Camino Winds by John Grisham Review is here. This novel centers around Bruce Cable and his bookstore Bay Books. Bruce lives in Camino Island, Florida, and is in charge of the local author celebrities that come through. His bookstore is one of the best in the country where authors from everywhere want to be featured and included to stop in their book tours.
The book takes off when Mercer Mann returns to town ahead of Hurricane Leo. She is making a stop at Bay Books to sign autographs and do a reading of Tessa. The best-selling novel Mercer based around her grandmother. The day before, she arrives with her new boyfriend, Thomas, who is also one of her students. Bruce wines and dines them like he does every author, holding a dinner party at his house for them. Bruce’s wife, Noelle, is in France with her boyfriend, leaving Bruce with instructions on how to set the table. The night is filled with fun, drinking, and gossip.
Little does anyone know, Hurricane Leo, made a turn and is heading straight for the island. With it hitting just below a Category 5, Bruce stays and hunkers down with Nick Sutton. A college student who works for him. The storm is devastating. What makes it worse is their friend and author, Nelson Kerr, dies during the hurricane. Bob Cobb, another author, lives nearby and goes with Bruce and Nick to the scene. For Nick, he decides it wasn’t an accident. Why would Nelson go outside during a Category 4 hurricane?
That question spirals the plot of the book as Bruce, Bob, and Nick gives their testimonies to the police about the suspicious stains they saw on a wall. However, this death happened during a deadly hurricane, and amid the devastation, it’s hard to get the proper equipment to the scene of the crime to prove their theory. Bruce, Bob, and Nick, though, start to wonder if Nelson’s death had anything to do with his latest book in which no one has ever read. Does his new novel have anything to do with why he was killed?
Or did he really just go outside to chase his dog and get hit in the head by a branch? It’s a question you’ll have to read the book to find out.
Overall, I enjoyed this novel. It was a fast read with a lot of intrigue. What made this book better for me is living in Florida and being familiar with the island. I also have stayed during hurricanes, so I could definitely relate to the descriptions, which I thought were very accurate. I also really enjoyed the characters. They were well-rounded, fun, and just your typical group of authors. I thought Grisham did a great job giving each character a unique personality. However, I will say Myra was one of my favorites.
The mystery in this novel was pitch-perfect too. I never saw the ending coming or figure out what really happened to Nelson. Grisham did a fantastic job with that in this novel. It is one of my top favorite thriller/mysteries I recommend reading this month. I really liked how books were within a book, too, without making the plot feel forced. It was done just right and in an authentic way.
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Title: Camino Winds
Author: John Grisham
Pages: 292
Where to Purchase: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Target, Books A Million
I rate it: 5/5
