When I was in Middle School, my old co-op had a different genre each month with different (related) activities, and reading material. Each genre was given to a pair of moms who planned out the month. For the mystery month, my mom chose the book, “Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer by John Grisham for the High School book group (I did the High School content at the co-op most of that year). The book was very entertaining.
I went to the library and picked up the other books. I think I finished them in 2013, and John Grisham only recently published the most recent book, which is the book I am highlighting in this post.
SPOILERS WILL BE PRESENT (SPOILERS WILL NOT JUST BE FROM THE FUGITIVE. THERE MAY BE SPOILERS FROM OTHER, PREVIOUS, THEODORE BOONE NOVELS)
In book five of the Theodore Boone series, we finally meet Pete Duffy. Pete was first introduced in book one of the series, but had not been a prominent character in the other books from what I recall. This left the readers with a cliffhanger, because it took John Grisham years to actually let his fans know what finally happened to the criminal. If you want a full background to the other four books, I would suggest reading them, for this post is assuming that 1) you don’t care if you are confused, 2) you are very bored, 3) you have read the other books in the series.
The book opens with the Strattenburg children heading on a much awaited bus trip to Washington, DC (I just went to DC for the first time almost a year ago, so it was cool to know where they were and have an idea of what they are talking about. It is also cool because I will be returning very soon). On the Metro (similar to a subway), Theo notices a man. He thinks it might be Pete Duffy, who had disappeared awhile ago. He gets video of him and calls his Uncle Ike later that evening. Ike comes to DC to try to catch a glimpse of Pete.
Eventually, the FBI get involved and enlist the help of Ike and Theo to try to help them catch Pete Duffy. He is finally caught and taken back to Strattenburg, where he awaits trial.
Pete Duffy’s attorney, and friends, are still on his side and tend to make things overly difficult for Pete to go to jail like he deserves.
The star witness, Bobby, will have to be called to testify against Pete, but Bobby is scared because he still is not in the US legally. Pete’s friends get involved and make Bobby run away, but Bobby finally returns, and Pete is put in jail.
The novel closes with Pete’s friends wanting revenge.
John Grisham wrote another very good novel. His writing is still pretty good. He gets a 10/10 for his writing.
John’s characters are still great. I’ve grown up quite a lot since I first read the first Theo Boone, and with the large gap it took, I noticed some things I do not think I noticed before. Theo is actually a pretty annoying character. Though it may be hard to notice depending on the age, I feel like he is pretty annoying. He takes matters into his own hands quite a lot, and it takes him forever to be okay with his disguise in the book. The book is also very Middle School like. The kids (at least the boys) are very obviously in Middle School. But, the fact that I felt annoyed by Theo could be a sign of good writing.
The plot was pretty good. 8-9/10.
Of course this kind of book only appeals to certain people, and no work is absolutely flawless. I still like these kind of stories, but I might like them less than I did as a kid. Either way, John Grisham did a pretty good job.
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, put it in the comments below, and let me know what I can improve on!
Words, Words, Words! 