Re-rating the creativity of John Grisham: A Pierznik critique

While reading reviews about John Grisham's novels, I came across one man's ranking opinion. So, I'm taking issue with it. 

"Ranking All 32 John Grisham Books", published
in the blog: The Passion of Christopher Pierznik.  

Although Pierznik is certainly entitled to his "ratings opinions", his critique seems more focused on the content of Grisham's stories, rather than on the quality of the author's narrative.  It's a "style preference" that Pierznik and I obviously disagree about.  

John Grisham- I'm appreciating the futuristic writing in "The Broker". How'd Grisham know his 2005, spy novel would be predicting a lot of what's going on in 2017's, international intrigue? Great mystery prognosticating!

About Grisham's creative content, here's my push back to Pierznik- I enjoy Grisham's fast paced style:

One problem I have with reading spy mysteries is how the material can become dated, because the espionage business is changing faster than novelists can keep up with clandestine operations.

Not so with the novel John Grisham published in 2005, "The Broker". This particular story definitely has improved with age. Reading this book, I got the feeling that Grisham somehow had a futuristic computer chip implanted in his creative brain, as he mirrored a period of time that we are now experiencing, in 2017.  

Although critics, like Pierznik, took issue with how Grisham provided too much information in describing Bologna, Italy in "The Broker", a spy novel, I have a different opinion. 

Rather, I saw this historic location as "suspicions confirmed". In other words, Italy has a lot more to do with American spy operations than many of us suspected. 

So, Pierznik gave "The Broker" a measly rating of 23, in his list! Well, he's wrong. This spy thriller is worth a re-read, because it seems to have a sense of clairvoyance in the plot. 

So, Pierznik wrote his personal rating of all 32 of John Grisham's books; but I disagree with his point of view.  For example, he gave "Skipping Christmas" (2001) the last - way last- place on the list.  I nearly stopped reading his list when this erroneous rating popped up! Frankly, I believe "Skipping Christmas" is an entertaining analysis about the lost meaning of Christmas.  In fact, I'd recommend this novel (it's short, more a novella), to a religious education book study. Instead, the novel I'd give "last place" to, would be "Pelican Brief" (1992), largely because it was a sort of good story that was made into a terrible movie. Pierznik rated this 13 in his list of 32, from worst to last, sort of a little below the middle.

I'd give "The Firm" a two ratings in the list because, frankly, it was a fantastic and fast paced, believable story. Moreover, the history about how the book was eventually published, after Grisham received many rejections, deserved to be factored into the rating, in my opinion.

 

Nevertheless, Pierznik rated this Grisham mega-hit (nearly a classic in legal thrillers) as number 10. (I'd rate it second best, #2).

Pierznik rated "The Partner" as the number one choice. In fact, out of all of Grisham's books, it was the highest he rated. Honestly, I haven't read "The Partner" so no comment. 

Nevertheless, I did read "A Time To Kill" and that's my number one rated Grisham novel.  It's rated #3, or third best, by Pierznik.  

Okay, I admit, I haven't read all 32 Grisham novels. But, those I did read would not line up the way Pierznik ranked them.  Of course, it's my opinion versus his; and in this particular Maine Writer blog, my opinion is the one that carries authority.  

John Grisham has created his own thriller genre and his stories are written with entertainingly clever narrative. I doubt Pierznik can match Grisham as a story teller. Moreover, Pierznik definitely isn't qualified to challenge Grisham's creativity and clever narrative style.

Here is a link to Pierznik's blog.