Calico Joe
by John Grisham
Hachette, $29.99
Grisham steps out of the courtroom and on to the baseball field in his latest novel.
The story of a father and son's love-hate relationship is told with Grisham's usual talent for taking the reader to the heart of the story so quickly you don't have time to look up before you are hooked.
Calico Joe is told through the eyes of Paul Tracey, whose father is a professional baseball player. At 13 Paul loves baseball.
He knows who is whom and their form.
He also knows his father isn't that great and that he's a bully.
Then into the baseball scene steps Joe Castle. He hits a home run the first time he steps up to bat.
He starts to break records and it seems the entire baseball world is watching him. He is Paul's idol.
However, an incident involving his father sees the end of this young man's career and is also the final straw in his parent's troubled marriage.
Years later, Paul's father is dying. He thinks it's time to make amends, but will his father agree to his plan and, more importantly to Paul, will Joe Castle agree?
A moving story about family, choices and endings. A fantastic read.
Don't worry if you know nothing about baseball.
Grisham gives a general overview of his favourite game at the beginning of the book.
It's brief and informative and gives readers a general knowledge of the game.
By about 2pm, police determined the package posed no threat.