Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime
and start saving today with fast, free delivery
Amazon Prime includes:
Fast, FREE Delivery is available to Prime members. To join, select "Try Amazon Prime and start saving today with Fast, FREE Delivery" below the Add to Cart button.
Amazon Prime members enjoy:- Cardmembers earn 5% Back at Amazon.com with a Prime Credit Card.
- Unlimited Free Two-Day Delivery
- Streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows with limited ads on Prime Video.
- A Kindle book to borrow for free each month - with no due dates
- Listen to over 2 million songs and hundreds of playlists
- Unlimited photo storage with anywhere access
Important: Your credit card will NOT be charged when you start your free trial or if you cancel during the trial period. If you're happy with Amazon Prime, do nothing. At the end of the free trial, your membership will automatically upgrade to a monthly membership.
-51% $14.18$14.18
Ships from: Amazon Sold by: FindAnyBook
$8.41$8.41
Ships from: Amazon Sold by: Shopndeliver
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
OK
Image Unavailable
Color:
-
-
-
- To view this video download Flash Player
Audible sample Sample
Sparring Partners: Novellas Hardcover – May 31, 2022
Purchase options and add-ons
“Homecoming” takes us back to Ford County, the fictional setting of many of John Grisham’s unforgettable stories. Jake Brigance is back, but he’s not in the courtroom. He’s called upon to help an old friend, Mack Stafford, a former lawyer in Clanton, who three years earlier became a local legend when he stole money from his clients, divorced his wife, filed for bankruptcy, and left his family in the middle of the night, never to be heard from again—until now. Now Mack is back, and he’s leaning on his old pals, Jake and Harry Rex, to help him return. His homecoming does not go as planned.
In “Strawberry Moon,” we meet Cody Wallace, a young death row inmate only three hours away from execution. His lawyers can’t save him, the courts slam the door, and the governor says no to a last-minute request for clemency. As the clock winds down, Cody has one final request.
The “Sparring Partners” are the Malloy brothers, Kirk and Rusty, two successful young lawyers who inherited a once prosperous firm when its founder, their father, was sent to prison. Kirk and Rusty loathe each other, and speak to each other only when necessary. As the firm disintegrates, the resulting fiasco falls into the lap of Diantha Bradshaw, the only person the partners trust. Can she save the Malloys, or does she take a stand for the first time in her career and try to save herself?
By turns suspenseful, hilarious, powerful, and moving, these are three of the greatest stories John Grisham has ever told.
Don’t miss John Grisham’s new book, THE EXCHANGE: AFTER THE FIRM!
- Print length320 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherDoubleday
- Publication dateMay 31, 2022
- Dimensions6.45 x 1.2 x 9.52 inches
- ISBN-100385549326
- ISBN-13978-0385549325
Books with Buzz
Discover the latest buzz-worthy books, from mysteries and romance to humor and nonfiction. Explore more
Frequently bought together
Similar items that may deliver to you quickly
- Rogue Lawyer: A NovelMass Market Paperback
- The two clients who got the twenty-five thousand in cash were Odell Grove and Jerrol Baker.Highlighted by 190 Kindle readers
- “Doug Jumper is in fact dead. Travis Johnson left the area years ago.”Highlighted by 189 Kindle readers
- It had to be the FBI. They were on to Mack Stafford and figured Jake knew where he was.Highlighted by 183 Kindle readers
From the Publisher
Editorial Reviews
Review
"Grisham’s work—always superior entertainment—is evolving into something more serious, more powerful, more worthy of his exceptional talent." —The Washington Post
“The law, by its nature, creates drama, and a new Grisham promises us an inside look at the dirty machineries of process and power, with plenty of entertainment.” —Los Angeles Times
“A legal literary legend.” —USA Today
About the Author
Grisham is a two-time winner of the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction and was honored with the Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for Fiction.
When he's not writing, Grisham serves on the board of directors of the Innocence Project and of Centurion Ministries, two national organizations dedicated to exonerating those who have been wrongfully convicted. Much of his fiction explores deep-seated problems in our criminal justice system.
John lives on a farm in central Virginia.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
(1)
It was one of those raw, windy, dreary Monday afternoons in February when gloom settled over the land and seasonal depression was rampant. Court was not in session. The phone wasn’t ringing. Petty criminals and other potential clients were busy elsewhere with no thoughts whatsoever of hiring lawyers. The occasional caller was more likely to be a man or woman still reeling from holiday overspending and seeking advice about unpaid credit card accounts. Those were quickly sent next door, or across the square, or anywhere.
