[.uk] Grass Roots (ISBN 0061014222)

Grisham-like Drama with Left-leaning Political Overtones:
In Grass Root, Woods produces a novel that John Grisham must have taken cues from. While it is nowhere near as good as any Grisham novel, it is a fairly enjoyable read. We are unfortunately forced to learn too much about Woods' left-leaning politics however. His characterization about republicans and conservatives as described by the senatorial candidate Calhoun is grossly unfair. Depicting Calhoun (the republican candidate) as a KKK-sympathizing fundamentalist religious hypocrite borders on Michael Moore type propaganda. In the novel, Will Lee's campain speach before his rival's church congregation sounds like a replay of a Ted Kennedy tyrade. This story in this novel tends to follow that of the 1986 senate election of Wyche Fowler in Georgia - a career politician who served one term in the senate. The political climate is the same - democrats ruled the roost. Despite that this novel preceded the Grisham successes, Woods could learn from Grisham's lack of bias and overt political declarations. Grisham's political candidates are rarely identified with parties and his true political leanings are seldom revealed. With Woods, nothing is left to the imagination.

Grass Roots:
Other reviewers have reported this book as Grisham-like. I agree. The characters are neither developed nor particularly likeable. Reference to the main character's (Will Lee) love interest throughout the book is by first and last name. This is indicative of the real emotional attachment. Stone Barrington isn't the greatest character in crime fiction, but he certainly beats Will Lee.

exciting thriller:
When highly regarded Senator Ben Carr of Georgia suffers a debilitating stroke, his loyal chief of staff, Will Lee runs for the office. His opponent in the Democratic primary is the state's governor Mack Dean; if he wins that his most likely Republican foe is an extreme TV star fundamentalist. However, Will places his personal campaigning on hold when Judge Boggs asks him to serve as a public defender on a hate crimes homicide case in Meriwether County where he grew up and his ma still lives in Delano. The case is a racially charged murder that could impact his election chances as his client is a white male accused of killing a black female. Meanwhile a former cop hunts a vigilante group assassinating people involved in what they interpret as porn peddling gangland-style. This too impacts Will's chances of winning the election as the issues of soft on crime and pornography surface. Each of the three prime threads is gripping and easily could have served as fully developed novellas in differing sub-genres: political, legal and investigative. However, the fun in this tale is how Stuart Woods cleverly interweaves the three seemingly diverse subplots into a cohesive exciting thriller. This reprint of a 1989 tale holds up nicely two decades later. Harriet Klausner

Grass Roots by Stuart Woods:
Absolutely Woods' best book. This was his first novel and I think it is his best. I have enjoyed every one I have read of his, but this one was like living my childhood over again. I "know" many of the characters in this story. It is a very well written storyline and the characters are all exactly as I remember from the 50's and 60's. Great book and a great read!

Excellent continuation of the Will Lee descendants:
You're gonna love this book if you first read CHIEFS. It's a continuation of the Will Lee heritage and an especially enjoyable book. As stated in my review of Woods' book Chiefs, this is a must read as a follow up. You'll truly enjoy it.