captor gripped her more securely and laughed as she cried out in pain.
[...]
"Let me go!"
[She] twisted and squirmed, but her efforts only made Hank tighten his grip. "Good thing you got her, Hank, " Maurice Hale called. "The little wildcat. We'll give her a double dose for this smart trick. No [one's] going to put anything over on me!"'
Can you tell which is Nancy Drew and which is Grisham? Neither can I.
Further reading:
Writers and non-writers alike know that it takes mastery to write a finished story that is coherent and even mildly interesting. I am not taking anything away from Grisham - he is just not my cup of tea.
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