culture A New Twist on the Legal Thriller Acclaimed author John Grisham has recently released another hit legal thriller, The Rooster Bar. Known for novels such as A Time to Kill and The Firm, Grisham’s novels always embody a sense of mystery and legal drama. The novel follows Mark, Todd and Zola, who came to law school for all the right reasons, but find out in their third year they’ve been deceived. They each took out student loans to a for-profit law school, but they eventually learn that the owner of the school is a shady New York hedge-fund operator who also owns a bank specializing in student loans. It is then that they realize they are in the middle of a law school scam. What follows is a race to expose the bank and the hedge-fund operator with hopes that these three friends can escape their debt and make some money in the process. Grisham, who attended the University of Mississippi School of Law, practiced criminal law for about a decade before serving in the House of Representatives in Mississippi from 1984 to 1990. Now a full-time author, Grisham and his family split their time between Oxford, MS, and Charlottesville. Photos courtesy of Doubleday.
Another Mitford Bestseller Number one New York Times best-selling author Jan Karon is back with her 14th novel in the beloved Mitford Series. Titled To Be Where You Are, the novel features three generations of Kavanaghs, and Karon artfully laces together the lives of two families and characters that readers have grown to know and love. Set in the fictional village of Mitford, nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the story focuses on father Tim Kavanagh’s realization that he doesn’t need a steady job to prove himself. Meanwhile, in a tragic turn of events, the newly married Dooley and Lace struggle with empty bank accounts. Karon, originally from Lenoir, NC, now resides in Charlottesville, VA. Photo of book cover courtesy of G.P. Putnam’s Sons. Photo of author by Candace Freeland.
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