John Grisham has always been able to weave a brilliant story together, and Camino Ghosts was no exception. The third in the Camino Island series, this book has a classic Grisham theme of big corporation vs little guy. In this case, Lovely Jackson, the last descendant of a long line of former enslaved people who lived on Dark Isle, an unincorporated island in Florida, against a casino company who wants to build condos and develop on Lovely’s island.

Along the way we see familiar faces from the Camino Island series, as well as new ones. Bruce Cable has known Lovely the longest because she wrote, and he sells, her memoir about her people. He recruits another author to retell Lovely ‘s story to drum up more national interest. At the same time, Lovely and her nonprofit lawyer go to court to establish that she is the true and rightful owner of Dark Isle.

This book really takes you on a journey. We get to see the exact moment Lovely’s ancestors arrived in America and how they fought through the generations to survive, sometimes in fear of being dragged back into slavery. Lovely herself has had a colorful life, and at the age of 80, is the last left to protect her family’s island and legacy.

This book is filled with adventures and wonderful story telling from Lovely, which almost seems exaggerated to everyone else. I was riveted right up until the end. Camino Ghosts has all the best reasons why I’ve loved Grisham for 24+ years now.

I devoured this book and loved every second. This is my favorite in the series.

Thanks to author John Grisham, @netgalley, and @doubleday for the eARC of this book.

John Grisham takes us back to the beachy shores of Camino Island off the coast of Florida and Bruce Cable’s famous Bay Books bookshop. If you are new to the Camino Island books, I highly recommend all three! You can read them out of order but you may find some spoilers for previous books.

These books are more beachy-thriller than legal thriller. In Camino Island, Mercer is recruited to get close to Bruce and hopefully find clues to where five rare, stolen manuscripts may be. In Camino Winds, a hurricane hits the island and a writer is found murdered, with clues to a conspiracy he uncovered in his unpublished manuscript.

This series is Grisham committing to prove he can write a great thriller outside of a courtroom. He was successful in the first two books, but not so much in Camino Ghosts. I didn’t mind because he’s the king of the legal thriller for a reason! This is a captivating story with some old favorite characters and some new ones. Let’s get into it!

What is Camino Ghosts about?

Author Mercer Mann is back on Camino Island for her wedding to former journalist (and former masters student) Thomas. Mercer’s sophomore novel was a smash success, but she’s struggled with what to write next. Since she found the inspiration for her last book on Camino Island and with the help of her friend (and former lover) Bruce Cable, Mercer is hoping inspiration strikes.

Bruce comes through with a brilliant idea of a local story that is developing and deserves a spotlight on the injustice. In the 1700s, a ship carrying 400 slaves from West Africa to Savannah capsized in a storm, and the people who survived landed on Dark Isle where a community of runaway slaves from Georgia had found sanctuary and welcomed them in. The survivors formed a community on the island, though over the years their numbers dwindled.

After 200 years, everyone on the island had died or moved on, leaving a young woman named Lovely Jackson as the last remaining tenant of the island. Born in 1940, Lovely and her mother were the last people on the island before they too left for the mainland, leaving Dark Isle abandoned ever since. At least, that is what Lovely claims in her self-published book, The Dark History of Dark Isle.

The state of Florida has never been interested in Dark Isle, in part because there wasn’t a way to get there. The real estate developers have had their eye on the beautiful and deserted island for several years, but couldn’t promise the revenue needed to get the state to build a bridge from the mainland.

That all changed after hurricane Leo pushed sand up into a coral reef and reconfigured the island so the very tip connects to the main beach. Now, building a bridge should be no problem and the developers already have plans to pack the small island with condos, resorts, and a large casino. Lovely is claiming rightful ownership to the island as the last remaining resident, but there is no record of her birth on the island.

Bruce convinces Mercer to meet with Lovely and read her book, which is filled with the stories of her ancestors passed down to her. She claims the island is hallowed ground and all of her relatives are buried there. She won’t consider selling, which means she needs someone to help her take on the bid developers in court. Bruce and Mercer enlist a local retired lawyer for help taking on Lovely’s case and try to prove her rightful ownership of the island.

What did I think?

I mentioned in my prior reviews that Camino Winds had a very different type of story than Camino Island, though they are set in the same place and involve the same central characters. Once again, Camino Ghosts is an entirely fresh direction for the series, though still bringing the charming characters and setting we grew to love.

