Being a huge John Grisham fan, I have had the release of Bleachers marked on my calendar for about a month. It was a friend who surprised me with the news that John Grisham was coming out with a Fall Novel. I anxiously await the February release of his novels each year.

It would be Murphy's Law that on Tuesday, the day the book was released, I came down with a bit of the stomach flu which prevented me from making my Costco run to pick up the book. Thank goodness a friend was going to Costco that afternoon and picked one up for me.

Bleachers is a short book. It's only 173 pages and although the suggested retail price is a rip-off at $19.50, you can pick a copy up at Costco for around $11. I find it to be a tad disappointing that a novel costs $19.50 when it's less than 200 pages.

The Story
Bleachers is the story of Nelly Crenshaw. Nelly was an All-American Quarterback for his highschool team in the late 80's. He's come back to the small town of Messina because his old coach, Ed Rake, is on his deathbed.

Nelly heads to Rake Field where he used to play and is flooded with memories of his football days. He's joined by many of his old teammates who have moved on, for better or for worse, as well as former players who were coached under Rake.

Rake had a long career coaching football and he made a huge impact on these men lives, as well as the entire town. The men gather on the bleachers to drink and reminisce about their football days and their current lives as they wait for Coach Rake to pass away.

My Thoughts
You waiting for me to spill the big plot twists, turns, and suspenses? You'll be waiting a long time because there are none, nadda, zip, zilch, not a one! You got it. It's a book about some old highschool buddies that get together while they wait for their coach to die. No suspense, no drama, no laughter, no tears. Just a bunch of grown men sitting on some bleachers talking and sometimes feeling sorry for themselves.

I was somewhat disappointed by this book. No, see that's not true. I was very disappointed by this book. It might have even been less exciting than A Painted House.

I knew immediately that this was going to be a slow moving book about these guys. I could tell immediately that it was pretty much going to be 178 pages of them reminiscing, but I held out hope that one of them would have some life altering, soul searching, solution to why their lives were so normal or not at all what they had planned. But that never happened.

They came, they talked, they waited, he died! That's it. That's the book!

Final Thoughts
I love John Grisham, when he sticks to lawyer type fiction. The King of Torts was a good book, it wasn't The Firm but it was good. When he's writing these books they're interesting, they're intriguing, they're somewhat suspenseful.

With the exception of Skipping Christmas, which I found to be a delightful short read, John Grisham should stick to what he knows best...Law!

I really don't recommend this book, unless you want to buy it on paperback, then you won't be wasting too much money. But, don't pay retail, go to the movies instead and see Freaky Fridayor Matchstick Men.

Recommended: No