Grisham vs. Grisham

I recently finished reading John Grisham's new book The Associate. Grisham has always been one of my favorite fiction authors, but I have to confess that his last few books have been somewhat more predictible and less "addictive". The Associate was a really slow start and took quite a while to hold my interest. It plodded along yet came up with a unpredictible ending. One of his earlier works, The Testament, has been able to maintain its #1 favorite "status" in my own personal top books list. In this earlier work, Grisham seemed to care more about his characters and gave them more personality and realistic flaws. The books theme also had (in my opinion) emphasis on faith and redemption that seem lacking in his more current novels. Not necessarily "faith" in the religious sense but a deeper faith in man and his ability to change and grow. If you've missed The Testament, check it out. It's a very worthwhile read.