John Grisham is a great storyteller, I think everyone can agree to that. The problem becomes the story he tells: Is it interesting enough to hold the reader's interest. When some of his early legal thrillers failed to offer the bang or excitement as THE FIRM or THE CLIENT, I realized it was because the plot he'd chosen didn't offer the same excitement or stakes.

CALICO JOE is like that. Grisham tells a great story, but it isn't for everybody. There's a lot of baseball, and if you don't like, or at least understand the game. However, the story has some great characters. In 1973, Warren Tracey pitched for the New York Mets, but was a horrible father. Paul Tracey, his son, longed to be a part of his father's life, but instead fell in love with rookie sensation Joe Castle.

Tragedy strikes when the lives of Calico Joe and Warren Tracey intersect. Jump 30 years forward and Paul is trying to make sense of whatever happened to Calico Joe and also come to terms with his father's looming death.

What happens between all the characters is a great story of friendship and forgiveness and is what makes the book easy to enjoy for non baseball fans.

But, keep in mind, this is a short book. It isn't really worthy of being called a novel. So beware how much you pay for a book that can be read in two hours.