Hello one and all to another edition of All About Books! Today, I will be discussing the sequel to John Grishham's major success of a YA novel.
This story takes place almost immediately after the events of the first book. Theo is trying to settle back into a relatively normal life, when he gets a phone call one night. It is the police, saying that his best friend, April, had vanished from her bedroom! It is even thought that she was kidnapped by a fugitive murderer, whom was April's pen pal. Theo and his parents rush to the scene to investigate. Mrs. Finnenmore is in tears, saying she had checked on her daughter just hours before she disappeared. Theo knows this is a lie.
April confided certain things to Theo. One of these things was that her mother had been gone that night, and she was holding a baseball bat to defend herself should the need arise. Her doors were locked, and she was afraid, because she was home alone. Her father had been gone for days.
Theo doesn't mention any of this, and gives the police an abridged statement. He immediately begins his own investigation in search for April. Some of his and Aprils' fellow classmates even pitch in! They are, however, frequently stopped by the police, even though they are breaking no laws.
Theo is now tangled up in another legal frenzy. He is conflicted on what he is able to do, and what he is allowed to do. His parents made him promise not to keep anything from them and not to take any unnecesary risks. They don't want him worrying over April too much, either. But, soon enough, Theo convinces his uncle Ian to go on a possibly wild goose chase across the country to save his friend. The ending will surprise you if you follow the official investigation headed by the police.
I found this a very interesting read. It was a page turner, and I barely set it down after I got it. I couldn't help but notice how much more in this book that it leans more on Theo being some sort of detective, not a lawyer/judge-in-training. is he really a kid lawyer? Or is he just another kid detective that we know always gets into trouble?
I am hopeful that John Grisham will continue this series. he hints at another book when, at the end, Judge Gantry tells Theo that he's rescheduled the Duffy murder trial for the following month. I hope we get a follow-up on that trial, and the mysterious witness!
Overall, this series is amazing. I love how Grisham can make anything seem suspenseful. The only part I don't like is how little knowledge the other fellow "teens" are portrayed as ignorant of the law, even of something as simple as mortgage and foreclosure! I'll admit, I may know more about the law than I should at my age, but I know that my fellow classmates at least understand foreclosure! I hope Grisham revises this in his later books.
