My rating: 3.5/5
Recently I watched the movie Pelican Brief and was thoroughly intrigued by the film. I suddenly realized that I had never read a book by the author of the movie, John Grisham, and set out to determine what book I wanted to read first. I stumbled upon Camino Island by John Grisham and was instantly enthralled by the synopsis of the novel. A thrilling crime fiction novel with literary intrigue, Camino Island centers around the stolen original manuscripts by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Several plot twists, engaging characters, and intriguing suspense, made this a novel that I hated to put down and read in a few days’ time.
Princeton University is not only known as a premiere educational institution but is popularly known for their possession of the coveted five original manuscripts by the late F. Scott Fitzgerald. Housed in a highly secured vault, only the most professional and experienced criminals would dare to attempt or even succeed at stealing the manuscripts. In Camino Island, a team of five criminal thieves pull off the heist, but not without consequences.
Bruce Cable is the owner of the widely acclaimed independent bookstore, Bay Books, in the small town of Santa Rosa, Florida on Camino Island. As a prominent dealer of rare books, he is also aware of the underground black market of stolen books and manuscripts. His awareness will place him in a potentially dangerous situation, as a mysterious team of professionals and a small team of murderous cons are both attempting to locate the manuscripts.
After over ten years, Mercer Mann returns to Camino Island. While staying in her late grandmother’s cottage, she is reminded of heartfelt memories she has tried to suppress since the tragic passing of her beloved grandmother. Recently approached by the mysterious team of professionals from an equally mysterious company, she is recruited to infiltrate the life of Bruce Cable but is met with potentially dangerous surprises.
Written with the literary masterful prose of John Grisham, Camino Island is a gripping suspense full of mystery and literary intrigue. Aside from the thrilling scenes, I favored the literary references to old and modern books and authors. Lovers of book collecting and true bibliophiles will appreciate this novel, as it references the intricacies of book collecting and book preservation. The characters are well developed and interesting, making it easy to want to continue this three book Camino Island book series. Although this is a crime thriller, there were limited violent scenes with no gore. The novel is also pretty clean with minimal profanity, and two modest closed door sexual scenes. There were no Christian faith content references. I enjoyed this story with its plot twists and element of mystery, and I plan on reading the remaining two books in the series.
#Fiction #Mystery #Thriller
