The Racketeer Quotes

“I guess under the right circumstances, a man will do just about anything.”
― John Grisham, The Racketeer

“How do you survive for years in prison? You don’t think about years, or months, or weeks. You think about today—how to get through it, how to survive it. When you wake up tomorrow, another day is behind you. The days add up; the weeks run together; the months become years. You realize how tough you are, how you can function and survive because you have no choice.”
― John Grisham, The Racketeer

“Perhaps in another era, a trial was an exercise in the presentation of facts, the search for truth, and the finding of justice. Now a trial is a contest in which one side will win and the other side will lose. Each side expects the other to bend the rules or to cheat, so neither side plays fair. The truth is lost in the melee.”
― John Grisham, The Racketeer

“forgotten by the world and by those you love”
― John Grisham, The Racketeer

“When you wake up tomorrow, another day is behind you. The days add up; the weeks run together; the months become years.”
― John Grisham, The Racketeer

“In the United States we spend $40,000 a year to incarcerate each prison inmate and $8,000 to educate each elementary school student.”
― John Grisham, The Racketeer

“I was guilty all right. Guilty of stupidity for allowing myself to fall into such a mess.”
― John Grisham, The Racketeer

“He was a quiet man, not lonely and not shy, but cerebral and serious.”
― John Grisham, The Racketeer

“When I left home, Bo was six years old. He was our only child, but we were planning more. The math is easy, and I’ve done it a million times. He’ll be sixteen when I get out, a fully grown teenager, and I will have missed ten of the most precious years a father and son can have. Until they are about twelve years old, little boys worship their fathers and believe they can do no wrong. I coached Bo in T-ball and youth soccer, and he followed me around like a puppy. We fished and camped, and he sometimes went to my office with me on Saturday mornings, after a boys-only breakfast. He was my world, and trying to explain to him that I was going away for a long time broke both our hearts. Once behind bars, I refused to allow him to visit me. As much as I wanted to squeeze him, I could not stand the thought of that little boy seeing his father incarcerated.”
― John Grisham, The Racketeer

“The Constitution names only three federal offenses: treason, piracy, and counterfeiting. Today there are over forty-five hundred federal crimes, and the number continues to grow as Congress gets tougher on crime and federal prosecutors become more creative in finding ways to apply all their new laws.”
― John Grisham, The Racketeer

“His office is not far from my condo, and one look suggests the laid-back beach practice of a guy who comes in at nine and is on the golf course by three.”
― John Grisham, The Racketeer

“There are two other ex-lawyers here at Frostburg. Ron Napoli was a flamboyant criminal lawyer in Philadelphia for many years, until cocaine ruined him. He specialized in drug law and represented many of the top dealers and traffickers in the mid-Atlantic region, from New Jersey to the Carolinas. He preferred to get paid in cash and coke and eventually lost everything. The IRS nailed him for tax evasion, and he’s about halfway through a nine-year sentence. Ron’s not doing too well these days. He seems depressed and will not, under any circumstances, exercise and try to take care of himself. He’s getting heavier, slower, crankier, and sicker. He used to tell fascinating stories about his clients and their adventures in narco-trafficking, but now he just sits in the yard, eating bag after bag of Fritos and looking lost. Someone is sending him money, and he spends most of it on junk food.”
― John Grisham, The Racketeer

“I shouldn’t call myself a lawyer, because technically I am not. The Virginia State Bar swept in and yanked my license shortly after I was convicted. The language is right there in black and white—a felony conviction equals disbarment. I was stripped of my license, and my disciplinary troubles were duly reported in the Virginia Lawyer Register.”
― John Grisham, The Racketeer

“Iam a lawyer, and I am in prison. It’s a long story.”
― John Grisham, The Racketeer

“make things happen,” Pankovits said. “For”
― John Grisham, The Racketeer

“I’m living for today and casting an occasional, lazy eye at tomorrow;”
― John Grisham, The Racketeer

“back. I doubt seriously if friendships made in prison”
― John Grisham, The Racketeer

“unlikely their suspect could be intimidated into saying much. As soon as Quinn was taken out the back door of the Velvet Club, FBI agents cornered his cousin and demanded information. The cousin knew the ropes and had little to say until he was threatened with charges for harboring a fugitive. He had an impressive criminal record, state charges,”
― John Grisham, The Racketeer