Bruce and Mercer have substantial roles in this book, but they aren’t the main characters. Peppered throughout the book are excerpts from Lovely’s book where she tells the stories of her ancestors. The stories are powerful, disturbing, and sad. Slaves were treated like they aren’t human (not that this is a new take) and those experiences are documented in the book. Lovely’s great-grandmother several times over was a woman named Nalla who was nineteen when her happy life was taken from her. Eventually, Nalla puts a curse on the white men responsible for the torture and enslavement of her people, and the island is protected from then on.

The story of the curse is dark, powerful, and entrancing. Throughout the book the rumors of the curse and how it effects those who aren’t native to the community that settled there lurk around the narrative. The sections featuring Lovely Jackson and her stories are the standout stars of the story. This was more emotional than what I’m used to from Grisham, and prove once again his diversity as a writer.

Intricate plotting, compelling characters, and a mystery that tugs on your heartstrings lie at the center of this novel. There are a team of brilliant and determined people helping Lovely with her case, but it’s clear from the beginning that this may be an uphill battle in the courtroom. Lovely isn’t always certain of dates, which is called out by the opposing council any time a date differs in her testimony from what is in her book.

It doesn’t help that slaves were largely undocumented, as were the births and deaths of those on the island. Lovely’s book is actually the sole record of what happened to the people on Dark Isle. Eventually, the group returns to Dark Isle to obtain evidence that will hopefully corroborate Lovely’s story. Lovely is an outstanding character. She’s determined to go to court if needed because she refuses to sell the island to the developers no matter what they offer her.

Mercer is intimidated to tell her story, in part because it’s important it is done justice. Mercer also isn’t a nonfiction writer, and she doesn’t want her book to come across as a retelling of Lovely’s own book (which only sold about 30 copies total, and those are only because of Bruce). Bruce is there as a friend supporting Mercer and pushing her out of her comfort zone. If you’ve read the first two books, you’ll enjoy seeing how far their friendship has come since they met years earlier when she was hired to spy on him.

How is the audiobook?

Those who enjoy audiobooks are in for a treat with Camino Ghosts, which was narrated by Whoopi Goldberg. Whoopi lends her extensive talent as an actress and storyteller and brings Lovely’s story to life. I don’t know how they managed to get Whoopi to do this book, but I can’t imagine any other narrator doing it justice the way she did. I’m also glad that they chose an own-voices narrator, since this is Lovely’s story more than anyone else’s.

Final Thoughts

Longtime fans of the Camino Island books will love Camino Ghosts. Those who haven’t read the prior books will find this to be a gripping story, though they may miss out on some of the fun of seeing Bruce and Mercer back together again in a different place than where they started. The setting of Camino Island always delights, though this book spent much less time at Bay Books and around the writing community of Camino Island than the prior books did. The story is woven together perfectly and the ending is emotional and lovely (pun not intended).

This is perhaps the most elegant of Grisham’s books to date. I enjoy seeing him branch out stylistically, and this is another gripping story of the scrappy underdogs taking on the villainous conglomerate.

Thank you to Doubleday Books for my copy. Opinions are my own.

A bit different from other Grisham novels but a very good read. It's not really a legal thriller or a mystery but rather the story of Lovely, descendent of the people of Dark Island, who has for years asserted ownership and now wants to stop its development. Bruce, the Camino Island bookshop owner gives Mercer a novelist, a copy of Lovely's self published history and we're off. In some ways Nalla, who was kidnapped in Africa and trafficked to the US, is the most compelling character but Lovely is dynamic as well. Mercer and Bruce convince her to sue the State of Florida (thus setting up the conflict) and again, while the legal machinations are interesting, they are less so than the history of the island and Nala's curse. I missed the first two Camino books (not sure how) but this was fine as a standalone. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. While it's not a thriller, it's definitely a page turner and you'll find yourself rooting for Lovely.

This third Camino Island installment begins with a beach wedding. Thomas and Mercer tie the knot. Before they even head off on their honeymoon, Bruce sends Mercer off with an idea for her next book. A long-time Camino Island resident named Lovely Jackson was once a resident on The Dark Isle just two miles away. It was an island populated with escaped slaves. Casino developers want to turn the island into a vacation getaway. Lovely wants to preserve the graves of her ancestors. The race is on. Can they prove that Lovely even has a connection to the island she claims to have left in 1955 with her mother? Will Mercer be able to get her book to the publisher and not have the whole shebang tied up with the ownership of the island in jeopardy?