Jake was at his desk upstairs, making little progress with the stack of paperwork he’d been neglecting for weeks, even months. With no court or hearings scheduled for days, it should have been a good time to catch up with the old stuff—the fish files that every lawyer had for some reason said yes to a year ago and now just wanted to go away. The upside of a small-town law practice, especially in your hometown, was that everyone knew your name, and that was what you wanted. It was important to be well thought of and well liked, with a good reputation. When your neighbors got in trouble, you wanted to be the man they called. The downside was that their cases were always mundane and rarely profitable. But, you couldn’t say no. The gossip was fierce and unrelenting, and a lawyer who turned his back on his friends would not last long.
His funk was interrupted when Alicia, his current part-time secretary, chimed in through his desk phone. “Jake, there’s a couple here to see you.”
A couple. Married but wanting to get unmarried. Another cheap divorce. He glanced at his daily planner though he knew there was nothing.
“Do they have an appointment?” he asked, but only to remind Alicia that she shouldn’t be bothering him with the foot traffic.
“No. But they’re very nice and they say it’s really urgent. They’re not going away, said it wouldn’t take but a few minutes.”
Jake loathed being bullied in his own office. On a busier day he would take a stand and get rid of them. “Do they appear to have any money?” The answer was always no.
“Well, they do seem rather affluent.”
Affluent? In Ford County. Somewhat intriguing.
Alicia continued, “They’re from Memphis and just passing through, but, again, they say it’s very important.”
“Any idea what it is?”
“No.”
Well, it wouldn’t be a divorce if they lived in Memphis. He ran through a list of possibilities—Grandma’s will, some old family land, maybe a kid busted for drugs over at Ole Miss. Since he was bored and mildly curious and needed an excuse to avoid the paperwork, he asked, “Did you tell them that I’m tied up in a settlement conference call with a dozen lawyers?”
“No.”
“Did you tell them I’m due in federal court over in Oxford and can only spare a moment or two?”
“No.”
“Did you tell them that I’m slammed with other appointments?”
“No. It’s pretty obvious the place is empty and the phone isn’t ringing.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m in the kitchen, so I can talk.”
“Okay, okay. Make some fresh coffee and put ’em in the conference room. I’ll be down in ten minutes.”
(2)
The first thing Jake noticed was their tans. They had obviously been somewhere in the sun. No one else in Clanton had a tan in February. The second thing he noticed was the woman’s smart short haircut, with a touch of gray, stylish and obviously expensive. He noticed the handsome sports coat on the gentleman. Both were well dressed and nicely groomed, a departure from the usual walk-ins.
He shook their hands as he got their names. Gene and Kathy Roupp, from Memphis. Late fifties, quite pleasant, with confident smiles showing rows of well-maintained teeth. Jake could easily picture them on a Florida golf course living the good life behind gates and guards.
“What can I do for you folks?” Jake asked.
Gene flashed a smile and went first. “Well, sad to say, but we’re not here as potential clients.”
Jake kept it loose with a fake smile and an aw-shucks shrug, as if to say, What the hell? What lawyer needs to get paid for his time? He’d give them about ten more minutes and one cup before showing them the door.
“We just got back from a month in Costa Rica, one of our favorites. Ever been to Costa Rica?”
“No. I hear it’s great.” He’d heard nothing of the sort but what else could he say? He would never admit that he had left the United States exactly once in his thirty-eight years. Foreign travel was only a dream.
“We love it down there, a real paradise. Beautiful beaches, mountains, rain forests, great food. We have some friends who own houses—real estate is pretty cheap. The people are delightful, educated, almost all speak English.”
Jake loathed the game of travel trivia because he’d never been anywhere. The local doctors were the worst—always bragging about the hottest new resorts.
Kathy was itching to move along the narrative and chimed in with “The golf is incredible, so many fabulous courses.”
Jake didn’t play golf because he was not a member of the Clanton Country Club. Its membership included too many doctors and climbers and families with old money.
He smiled and nodded at her and waited for one of them to continue. From a bag he couldn’t see she whipped out a pound of coffee in a shiny can and said, “Here’s a little gift, San Pedro Select, our favorite. Incredible. We haul it back by the case.”
