I have read all of Grisham's books and honestly, this has to be one of his best and it definitely needs to be a movie! This book will take you on a rollercoaster ride of history, sorrow, joy, cheering for the "good" guys, shouting at and hating at the "bad" guys, ghosts of the past, friendship and commitment. At times I forgot I was reading a fiction book. I love the Camino series and all the returning characters!!! Thanks for the advanced copy!!

Another entertaining Grisham book. The Camino series is a good one, although I felt the ending was a bit flat. I was waiting for a more interesting twist or unexpected development. But all in all a solid book and one that any Grisham fan will enjoy.

Mercer Mann returns to Camino Island in this third book in the Camino Island series, to get married. Thanks to local bookstore owner, Bruce Cable, she finds the subject for her next book. She takes on the challenge of writing a non-fiction book. Lovely Jackson is a descendent of escaped enslaved people who made their home on Dark Isle off the coast of Camino Island. When a developer wants to build a resort and casino on the island a question of ownership arises. Grisham masterfully weaves history in this courtroom drama. Another page turner, by Grisham.

While this might be the third book in a series, I do think it can be treated as a stand-alone. We go back to Camino Island and see some favorite characters return. Some new characters enter as an out of state developer has set its sights on Dark Isle, a small island with a haunted and cursed past. A mystery and court battle unfolds as Lovely Jackson fights the development of her home. Might be my favorite in the series.

Lovely Jackson is the last living descendent of a group of former enslaved people who had found their own freedom on an island off the coast of Florida that is now known as Dark Isle. When land developers, Tidal Breeze, set their sights on Dark Isle as their next project, Lovely is persuaded to pursue her rights to the island that she left at age 15. Lovely has plenty of help but she is insistent on doing things her way and honoring her ancestors in the process. One thing that Tidal Breeze hasn't counted on is that rumors that have surrounded Dark Isle for centuries just might be true.

John Grisham has pulled at all my heart strings with this powerful and extremely relevant story. I am never surprised at how effectively I am moved by the characters and the fight for justice in a blatantly corrupt world. I have already told many people about the premise of this book and they cannot wait to read it either. I highly recommend!

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.