Grisham's storytelling seemed a bit uneven in this one. The historical facts were gripping as was the voodoo aspect of the island and the curse that was to be reckoned with. As the trial regarding the title of the island is going on I kept waiting for the proverbial shoe to drop. If you are looking for a legal thriller, this is not it.

Thank you to Doubleday and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

Camino Ghosts, the third book in John Grisham's Camino Island series, takes a surprising turn. While familiar characters like Bruce and Mercer return, the spotlight is on Lovely Jackson and a haunting family history.

The story unfolds through two narratives. In the present, Lovely fights a powerful developer for Dark Isle, her ancestral home. Interspersed are excerpts from Lovely's memoir, detailing the struggles and triumphs of her ancestors who escaped slavery and lived on Dark Isle.

Grisham weaves a suspenseful tale, blurring the lines between the past and present with the question of whether the island is truly haunted. Fans of the series will enjoy catching up with Bruce and Mercer, but Camino Ghosts is Lovely's story, one that's both heartbreaking and inspiring.

This book is a good choice for those who enjoy Grisham's legal thrillers with a twist of historical fiction and a touch of the unknown.

Grisham returns to Camino Island with this book that centers around Lovely Jackson, a Black woman who claims she has the rights to an uninhabited island that has been untouched - and haunted - for over half a century. Now developers want to build a casino and resort on the island and the fight to save it from development forms most of the plot of the book. I was uncomfortable having a white man write Lovely's story but Grisham did it with as much care as I think he could. I was expecting a bit more suspense in this book as well and it just wasn't there.

Camino Ghosts - Another interesting story by Mr. Grisham filled with courtroom drama, voodoo priestesses, and a 260-year-old history of escaped slaves living on an island off Florida. Interesting story lines and believable characters mixed with plenty of drama, emotions, and humor. Typical Grisham, an excellent book. Source: Netgalley. 4*

My thanks to Net Galley and Doubleday for allowing me to read this arc.

Bruce Cable is back along with friends to help a former slave, Lovely Jackson obtain sole ownership to Dark.Isle, and island they lived on as former slaves. Lovely is the last survivor and goes against a big development mogul who wants to.build on the sacred ground, unaware of the dark secrets the island possesses.

Another great Grisham story teller winner.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review the book
I like this one I love the setting and the gulf coast history is a bonus.
Grisham is the king of the legal thriller

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance ecopy of this title. The book opens with the wedding of professor/author, Mercer to her fellow writer, Thomas. Before they leave on their Scottish honeymoon, their bookstore owner/friend, Bruce gives them a self-published book to read, and asks Mercer if she would like to weave her own book around this story. The book was written by Lovely Jackson about a small island off the coast of Florida that was a haven for escaped slaves from 1760-1955, when Lovely and her mother (the last inhabitants) left the island. To spice things up, Lovely's ancestor was a Voodoo priestess who cursed any white man who set foot on the island. Bruce also involves environmental lawyer, Sam, to stave off developers who want to turn the island into a Casino and Resort. The story is well-crafted, and extremely readable with great characters. I was waiting for a twist at the end, but that did not occur. This story is almost "Grisham Lite", but the absence of anxiety for the characters isn't entirely a bad thing!

I love legal thrillers, especially when they can be mixed with some historical fiction. Even though I haven't read the first two in this series, I thoroughly enjoyed the plot of this one and found some delightful characters. I definitely feel that it can be read as a stand alone.

The setting of this legal thriller was fabulous - Camino Island (off of the Floridian coast) and then Dark Island, a long abandoned neighboring island that was home to escaped slaves (both runaway and shipwrecked).

Enter Bruce, a local bookstore owner and promoter of local authors; enter Mercer Mann, an up and coming author, who already has one best seller; and maybe most importantly, enter Lovely Jackson, the last inhabitant of Dark Island from 65 years ago (but now living on Camino Island).

Bruce gives Mercer the idea of her next book being a non-fiction expanded take off on a book that Lovely Jackson wrote years ago, an account of her life and her ancestors' lives on Dark Island. Mercer and her new husband, Thomas, are both intrigued and enthralled by Lovely's short book written after she and her mother came to live on Camino Island when Lovely was 15. Lovely Jackson is now 80 years old.