Jake took it to be polite. In lieu of cash fees, he had been paid with watermelons, fresh venison, firewood, repairs to his cars, and more bartered goods and services than he cared to remember. His best lawyer buddy, Harry Rex Vonner, had once taken a John Deere mower as a fee, though it soon broke down. Another lawyer, one who was no longer practicing, had taken sexual favors from a divorce client. When he lost the case, she filed an ethics complaint alleging “substandard performance.”
Anyway, Jake admired the can and tried to read the Spanish. He noticed they had not touched their coffee, and he was suddenly worried that perhaps they were connoisseurs and his office brew wasn’t quite up to their standards.
Gene resumed with “So, two weeks ago we were at one of our favorite eco-lodges, high in the mountains, deep in the rain forest, a small place with only thirty rooms, incredible views.”
How many times might they use the word “incredible”?
“And we were having breakfast outdoors, watching the spider monkeys and parakeets, when a waiter stopped by our table to pour some more coffee. He was very friendly—”
“People are so friendly down there and they love Americans,” Kathy interjected.
How could they not?
Gene nodded at the interruption and continued, “We chatted him up for a spell, said his name was Jason and that he was from Florida, been living down there for twenty years. We saw him again at lunch and talked to him some more. We saw him around after that and always enjoyed a friendly chat. The day before we were to check out, he asked us to join him for a glass of champagne in a little tree-house bar. He was off-duty and said the drinks were on him. The sunsets over the mountains are incredible, and we were having a good time, when all of a sudden he got serious.”
Gene paused and looked at Kathy, who was ready to pounce with “He said he had something to tell us, something very confidential. Said his name was not really Jason and he wasn’t from Florida. He apologized for not being truthful. Said his name was really Mack Stafford, and that he was from Clanton, Mississippi.”
Jake tried to remain nonchalant but it was impossible. His mouth dropped open and his eyes widened.
The Roupps were watching closely for his reaction. Gene said, “I take it you know Mack Stafford.”
Jake exhaled and wasn’t sure what to say. “Well, I’ll be damned.”
“He said you guys were old friends,” Gene added.
Stunned, Jake was still grasping for words. “I’m just glad he’s alive.”
“So you know him well?”
“Oh yes, quite well.”
Product details
- Publisher : Doubleday; First Edition (May 31, 2022)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 320 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0385549326
- ISBN-13 : 978-0385549325
- Item Weight : 1.4 pounds
- Dimensions : 6.45 x 1.2 x 9.52 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #31,612 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #146 in Legal Thrillers (Books)
- #699 in Political Thrillers (Books)
- #819 in Short Stories (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
Videos
Videos for this product
1:31
Click to play video
Review of Sparring Partners by John Grisham/No spoilers!
Marie Dubuque
About the author
John Grisham is the author of forty-seven consecutive #1 bestsellers, which have been translated into nearly fifty languages. His recent books include The Boys From Biloxi, The Judge's List, Sooley, and his third Jake Brigance novel, A Time for Mercy, which is being developed by HBO as a limited series.
Grisham is a two-time winner of the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction and was honored with the Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for Fiction.
When he's not writing, Grisham serves on the board of directors of the Innocence Project and of Centurion Ministries, two national organizations dedicated to exonerating those who have been wrongfully convicted. Much of his fiction explores deep-seated problems in our criminal justice system.
John lives on a farm in central Virginia.
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonReviews with images
-
Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
Jake Brigance, the hero of Grisham’s novels A Time to Kill, Sycamore Row, and A Time for Mercy, figures prominently in the first novella, Homecoming. Three years prior to the opening of the story, Mark Stafford, another Clanton, Mississippi lawyer, had abruptly divorced his wife, filed for bankruptcy, and disappeared. He wants to come home, but he may have done something illegal. He enlists Jake and Harry Rex (another lawyer familiar to followers of the series) to scope out if there are any active warrants for his arrest.
The second story, Strawberry Moon, details the last hours of Cody Wallace, a young man on death row. Fourteen years earlier, when Cody was fifteen, he and his older brother Brian broke into a what they thought was an empty house with the intention of burglarizing it. Unfortunately, the owners were home, and when the husband prepared to defend his home with a shotgun, Brian drew a 9mm and shot both the husband and the wife. Before he succumbed, the husband fired back and killed Brian. Cody was the only one who survived, and he was sentenced to death. Hours before his execution, he receives a visit from a person who made his incarceration bearable. In a series of flashbacks, we learn what Cody’s life was like before his fateful last day of freedom.
