John Grisham is a such a good storyteller! This book is engaging and kept me turning pages! Fans of drama and historical events will enjoy it!

Wow! What a great third title in the Camino series! I thoroughly enjoyed the first two books, but this one was awesome. The same characters you met in Camino Island are back, but this time with a historical mystery and legal case to go with. Add in a touch of the supernatural, and you have one of my favorite recent works by Grisham (and I read everything he writes). Lovely Jackson was born and raised on Dark Isle, a mysterious (cursed?) island home to the descendants of runaway and shipwrecked slaves. The historical narrative is touching, as is Lovely's dedication to her ancestors in her attempt to keep the island from being turned into vacation resort. With the help of Bruce, Mercer, and a few new characters, she attempts to prove herself as the owner of the island. If you liked Camino Island and Camino Breeze, you will love getting right back into Bruce's book store, and, of course, his epic dinner parties.

John Grisham has been surprising me with crazy plot twists and poignant prose for over 3 decades, and his latest, Camino Ghosts was equally unexpected, but an absolutely lovely story of ancient injustice and perseverance after a little luck befell a community.

Mercer Mann, an author and Ole Miss professor, gets enticed by a Camino Island bookseller, Bruce Cable, to read a memoir of a local woman, Miss Lovely, and the story of her people. The story of the slaves who survived a storm in the slave-ship that was bringing these taken people to be sold into slavery in the New World. These particular slaves were lucky enough to crash ashore in Florida, and away from their slavers. Because of these serendipitous events, they maintained their freedom on their little island, which became Dark Isle. It also became known as place where the spirits did not welcome any Caucasian visitors.

Mercer Mann couldn’t put the book down, and felt compelled to write more on Miss Lovely, as well as to take on the current-day developers that are threatening putting casinos and resorts along the Florida coastline in places like Dark Isle.

This book can be considered part of the Camino series, but it reads great as a stand-alone, as well. It’s amazing, and I couldn’t put mine down.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and DoubleDay Books for this fabulous ARC!!

John Grisham is back with the third book in the Camino series. The story moves back and forth between modern day and centuries before when the slave trade and ship loads of slaves in deplorable conditions were sent to the United States. There is a story that revolves around the Camino community of a lady by the name of Lovely Jackson who claims that she is one of the last if not the last descendent of the slaves. She claims that she was born on a nearby island or isle were runaway slaves and those that survived shipwrecks took up residence on the island and found a semblance of freedom. When a big develop wants to turn the island into the next big tourist destination the fight is on when Mrs. Jackson claims owner ship of the island as the last survivor. This is another great Grisham read, you know the type where you sit down to read a few pages and the next thing you know your halfway through the book.

The Camino crew is back and just as good as ever! Bruce, who knows everyone at Camino Island has a story lead for Mercer Mann, seasonal resident, author and professor. Camino Ghosts takes us along for the journey of a neighboring island and the historical background it possesses. We learn this story alongside Mercer, and it is an interesting new direction for the series.

The Camino books are so, so good. You get the pleasure of a Grisham book with characters who loves reading as much as we do! This is a book lovers series. You’d be able to start at this book without issue.

Aside from the horrifying historical sections, most of this book is very pleasant and very polite.

It’s a feel good read of mostly good people doing the right thing. Even the people on the other side of things aren’t bombastic villains. While some of those are doing the wrong thing, they’re still unfailingly polite and rather pleasant.

I liked our characters. Our perfectly pleasant characters.

I did care about our plot, though I was a bit more interested in the past.

While the book never, ever ramps up to anything terribly exciting, the story was an important thing and it’s a perfectly pleasant read.

• ARC via Publisher

An engaging and interesting look at slavery and its aftermath. Some parts are difficult to read. Man's inhumanity to man (women and children) is beyond horrible. Grateful for the uplifting portions of the story. Thanks to the publisher for providing a copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary.

I’ve been a John Grisham fan for a long time, from his first books, and I love the way he can spin a good yarn, and Camino Ghosts was an engaging story.

We return to Camino Island for this one. It’s his third title there, and it makes me wonder if there’ll be more. Only time will tell. This time the focus is on Mercer Mann, an author from the first book. Mercer has one bestseller under her belt, and she’s looking for the next one. Bruce Cable, the owner of Bay Books and a longtime friend of Mercer’s, shows her a small, self-published book by Lovely Jackson which recounts the tale of Africans taken for the slave trade who landed on Dark Isle off the Florida coast. These were Lovely’s ancestors who lived there until 1955 when Lovely and her mother, the last two survivors, left the island. Bruce thought this might make a good story idea for Mercer. This is timely because a big developer has set its sights on Dark Isle as a spot for a resort, hotel, golf course, and a casino; however, Lovely claims that the island belongs to her, since her people were the only ones who ever lived there.