Throw in a money hungry Florida development company whose goal is to build a bridge to Dark Island, re-name it Panther Cay, and fill it with hotels, casinos, and condominiums. The problem is...Lovely Jackson claims ownership to the island as she and her mother were the last living inhabitants and all of her ancestors are buried there. The court case blossomed into quite the showdown with the mammoth law firm vs the diminutive one. Who will prevail? Who does Dark Island in actuality belong to...is it Lovely Jackson and her ancestors since they were its only ever inhabitants, or is it the state's possession since it has been abandoned over 6 decades? Will the state allow sacred burial grounds to be covered in concrete so hotels and casinos can be built? It's up to the court to decide.

Grab this one May 28th and find out. I know one thing...after reading it, I want to hang out at Bruce's bookstore for his signings and parties;-)

Thank you, NetGalley and Doubleday for this ARC, which should satisfy any reader's appetite who loves legal thrillers. Let's even throw in a bonus lesson in history.

This is the third of Grisham’s Camino Island series. I’ve not read the previous two books and read this easily as a stand alone. There is some catch-up with who I presume are regulars in the series like Bruce Cable who runs the local bookshop and dabbles in rare books and author Mercer Mann who he once was involved with but they have both moved on. Bruce has a new story suggestion for Mercer, who has had two successful books but is looking for another hit so she may give up her college teaching job. He introduces her to Lovely Jackson who is 80. She was born and raised on an island off the coast called Dark Island. It once was an enclave for runaway slaves of whom she is a descendant. She claims ownership of the island although she hasn’t lived there since she was 15.

The story gets the Grisham spin as it becomes a court case. A large corporation with politicians in their pockets wants to build a casino on the island. The state of Florida is claiming ownership under their own state laws. I like Grisham’s easy way of writing and the story is straightforward to follow. I did not feel much connection to Bruce, Mercer or Thomas (the regulars) like I probably would if I had read the previous books in the series. I did feel more educated on slavery, especially the difference in treatment by the Spanish and the British.

This is a captivating story about a small island off the coast of Florida where escaped slaves made their home for hundreds of years. They were protected by their own grit and maybe some voodoo. It hadn't been practical to develop the island until a fierce hurricane had reconfigured the island and the waters around it.

Lovey is the last resident of the island still alive. She and her mother had left 65 years before because life wasn't sustainable there anymore for just the two of them. But Lovey always considered herself and her ancestors to the be owners of the island - until developers contested the ownership.

This story goes back to the brutality of the slave capture in Africa and the terrible passage over. It continues through modern day with Lovey having written a book about the island and her ancestors. She also had created logs with all sorts of historical information.

Much of this book concerns the legal machinations to gain the knowledge to fight the corporations and to build a case.

The reader will come away satisfied, but the book does hit some slow spots. I enjoyed reading it and I'm glad I had the opportunity.

This is the third in the author's Camino Island series, and in many ways, I'll call it my favorite even though I gave each of them 5 stars as well. It's a happy, sad, bittersweet, intriguing, well-written story that held my attention throughout. I will not, though, calll it a "thriller;" nothing in here was the least bit frightening or scary to me.

Back to the forefront is Bruce Cable, owner of a bookshop on Camino Island. His friend, author and college teacher Mercer Mann, is looking to write a follow-up to her successful novel but having trouble finding a topic. Ever helpful, Bruce turns to a small self-published history of nearby Dark Island written by local resident Lovely Jackson. Now 80 years old, Lovely claims not only to have lived on the long-deserted island, but is the owner; she was the last inhabitant to leave, and many of her relatives are buried there. She also claims that the island is cursed - and any people not of color (a.k.a. white) will not be welcomed there.

But progress, apparently, has no use for claims like hers; a large development company has set its sights on turning Dark Island into a tourist attraction now that a huge storm carved a path for a bridge to be built between the two islands. Despite offers of huge sums of money, Lovely says no deal; so the company, in the belief that Lovely can't prove ownership of Dark Island, decides to take the matter to court.

From there, it's a matter of history - readers learn what Lovely knows first-hand and by way of her ancestors, almost all related to the slave trade, kidnapping and worse. In the present, we see how the trial develops, proceeds and ends as an aging Camino Island lawyer who opposes the Dark Island development project takes on Lovely's case in true David v. Goliath fashion.

I should note that this book stands alone well, although those who read the first two will have an advantage of being familiar with several of the characters (and besides, they're really good books as well). As for this one, I once again thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review a pre-release copy. Loved it!

Celebrated local novelist Mercer Mann and the affable but sometimes dodgy bookseller Bruce Cable return in Camino Ghosts as master storyteller John Grisham takes us back to paradise with the third novel in his Camino Island series.

