John Grisham seems determined to wedge himself between an African charm and the lean part of a loin of pork. Such is the formulaic content of his books, that right after 'gris-gris' and before 'griskin' in the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary will soon appear 'Grisham (n): annual shallow tale involving lawyers and aimed at a readership who do not want to think too much.' Grishams will have much in common with griskin, because, when it comes to fleshing out sub-plots and characters, they are lean. But they will have little to do with gris-gris - they are all set in the American South, and possess little charm.
David Baldacci, like Grisham, is a lawyer-turned-bestselling author whose books have been made into films and produced fortunes. It is a well-trodden path, and so the offerings require something to keep them from becoming repetitious, simplistic and dull. Grisham had it and lost it, while Baldacci seems not yet tired of his art, nor complacent from success. Despite returning to the themes of power of authority and corruption, Baldacci's plots are better scripted and his characters more rounded.
While sometimes his writing is less smooth than his rival, he humanises his storylines by delving into relationships and exploring the workings institutions around which his novels revolve. And he has not yet fallen into the Grisham trap of moralising.
The Testament, Grisham's 10th novel, starts well enough and promises much. Troy Phelan is one of America's richest men. Confined to a wheelchair and tired of his life and his three greedy ex-wives and six spoiled children, he shocks them all by hurling himself out of a window and leaving them virtually nothing in his will.
The bulk of his estate is instead left to his previously secret illegitimate daughter, Rachel, a missionary living with a primitive tribe of Indians somewhere in Brazil's jungles.
Naturally, the parties contest the will, and the families and their lawyers battle for a slice of the inheritance, while our lawyer, Nate O'Riley - an alcoholic to boot - searches for Rachel along the malaria-ravaged Pantanal region.