The third novella is Sparring Partners. The law firm of Malloy & Malloy is run by the two Malloy Brothers, Kirk and Rusty. The founder of the firm, their father, Bolton Malloy, is serving a ten-year sentence for killing their mother, his wife, who no one particularly mourned. Rusty, once a promising trial attorney, has lately been losing his cases, and the firm is in danger of financial ruin. The brothers know their father has a lot of money stashed offshore, and they want to get their hands on some of it. But Bolton has a plan to get out of jail soon.
Although I enjoyed reading all three of the stories, I was disappointed with the ending of Homecoming. It felt unfinished.
Strawberry Moon was beautifully constructed. We are given Cody’s backstory little by little, and the more we know, the more we long for a different ending. Grisham is an advocate for the wrongly incarcerated. Sadly, there are many Codys in the prison system. Grisham does justice a service by shedding light on their plight.
The third story, Sparring Partners, is also effectively structured. As horrible as the Malloys all are, Diantha and Stu, the firm’s long-suffering managing director and accountant, ultimately come out ahead and the Malloys get what they deserve in a very satisfying wrap-up.
Together, the three novellas in Sparring Partners are a good read, but not quite as good as Grisham’s full-length legal thrillers.
Would love him to expand on each story in there own book!
With “Sparring Partners” he gets you in your seat with a preliminary bout featuring Jake Brigance, an old reliable champion. In “Round Two” he takes you deep into Mississippi’s”red neck” appellate court system and it’s primitive prison life.
In his eponymous feature attraction, he pits two brothers with completely asymmetrical lifestyles and approaches to the law in a “take-off-gloves” brouhaha that ends in a “Technical Knock Out” that ends with an ironic surprise when “The Judges” hand down their decision.
“Sparring Partners” transports the reader back to an era populated by the likes of O. Henry
I throughly enjoyed it and dare Grisham fans to pick it up…but do early enough in the evening if you’re planning on eight hours of slumber.
Homecoming
At 123 pages, I suppose the first story would be called a novella (short novel) if it had been published alone, but because it is one of three stories in this book, I’ll stick with my description of it as a short story -- a long short story. It’s interesting and well written, as are the vast majority of Grisham’s works, but it’s like a French movie of the 1950’s or 1960’s. That is, it captures one’s interest and builds the suspense. Then it ends.
When I was in college, I saw a lot of foreign films, because that’s what college students of my generation did. I usually enjoyed the French flics, but I often left the theater wondering why there was no resolution. We Americans expect resolution. But we were not occupied by a foreign force during World War II, and I always wondered if that was why French writers and directors left us to wonder how things turned out.
In “Homecoming,” the story revolves around a lawyer in Clanton, Mississippi, the setting for the author’s earlier “A Time to Die” and “A Time for Mercy.” This lawyer, familiarly known as Mack, stole money from his clients, left his family, and ran off to various countries in Central America. After a few years, he contacts Jack Brigance (the lawyer in the aforementioned novels) and tells him that he has come home. Will he have to face up to the consequences of his crime? Will he be able to reunite with his daughters? (Hint: French ending.)
Strawberry Moon
In the second story, Cody Wallace has only two hours to live. He’s 29 years old and has been on Death Row for the past 14 years. A lawyer from a benevolent organization has worked tirelessly for him for years, and he’s out of tactics to delay Cody’s execution. Cody has no family and no friends, so he spends the last moments of his life talking with the warden, prison guard, and priest. Then, a retired schoolteacher shows up in a wheelchair. She’s sent him about 2000 paperback books over the years, and during their conversation, he tells her that books have taken him to “other worlds, other places.”
Sparring Partners
The last story provides the title for the book, and it’s the story where Grisham really hits his stride. Bolton Molloy, the founder of a prestigious law firm, Molloy & Molloy, is in prison for killing his wife. His sons, Kirk and Rusty, are running the business, but they can’t stand to be in each other’s company. Therefore, Diantha Bradshaw, managing director, takes care of business.
Everyone at Molloy & Molloy hopes that Bolton will stay behind bars, but the great man has other plans. A few years ago, he filed as part of a huge class-action suit against tobacco companies, and $3 million per year is piling up in secret off-shore accounts that were set up by Stu Broome, the reclusive accountant. As you might have guessed, Kirk, Rusty, Diantha, and Stu have their own plans for Bolton and his money. This eponymous story, alone, makes reading the book well worthwhile.
...Jim Glynn
I am a fan of Grisham and his books, but not this one.