The Reservation

The Reservation by Rebecca Kauffman

John Grisham has made a reservation at a fine dining restaurant in a small college town. Everyone is already a little uptight, and then things get worse. A number of steaks are missing. It seems like an inside job and the manager is trying to get to the bottom of it. Then the dishwasher breaks requiring dishes to be washed by hand. As everyone goes through challenges, we learn more about the past history of the various employees. There are plenty of rough circumstances, but there are people that care for each other. At the last minute Grisham's group cancels the reservation. They discover it was due to bad online reviews (which appear to be part of a smear campaign.) Later a mysterious guy shows up right before closing time and has some conversation with the bartender. He thinks it may have been Grisham. The book ends with the manager granting one of the most loyal employees a big raise. (He has had mental and physical issues, and wants to use it for health care.) The book is loaded with actions, despite spending just one day in one location. You can't help but fall for the many different characters.