The Runaway Read

Yes, I read an "adult" book, believe it or not. As I was exiting the metro a month or so ago, on my way to work, not to my car :)--one of the peddlers handed me a flier--usually they're for a discount on your coffee so I usually don't stop and take the coupon. But I took this thing and it turned out to be a little ad for a temporary used book place--give and buy--a few blocks from where I work. Nice. I had a few books lying around that I really wanted to give away, so this was the perfect opportunity.

Of course my fear was that I wouldn't be able to get out of the store without actually buying anything, and I was right. Maybe I should have left my purse at work. I did just use cash, though--money I would have used in the vending machine anyway, right? I was really putting it to better use.

Well, their children's book section was kind of hidden, so I first found my way to the regular fiction area and found a couple that interested me, all for only $1 or maybe $2. How could I possibly resist? I actually picked up a few there and then wandered a little and did find the children's section--hidden in the back. Craziness. Once there, I of course managed to talk myself out of most of the "adult" books. Most. I still had a grip on The Runaway Jury. I was curious about a John Grisham because I'd read his Skipping Christmas a few years ago, a copy my mom bought with the idea that she would read some of these nonstandard stories from well-known authors. I read during my break at home and I liked it.

So of course my curiosity was piqued a little more to by one of Grisham's more standard style, particularly because I'd also liked some of the movies based on his books, and I hadn't seen the movie yet for The Runaway Jury, so I wasn't spoiled to the plot. To make a long story short, I bought it.

Now enough with all the preliminaries, you're saying. What did you think? Get to the point. Get to the point. Okay, okay. I'm getting.

I have to say for the first time in quite awhile I was actually tempted to stay up all night and keep reading. I didn't. I have troubles enough getting up in the morning. I didn't even read it in a single day, but I was kind of glued to the book on Friday night, a lot of Saturday and then again Monday when I finally finished--and did stay up a little later than I like to do so.

To back up a bit, a couple weeks ago I read almost the entire book The Schwa was Here in one sitting, but since that sitting was in an airplane where I didn't have too many other options, I'm not sure how much that counts. I did like that one, though. And actually, it does count in some ways because I had another book for the return flight and I wasn't as captivated--slept a little more on that flight and stuff.

The Runaway was also about twice as long as The Schwa, so in one sitting I did actually read as many pages. Anyway, I'm still digressing. So, actually, while I think that the feeling that you have to read the whole book RIGHT NOW is kind of the way a book is supposed to make you feel, I actually didn't like The Runaway as much as I'd hoped. Of course there were some language issues which I really despise, but also there was a point somewhere in the middle, during their sequestration that I got more than I ever cared to about all of the juror's "sleeping" habits. Of course he wasn't graphic, but the mention of so many of them was really quite disturbing and largely insignificant, especially to the detail he brought it. It was all for glamor, I think. I was actually tempted to not continue reading.

However, the plot did intrigue me, and I kept going. Like, the devil tempted me and I did eat. So you see, Grisham did a pretty good job with the plot to keep me into--using contemporary, controversial issues, and weaving in enough irony, potential irony and suspicion to keep me guessing. After a certain point, I actually figured it out, significantly enough before the end that I was hoping he wouldn't actually end it that way--or at least with enough twists to make it worth my while to finish. But he didn't. It ended predictably. I guess that's why these are on the mass market. I mean I thought the ending was appropriate in that the right people won the trial and everything. I almost would have been more disappointed with some other possible endings. But it still left something wanting for the amount of suspense and suspicion built in along the way, if that makes any sense.

There were other good things, though. As a writer, it was interesting to see his character development, particularly with so many to deal with. I noticed there were a handful of characters that had some sense of personality and yet I had no idea what they looked like other than what I'd conjured with my own imagination based on the personality. And some I got an age sense on where the age wasn't exactly revealed, but later descriptions of their lives revealed I was on target. It was interesting too, how he kept people with similar names separate, but repeating things surrounding their significance in the plot in a non-repetitive way, just as reminders, and built into the new developments being revealed. There was definitely some skill employed and I appreciated the good things about it. I also do have a certain hankering for the suspense kind of thing, and so I'm pondering now what to read next. Maybe I should get back to writing. Hm.