What I've Read: The Spire

This is another of the really, really few fiction authors that I will spend my time on. The first book of his I read was Degree of Guilt. And honestly, it wasn't like it came recommended or anything. Nope ... back in the day, I was needing a book for a flight, and the cover intrigued me. Then I read the back and it had to do with a reporter and a trial, and I thought, what the hell? Little did I know that I was gleefully jumping into a whole world of intertwining characters and compelling court cases that would have me thinking about all the issues I enjoy contemplating.

What I really love about his novels is that he pairs a trial case with a particular social issue he finds worthwhile. One book is about gun control. Another is about a woman being nominated to be chief justice of the Supreme Court. Another is about abortion rights. He deftly weaves in realistic social causes with well thought-out court cases. He puts that hack John Grisham to shame, yessir.

The Spire is his latest, and it lacks some of the spirit his previous ones had. After two departures from his normal work (Eclipse and Exile), I thought maybe he was taking on more global issues with his work. He mainly partook in American political affairs, but after those two global-themed tomes he returned to quieter subject matter. The Spire is just about a lawyer who is asked to be president of his alma mater. As normal, things are not what they seem. But instead of being a shoot-em-up or some medical thriller, instead in typical Patterson fashion, he delves into the more psychological fare.

It was great to read his newest, and I wish it had been stronger. It just drug on at parts, and didn't have the depth of characters all the way around that he is used to churning out. Hopefully he won't take as long to put out a new one book and that he'll return to the form I know him well to providing. But for now, it's back to the nonfiction.