The Whistler

by John Grisham
374 pgs

I used to be a religious reader of John Grisham’s books. I used to buy them the day they were published and begin reading them immediately. Now, not so much. Before reading The Whistler, the last of his books I read was The Confession, and that was six years ago. It was when he started writing more non-legal thrillers that I started losing interest in his books, and eventually, even those began to lose some of their appeal to me. But because of books like A Time to Kill, The Firm, and The Chamber, I still pick his books up when they come out and at least read the dust jacket flaps to see what they’re about. With The Whistler, doing so paid off.

The story centers around Lacy Stoltz, an investigator for the Florida Board of Jucidicial Conduct. Basically, she investigates judges suspected of corruption. As the book begins, Lacy and her partner, Hugo Hatch, are contacted by a man claiming to have information about Claudia McDover, information that if true, would make her the most corrupt judge in the history of America.

The man is an ex-con who lives on his boat and is an intermediary to “the Whistler,” an anonymous whistle-blower close to the Judge who is aware of her corruption.

Lacy and Hugo begin investigating Judge McDover, but things quickly become deadly when the car they’re driving is intentionally hit head-on by a car that swerves into their lane. Hugo is killed and Lacy seriously is seriously injured. Lacy becomes even more determined after the accident to expose the judge and get justice for Hugo’s death and her investigation reveals the existence of a group of mobsters known as the “Coast Mafia.” That group has ingrained itself into the Tappacola indian tribe and has been skimming millions of dollars from the tribe’s casinos for years, and Judge McDover has been using her position on the bench to help them.

The Whistler reminded me of why I used to be such a big fan of Grisham’s books. Lacy is someone you quickly get behind and root for, there’s a clear sense of trying to right an injustice, and the story is hard to put down at times. It’ll keep me picking up his books for a while, and reading the flaps. Hopefully there will be more like it to come.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