“in 2010, the Civil War Battlefield and Artifact Preservation Act was amended again.”
― John Grisham, The Racketeer

“United States we spend $40,000 a year to incarcerate each prison inmate and $8,000 to educate each elementary school student. Here”
― John Grisham, The Racketeer

“of the top lid opens slowly. Mercifully, there is no dead baby inside. Far from it. Vanessa pauses to study the collection of small wooden cigar boxes all sealed with a band of silver duct tape and for the most part stacked in rows. Sweat is dripping from her eyebrows and she tries to swipe at it with a forearm. Carefully,”
― John Grisham, The Racketeer

“Years later he renovated a loft apartment that became his love nest, then his home. To him, the hammering, sawing, and sweating were therapy, a mental and physical escape from a job filled with stress.”
― John Grisham, The Racketeer

“right price they can produce college diplomas, birth certificates, marriage licenses, court orders, car titles, eviction notices, driver’s licenses, credit histories—there’s no limit to their mischief. Some of what they do is illegal and some is not. They brazenly advertise on the Internet, along with an astonishing number of competitors, but claim to be careful about whom they work for.”
― John Grisham, The Racketeer

“are dozens of different devices, all shapes and sizes, but most are attached with a strong magnet. Depending on the model, the battery can last for weeks, or the device can even be hot-wired to the car’s electrical system.”
― John Grisham, The Racketeer

“After eight days in the sun of the Virgin Islands her skin was
brown enough and her hair was returning to its natural colour. She
walked miles up and down the beaches and ate nothing except
fish and fruit. She slept a lot the first few days.

She looked at her wrist and then remembered that her watch
was in a bag somewhere. She didn't need it here. She woke with
the sun and went to bed after dark. But now she was waiting, so
she had looked at her wrist.

It was almost dark when the taxi stopped at the end of the small
road. He got out, paid the driver and looked at the lights as the car
disappeared back up the road. He had one bag. He could see a
light from the house between the trees at the edge of the beach,
and he walked towards it. He didn't know what to expect. He
knew how he felt about her, but did she feel the same?

She was waiting at the back of the house, looking out to sea,
with a drink in her hand. She smiled at him, put down her drink
and let him come to her.

They kissed for a long minute. 'You're late,' she said.”
― John Grisham, The Racketeer

“legit, a convertible that will take me anywhere—it’s almost overwhelming. But I am jolted back to life when a tall, tanned brunette strolls through the lobby. Her top is what’s left of a string bikini and covers almost nothing. Her bottom is a sheer skirt that covers even less. I hand over a Visa card for the charges. I could also use either cash or a prepaid credit card, but since the Fibbies know where I’m staying, there’s no need to be deceptive. I’m sure the Miami office has been notified, and there’s probably a set of eyes not too far away. If I were really paranoid, I could believe that the FBI has already been in my room and perhaps hidden a bug or two. I get to my room, see no bugs or spooks, take a quick shower, and change into shorts and sandals. I go to the bar to check out the talent. I eat alone in the hotel café and catch the eye of a fortyish woman who is dining with what appears to be a female friend. Later, back in the bar, I see her again and we introduce ourselves. Eva, from Puerto Rico. We’re having a drink when the band starts. Eva wants to dance, and though it’s been years, I hit the floor with all the energy I have. Around midnight, Eva and I make it to my room, where we immediately undress and hop into bed. I almost pray the FBI has the room wired”
― John Grisham, The Racketeer

“plan. You’ve got to explain to the judge or whoever that this is all a mistake. I’m”
― John Grisham, The Racketeer

“has a new father and a new life.” I cannot”
― John Grisham, The Racketeer

“The real tragedy of the federal criminal system is not the absurdities. It is the ruined and wasted lives. Congress demands long, harsh sentences, and for the violent thugs these are appropriate. Hardened criminals are locked away in “U.S. Pens,” fortresses where gangs are rampant and murders are routine. But the majority of federal prisoners are nonviolent, and many are convicted of crimes that involved little, if any, criminal activity.”
― John Grisham, The Racketeer

“The Constitution names only three federal offenses: treason, piracy, and counterfeiting.”
― John Grisham, The Racketeer