Ford County (short story collection)
Ford County is a collection of novellas by John Grisham. His first collection of stories, it was published by Doubleday in the United States on November 3, 2009.
The book contains 7 short stories:
Blood Drive ;
Fetching Raymond ;
Fish Files ;
Casino ;
Michael's Room ;
Quiet Haven ;
Funny Boy .
Blood Drive
A young man named Bailey is injured in a construction accident, and rampant flurries of rumors quickly entice three young men to drive to Memphis to donate blood for the injured Bailey.Aggie, Calvin and Roger set off in a pickup truck toward Memphis when Roger, an alcoholic, insists they stop at a gas station so he can purchase beer. He also tells Aggie and Calvin several stories about Memphis strip clubs, stimulating their curiosity. After a close call with a Sheriff's deputy and a shotgun-toting homeowner, the trio arrive in Memphis and decide to hit up one of Roger's favorite strip clubs.
Imbibing too much alcohol and realizing that none of them can navigate Memphis with any success, the men eventually sell their blood at a nearby blood bank, being unable to remember which hospital contains Bailey. Roger, after passing out and being left in the pickup, awakens during a nearby gang gun battle and flees with a pistol he found under the pickup's seat. Pursued haphazardly by the gang, Roger encounters a man and woman fighting next to a car and rescues the woman, who takes his gun and holds him hostage as he drives the car away. Aggie and Calvin return to find the pickup riddled with bullet holes and, against better judgment, return to the previously-visited strip club to spend the fifty dollars apiece they received from the blood bank.