The French Illusion - John Grisham

The French Illusion

By John Grisham

  • Release Date: 2026-09-29
  • Genre: Mysteries & Thrillers
Score: 4
4
From 1,870 Ratings

Description

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • John Grisham delivers a gripping, suspenseful page-turner about a Paris honeymoon gone horribly wrong—and the nightmare that follows.

After Paul and Chelsea Tanner’s fairytale wedding, their future is full of promise. But their honeymoon to Paris takes a dark, shocking turn when they are kidnapped while on a day trip to the French countryside. Who would target them, and why? It turns out this is not the first crime of its kind. The search for clues soon stretches across borders, with the FBI, CIA, and French Intelligence trying to work together to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Struggling to find answers, a young lawyer is recruited to be the bait in an elaborate CIA operation.

Propulsive and surprising, The French Illusion is an unmistakable Grisham thrill ride—gripping and impossible to put down.

Reviews

  • Rushed disappointing finish

    1
    By Kayfamily itunes
    Terrible. Rush to a disappointing finish. The ghost writer should have refused the premise.
  • Grisham BOUNCES BACK

    4
    By Calwickstrom
    I didn’t know if I could finish the book. There’s some pretty harsh stuff—like “waterboarding.” But this novel gave e incite into subjects I usually avoid and “ spoiler alert ,” the ending is a happy one.
  • Exciting read with a lame finish

    2
    By Frustrated with Bicycling
    A story laced with lots of Grisham political agenda but an exciting read right up to a lame finish with lots of holes.
  • At least try to make it good

    3
    By ptcmomo5
    The book’s premise is great but his writing - particularly character conversation - is dull as dishwater
  • Good read

    4
    By #1duke fan
    Worth the read. Nothing deep like Grisham’s best, but a good page turner.
  • What was the illusion?

    3
    By stone crap
    A fun story, kinda? Really anticlimactic down the stretch. Certainly not a legal drama but I hadn’t read Grisham in a bit, so, I wasn’t surprised that he had reached out a little.
  • Disappointed with the ending….

    4
    By groperfish
    Enjoyed the story until the end when it felt like the author was called to supper so he had to end the story quickly! I felt the ending was no ending!
  • Twisting slow plot. Unsatisfying ending.

    2
    By A2MFKfive5fans
    A little slow throughout, then after working through the book, the ending was the same as it would have been halfway. It was as if the author worked so hard to tie things together and then just came up with the most generic happily ever after. Expect a trying read with an unsatisfying end.
  • Agenda laden mediocre story

    3
    By Relicphoto
    Grisham used to be my very favorite author until he shifted to caring more about pushing political ideologies than writing great stories. I’ve read every one of his books but this may be the last. This story was decent at best with a soft ending and lazy character development. Three stars is generous, but the reader is fully aware of his stance on US military operations in the early 2000’s.
  • The French Illusion

    4
    By RileyBowiePresley
    Fantastic read….not typical Grisham and I couldn’t put it down. But very disappointing ending. I was totally let down after such an exciting story. I would have thought he could have had a little bit more imagination wrapping it up.