Lovely’s story is captivating, and the rest of the plot unfurls from there. I wasn’t sure how Grisham was going to be able to wrap it all up, but he does it well!

These Camino Island characters have been proven to be those we love to see again. This was an enjoyable read.

My thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for the complimentary digital copy. My review is voluntary.

Starting slowly and ending even slower, Camino Ghosts, was an excellent read though the middle of the story where there was drama, action, plot twists and the usual Grisham focus on important societal issues. Those who have read the first two installments in the Camino trilogy ( so far there are three in this series) are already familiar with some of the characters. Yet, it is possible to read this book as a stand alone and still enjoy it.

Successful author Mercer Mann has run into writer’s block when trying to decide how to proceed with her next book. Bruce Cable, bookstore owner and friend of Mercer’s gives her a copy of an unusual autobiographical story, written by a local woman, to take along as reading material on her honeymoon. Setting the stage for what is to come, Grisham brings to light the compelling story of the slave trade in the early eighteenth century when Britain and Spain had conflicting interests in the colonies of the New World. The history lesson was for me, both horrifying and compelling, detailing the brutal capture and abuse , both physical and mental, of African people. Man’s inhumanity to man boggles my mind.

Among those kidnapped from her village in Africa is Nalla , who survives a long , arduous trip at sea only to arrive on the shore of an island in Florida in a terrifying storm, alone and frightened. She miraculously survives and finds a colony inhabited by former slaves who have banded together to form a struggling but cohesive community .

Two centuries later , lovely Jackson, is the sole heir to her ancestor Nalla’s home , Dark Island , which is located very near Camino Island. She is a character who jumps off the pages with both intelligence , and courage When a a large corporation seeks ownership of Dark Island in order to develop a casino , golf course and all the amenities necessary to turn it into a high end lucrative playground for the wealthy, lovely finds herself on one end of a bitter court case and Mercer finds herself with plenty of writing material.

Grisham addresses several important issues including the scourge of corporate greed in America, the overtaking of Florida land by unscrupulous developers, and the sanctity of slave burial grounds heretofore unknown and unmarked. All of these issues along with three dimensional true to life characters make for a great read. If it weren’t for the slow beginning and a disappointing ending that dragged along, this book would be a powerhouse. Instead, for me, it was a good three and a half star read rounded up to four. It will be available in just a month, May 28,2024 and Grisham fans will want a copy. My thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I seem to be stuck on mysteries. This story was unique although there really wasn’t any mystery to it and the legal aspects weren’t that compelling. Yet it is a good book because Grisham is such a terrific storyteller.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an early release in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Delightful addition to the Camino Island series. This book covers issues that are apparently very dear to Grisham, the treatment of the remains of slave ancestors and the greed of the large Florida developers, and his outrage is reflected in the story. Highly recommend

This is the third installment in the series, and I would recommend reading them in order, even though this says it could be read as a standalone model. I have not read all of them, so that may be why I struggled with this one a bit. The premise is solid, but things felt a bit flat for me, particularly the ending. I did enjoy the Florida history woven throughout. Didn't feel is connected to the characters in this book as I have to those in prior books. Perhaps that is because there was a bit more focus on plots, overall, than the characters. This one was a bit more graphic than others I have read by him. Some plot points felt a bit underdeveloped, rushed, or unnecessary.

John Grisham continues to amaze me. Camino Ghosts is an amazing read that you will fly through and then wish you had taken more time to savor it. What an amazing story that rings so true it might be non-fiction. Lovely Jackson is a character to be reckoned with and I am so happy that Bruce and Mercer stick with her story and share it with all of us.

Count on John Grisham to provide you with a great summer read that takes place on an island in Florida. It will be so easy for readers to sit down in a chair on the beach, in a hammock in their backyard, or or cuddled up in their favorite reading place at home and while away the hours reading about Lovely Jackson. Author Mercer Mann, protagonist of the two earlier Camino Island books, approaches bookstore owner Bruce Cable for help in getting ideas for her next book. This leads to the story of Lovely Jackson, Dark Island, greedy land developers, and so much that whizzes by as the reader is engulfed in 'Camino Ghosts'. As an interesting bonus, the reader is introduced to the differences between British and Spanish colonies and how slaves were treated.

Thanks you #NetGalley and #DoubledayBooks for allowing me to read the arc in exchange for an honest review.

The third installment in the Camino Island series doesn’t disappoint. From the engaging beginning to the satisfying end, I was hooked.

John Grisham writes with authority about many subjects. This book goes into some history of slavery. It is a well written book that made me think. Like any good book will do.

