Book Review: The Accomplice, John Grisham

Legal intricacies are explored in this YA novel by John Grisham

The old world had the Minotaur’s labyrinth and Chandrakanta’s tilism: once you were trapped inside, it took a miracle to get out again. The modern world equivalent is the legal system. John Grisham has spent his life chronicling the various ways in which people run afoul of the law. His YA series, Theodore Boone, features the eponymous teen protagonist, who aspires to be a lawyer like his parents. In the meantime, he helps friends and neighbours with their legal troubles. He’s helped by a first-name acquaintance with the officials and staff of the courts of his small town. In India, he’d be an agent or ‘fixer’, but here he’s just an enthusiastic teen.

The Accomplice, Theodore Boone’s latest adventure, focuses on Woody Lambert, a classmate of Theodore’s. Woody has been going through a hard time lately. His family is breaking up, and his brother Tony, whom he idolises, is slowly falling into rough company. Of those rough friends, the worst is Garth, a rich kid who has been bailed out time and again from legal problems by his father. But when Garth invites Tony and Woody to come along on a car ride, they go along. Unexpectedly, the ride turns into a convenience store robbery. Tony and Woody were not involved, but the police pick up all three of them. Garth uses his money again to get bail, but the two poorer brothers are unable to.

This is only the setup for the core point that Grisham wants to make through this book: the insensitive handling of juvenile undertrials in the American judicial system. Specifically, the problem of bail during judicial custody for these undertrials. Woody and Tony are too poor to afford the 2,000-dollar bail that is set for them, so they are trapped in jail for several days. Theodore steps in to argue for them, but he’s not a full-fledged lawyer yet, so he can only persuade others to help. He starts off by asking his mother to make a court appearance and argue for Woody. When this is not enough, he runs a fund-raiser to get the money for bail.

It looks like it will take more than just a fundraiser to get the two boys out of trouble. Because the bail approval is contingent on the judge being in a benign mood, it keeps getting pushed forward — and then there’s a weekend coming when the legal offices are closed. Other inmates in the holding cells are hardened criminals. The two boys get involved in fights, leading to them getting put into solitary confinement. In the meantime, their mother is struggling to handle the pressures of work and of raising two kids single-handedly. Even with enough money available from the fundraiser, the boys need to find a bail bondsman to actually get released.

Eventually, Theodore’s efforts succeed. Woody and Tony are out on bail and at home. But the nasty shocks are not yet done for the family. The rules around bail have multiple gotchas, and the actual trial process is hampered by Garth’s influential lawyer. The money pressures on Woody’s family continue. The public defender is hardly bothered about winning the case.

As an Indian reader, it’s a little depressing to see how similar these problems are to the Indian system, even if lessened by the relatively better infrastructure. It’s a reminder that legal processes are a nightmare the world over. Well, at least these books have a happy ending.

Theodore Boone, the series, takes up an odd place in the YA literature world. It’s very grounded in today’s American society, and the characters are everyday people. But instead of focusing on the adventures and interpersonal relationships that most realistic YA series focus on, it brings in the judicial system as the primary opponent. Through the eyes of its hero, Theodore, it tries to make readers think of law and lawyers something interesting and, hopefully, better understood. But instalments like The Accomplice point out that no matter how well one knows the law, the experience behind bars will never be good for the victims. To solve the problem, we don’t need superheroes — only ordinary people working together against a flawed system. Theodore’s biggest weapon is not his legal knowledge or contacts, it’s enthusiasm. But that same enthusiasm gets him to succeed. Arguably, these books will have a larger long-term impact than the legal thrillers Grisham is famous for.

Grisham’s writing style is smooth and flows effortlessly, as always. The reader is drawn into the story from the beginning and there’s never a dull moment throughout. It’s also shorter than his ‘adult’ books. Definitely worth a read, for teens and adults alike.