When you have a plot that includes the last surviving descendant of Africans formerly enslaved on plantations in the region who escaped and adapted to living in isolation for hundreds of years on a tiny barrier island off the coast of Florida plus a greedy Miami commercial real estate developer, it’s a recipe for an absorbing and heart-warming book you won’t regret reading.

I’m a longtime time fan of both John Grisham and his Camino Island series which represents a departure from the taut legal thrillers Grisham is best known for. I found the first two novels entertaining and immersive reads and the third book, Camino Ghosts, doesn’t disappoint. There is enough that takes place in a courtroom to remind us we’re reading a Grisham novel, but the true thrust of the plot lies elsewhere.

The story opens with Mercer returning to Camino Island for her wedding during the summer break from Old Miss where she is a professor. Mercer still hasn’t found a story for a second book to follow up her chart-topping debut novel when the ever-helpful Bruce introduces her to the true story of Dark Isle, and he suggests Mercer could fictionalize the story as her second novel. Dark Isle is one of two deserted barrier islands between Georgia and Florida. Sometime around 1750 it became a sanctuary for runaway slaves from Georgia. And Bruce says around 1760 a few of the surviving slaves from a slave ship returning from West Africa and bound for Savannah washed ashore after the ship broke up and sank during a storm. Bruce presses Mercer to read a self-published book written by Lovely Jackson, the last remaining descendant of the people living a life of isolation on Dark Isle.

Lovely Jackson claims ownership of Dark Isle as the last remaining descendant and heir. She claims in the book she was born there, lived there for the first fifteen years of her life, and all her people are buried there. Mercer reluctantly takes the book, but when she begins reading it on the plane on the way to her honeymoon in Scotland with her new husband Thomas, she can’t put it down. She wants to write a book about Dark Isle, but decides the story is better suited to non-fiction than a novel. After returning from the honeymoon, Bruce introduces Mercer to Lovely Jackson. They strike an agreement for Mercer to “borrow” Lovely’s story and to write a non-fiction book expanding the story of Dark Isle.

The stakes get raised when a Miami commercial real estate developer announces a plan to develop Dark Isle into a resort with a casino. Bruce brings Lovely together with a friend, a semi-retired famous environmental attorney, Steve Mahon. Steve opposes the proposed development of Dark Isle on environmental grounds and sees Lovely’s ownership claims as the best way to keep it from happening. After Bruce brings him and Lovely together, she agrees to allow Steve to represent her in a lawsuit against the state of Florida to gain legal title to the island.

I hesitate to categorize Camino Ghosts as a thriller like many of Grisham’s other books. Yes, there is tension and suspense at play, but I think it’s more of a general fiction literary work. It doesn’t make the book any less of an entertaining and worthy read. In addition to meeting again many of the main and supporting characters from the earlier books, Grisham introduces us to many fresh nuanced characters in this third installment. I’ve been a fan of Mercer and Bruce since the first book, but the character I loved most in this one was Lovely Jackson. I think she really steals the show, and her story overshadows that of the more familiar characters. After reading the excerpts from Lovely’s self-published book on the history of Dark Isle that Grisham sprinkles throughout the narrative, you can’t help but emphasize with her in her battle for justice against the greedy real estate developer. She is such a sympathetic and likeable character even when at times you aren’t completely certain about how much of her story is fact and how much is fiction.

Forget about taut, courtroom drama. Grisham’s signal triumph in this one is a tightly plotted, feel good read with a few nifty surprises in store for Grisham fans who expect nothing less.

Doubleday, a division of Penguin Random House LLC will publish Camino Ghosts May 28, 2024. I received an advance review copy of the book from the publisher via NetGalley used for this review, which represents my honest opinions.

Suspense Filled Masterpiece!

Thank you NetGallary for an early review copy of Camino Ghosts!

This book was so good!

Storytelling at its Best by the Best Storyteller in the business John Grisham!

This book has it all! Suspense that keeps you engaged throughout the entire book!Character development was excellent!

You know a book has you hooked when you can’t stop thinking about it and this was that book for me! I am thrilled that I received an early release copy!

I gave this book 5 stars! I could not turn the pages fast enough!

This book kept me engaged the entire time! Loved it!

No spoilers with my review!

Well done!

Thank you to Net Galley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. I have been reading John Grisham novels since I was in middle school. I love his legal thrillers, but even his non-legal set books are hits and this one was no exception. This is the perfect read for the beach and for this summer.

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.