“Camino Ghosts” is the third book in Grisham’s Camino Island series (after “Camino Island” and “Camino Winds”) and I love that this installment has moved from the “legal thriller” sub-genre to a sub-sub-genre “ghost thriller”. In a way, the Camino books are actually “bookseller thrillers” since our main protagonist, Bruce Cable, proprietor of Bay Books, isn’t the lawyer you usually expect to headline Grisham’s immensely readable stories. Yet, Bruce does get caught up in a courtroom battle to save an almost deserted island, one full of tall tales, voodoo curses, poisonous snakes, presumably extinct panthers, and the ghosts of runaway slaves, on behalf of the last island resident, Lovely Jackson.

Bruce has also pitched the story to his bestselling author friend Mercer who wants to turn Lovely’s memoir into a bigger book. Lovely’s ancestor Nalla had been a witch doctor/escaped slave who conveniently put a curse on outsiders who tried to breach their sanctuary island. And a big, powerful outsider is hovering just offshore, a huge development company finagling the corrupt politicians in Tallahassee to build a bridge and seize Dark Isle. The island fights back first (killing off surveyors with a storm and a mapping team planning on bulldozing everything with flesh-eating bacteria).

This is a sort of gentle legal thriller in that it glides along as Lovely tries to establish her claim to the title in order to thwart a casino being built on an African slave burial ground where her ancestors lay. Title battles can be boring as one of the characters says, but this one involves a jungle expedition where Lovely must lift the curse that kills any white man who steps foot onshore.

It’s a steady read without any treacherous cliffhangers (mostly waiting for DNA tests, newspaper archive research, and a hunt through the Caribbean tax havens for the true owners of LLCs). The main character, Bruce, is still living his best life as an influential independent bookseller. I suspect we’ll meet him again in a future novel. 4 stars.

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): NO No eye colors are mentioned.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO Hurricane Leo has destroyed most of the vegetation.

Thank you to Doubleday and NetGalley for a free advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

A Perfect Combination of Setting, Characters, and Writing

SUMMARY
Bruce Cable owns the independent bookstore on Camino Island and can always be counted on to get things done. Mercer Mann, a local part-time resident and author, is looking for a new book idea, and Bruce has found just the story for her.

A cagey developer out of Miami is trying to obtain possession of some undeveloped property off the coast of Camino Island. It’s called Dark Isle and was inhabited by escaped slaves dating back three hundred years. The last two residents of Dark Isle were Lovely Jackson and her mother, who left the island fifty years ago when the hardships became too much for the two women alone.

All of Lovely’s ancestors, dating back to her great-grandmother, Nalla, are buried on Dark Isle, and Lovely continued to take care of their graves until Hurricane Leo made it impossible several years ago. Now, the developers want the property for condos and a golf course, and Lovely claims that Dark Isle is hers.

Bruce knows the perfect attorney to help Lovely stake her claim in court, and he recruits Mercer to document Lovely’s story and the upcoming battle.

REVIEW
CAMINO GHOSTS is an intricate and intriguing mystery and legal thriller. The setting, characters, and writing are perfectly combined to create a delightful story. This book showcases Grisham's storytelling at its best.

The original story of Lovely's ancestors and how they came to be on Dark Isle is brought to life through a vivid family history written by Lovely herself, who had no formal education. My favorite parts of the overall story revolve around Lovely. I enjoyed reading about the grace, intelligence, and quietness she exuded while dealing with the opposing attorneys, and I particularly loved the scene where she was able to go back to Dark Isle to help find her ancestors' graves.

This is the third book in the outstanding Camino Island series. It can be read independently, but once you read one, you will want to read them all. I highly recommend this book; it’s a must-read.

Thanks to Netgalley and Doubleday Books for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.


Publisher Doubleday Books
Published May 28, 2024
Review www.bluestockingreviews.com

loved reading this book and seeing how the law played into the a piece of land. loved reading about the past and how they got the land. great book.

This is the latest installment in the Camino Island series, and it's so fun to re-visit characters I've grown to know from the past books.

Lots of Florida history is weaved into this one, focusing on a small island off the Atlantic coast with a protection curse cast by the escaped slaves who've called it home since the 1700's. Now a developer has set it's sights on it, and the last living inhabitant of the island is fighting to keep that sacred ground sacred. John Grisham-y legal stuff ensues!

This story was definitely more plot-driven so didn't really let the characters' personalities or relationships shine. This was unfortunate, since the people in this series are so colorful. I really think the cast of this book could have been just any generic authors/bookstore owners/lawyers so knowledge of the happenings in the previous books is not necessary.

Regardless, the story was engrossing, and the legal maneuvering was actually not as prominent as in other Grisham novels I've read. I got hooked very quickly and flew through this book to its very satisfying ending!

All in all, a solid story, but I would have liked to have felt the great personalities of the previous characters more.