"Took about 20 years": John Grisham steps into the world of espionage in new novel

Another year, another novel from bestselling author John Grisham. 

He's had 51 consecutive number 1 bestselling books across various genres, and has sold nearly half a billion copies worldwide. 

And now he's stepping out of the courtroom with his first spy thriller and foray into international espionage – 'The French Illusion'.  

"I love spy novels," Grisham told Mike Hosking. 

"I grew up reading them – still read them a lot." 

And so he decided to take a break from the courtroom and the lawyers, getting the idea for this story while visiting Paris. 

"For years my wife has said, "why don't you set a book here in France? We enjoy Paris and there's so much to write about," and I said, "great, I'd love to do that, but I have to wait till I have a good story."" 

"And it finally... it took years for it to come about." 

Although he's not ruling out another spy novel down the line, Grisham told Hosking he's returning to the courtroom in his next book. 

"That's where I belong, that's where my readers expect to find me." 

"We're Americans – we love to sue people. We love courtrooms. Lawyers, we're always in court over something. It's very much a part of our culture." 

"That's what I enjoy writing about." 

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