Grisham's "The Appeal"

I am an avid book reader.  My choice in books vary widely from
classics like Steinbeck's "East of Eden", to newer authors like Jeannette Walls ("The Glass Castle") and Edward P. Jones ("A Known World").  But every now and then when I'm browsing the aisle of the bookstore for a good book, overwhelmed by the impressive selection of new authors, I often find myself drifiting back to older authors who used to thrill me for hours.

Grisham, Patterson, Koontz and Sheldon were a few of my authors of choice.  Lately, however, I've found a trend among my favorite authors that an aspiring writer like myself find incredibly disappointing: the older they get the more dreadful their books.

Take "The Appeal" for example.  The book feels more like a personal vendatta against big business (or the Mississippi Supreme Court election process) or a fictionalized editorial by the author instead of a novel.  The ending (which I won't ruin for you) is incredibly disappointing.  Whatever happened to happy endings?  Too cliche?  Not to mention that in the book Grisham mentions a character, Buck, who carries a 9-millimeter gun, is very angry and a known liar.  And?  And nothing...the character is never mentioned in the book again.  Unbelievable!

How sad that some famous authors get paid solely based on the popularity of their name instead of the strength of their story.  If you've read "The Appeal", I'd love to hear  your comments - concurring or dissenting.