The Guardians: A Novel

I was hooked to the plot from the first 2 pages. Could not put the book down. Will love to see it materialize into a movie. Kudos to John Grisham.

What would happen next? Is he/she a goodie or a baddie? Could not put it down, so compelling. Recommend to anyone with a conscious.

Grisham's characters are not only introduced and developed as the book progresses, I couldn't help but love them. I was drawn into the story of each person on death row. I was moved by the story of the women running this local innocence project!

A little slow initially, but developed quickly for a great ending. **Don't forget to read Author's Note at end. **

Great book

I love novels based on real life. Extremely interesting and informative book.Uplifting yet sad at the same time. Definitely worth reading.

Believable plot, told in the classic Grisham voice, but flawed for some readers by writing for an audience which must be younger, more ignorant and suffering from ADD. Grisham writes a lot about correctional facilities, and having worked prison medical for nearly 30 years in state, federal and private facilities, Mr Grisham gets a lot wrong. Perhaps he doesn't want to contradict the grade C prison movies running in his readers heads. He knows better. He does research. I saw him hanging out at a federal prison I worked for doing research for the Brethren. This is what he does wrong. Security officers in prisons are not called "guards" by anyone who has visited a prison even once. They are generally called security or correction officers or COs. They are not called guards. Some inmates call the "The Police." They don't call them guards. He implies in this work that security cares nothing for inmates. This is perhaps 40% true, but often in State prisons, officers are related to inmates, they are family. The majority of COs came from the military, and I have often seen these officers teach the inmates lessons, giving good advice. And he also casts aspersions on prison medicine, implying that it's inferior to what the inmates could attain on the street. This is untrue in Southern State prisons due to Federal judges who 40 years ago established that the states must provide the same level of medical care as the inmates would receive in not incarcerated and possessed unlimited funds. I don't care to be sued by the BOP, but will only say that the level of care in Federal prisons is inferior to that in Southern State correctional facilities. Finally, the book speaks of Savannah, GA considerably but without apparent knowledge. At one point a couple of characters go out for icecream. I thought it was going to be Leopold's, where any down town resident would go. He writes much more knowledgeably of Memphis where I was a student and completed a residency. He knows Memphis. Finally, Grisham has apparently given up writing for native southerners, born over 50 years ago. The first hint of this is his glee over diversity. I formed the opinion that diversity is something new under the sun for him. Perhaps this is his Mississippi upbringing? I grew up in Atlanta and can assure you that we had a very diverse population. I suspect his comments are to make his new readers feel safe, secure and at home. Mr Grisham is one of them. Enough griping. One should not take the man seriously. But he has do better. Read A Painted House.

This is John Grisham's 33d novel and he is still going strong as a legal novelist. While this latest legal thriller is not a "page turner" like "The Firm," which kept me awake until I finished it, it is a good solid craftsman effort that has many interesting rewards. I have noticed, and discuss in other Grisham reviews, that he is now inclined to use his stories not only to entertain but also to inform. That is, recently he has used his novels to explain and explore a number of key legal developments--including mass torts, death penalty cases, public interest law firms, and state lawyer disciplinary boards-by building them into his novels. I think this only enhances the enjoyment of his legal fiction.Here, he is at it again invoking private jails, prisons as profit centers for their communities, how "snitches" can be bribed into testifying for prosecutors, the abuse of expert witnesses, FBI investigations, blood stain analysis and experts, and DEA investigative techniques. His central character in the novel, both an Episcopalian priest and lawyer (that collar does come in handy in getting into prisons), works for a small public interest law firm whose mission is to exonerate prisoners who have been wrongfully convicted. It is a small version of the well known Innocence Project. Two million folks are incarcerated, one million employees tend to their needs, and $80 billion is the price tag on all this. An estimated 10% of all prisoners are actually innocent of the crimes for which they were convicted. So it is good that Grisham is bringing these important legal actors to our attention.I always enjoy Grisham when he is writing about his southern homeland and its legal systems. The novel runs 370 pages, and I certainly enjoyed it, as well as all his other novels. But as the reader nears the conclusion, while interesting, there is no pounding need to keep reading in search of the big Grisham finish as used to be the case. Perhaps this just reflects Grisham's growing stature as a novelist; he doesn't need people jumping out of skyscraper windows and similar devices to hold his readers' interest. A good, solid Grisham legal mystery and informative as well.

Las dos recientes novelas de Grisham habían dejado algo a desear; a mi parecer The Guardians resulta mejor lograda.

Great book. Read it when it was first launched. Reached out to seller to return since I bought it by mistake but received no reply :-(

La verdad, esta novela no me gustó tanto como todas las demás que ha escrito y que he leído todas, hasta parece que no fue escrita por John Grisham y no digo que este mala, pero no se me hizo de su estilo

Excelente!!!! Buenísima historia.

The narrative of Grisham is even better than his previous books. I am looking forward for his next book.