THE ASSOCIATE
John Grisham
Doubleday
Legal Thriller
ISBN: 9780385517836
Through the course of nearly two decades of writing and the publication of 22 books, John Grisham has been a perpetual occupant of a top position on the New York Times bestseller list. While recognized by most as the author of courtroom fiction, Grisham has frequently deviated from those sagas that have made him famous. In 2006, he delved into the world of true crime, writing THE INNOCENT MAN: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town. On occasion he has ventured far from the courthouse and the law with novels such as BLEACHERS and PLAYING FOR PIZZA. Regardless of the subject, however, a bestselling book always seems to be the end result of his hard work.
Grisham has achieved his greatest success inside the fictional courtroom where his novels fall into two categories. Some concentrate almost exclusively on the law. A TIME TO KILL, THE RAINMAKER and THE APPEAL spend countless pages in the courtroom and revolve around important legal issues that he wants readers to contemplate. Others are less courtroom-focused and more mystery-centered with lawyers simply being the spotlight of the plot. In THE FIRM, THE CLIENT and THE BROKER, the protagonists could have been non-attorneys without any major impact on the novels.
THE ASSOCIATE, Grisham’s latest masterpiece, reached the top 10 of Amazon purchases prior to its publication and is a certain New York Times bestseller. It is one of Grisham’s pseudo-courtroom mysteries. Because he is constantly writing new novels, he is able to follow plot lines that often capture the news of the moment. Here, he mixes events reminiscent of the Duke University lacrosse players’ scandal with equal parts of Wall Street lawyer misbehavior and a large portion of industrial espionage, all coming together to create the quintessential page-turning thriller that readers have come to expect from Grisham.
Kyle McAvoy is an idealistic Yale Law School graduate who has decided to forsake the wealth and power of a high-powered law firm for the altruistic work of a legal aid attorney. But McAvoy has an ugly past that he desperately wants to hide. That skeleton in his closet provides an easy target for blackmailers who have a far different career path in mind for the brilliant Ivy League graduate. McAvoy is confronted with his past by men whose identity and employer are a mystery, but their task is clear. They are to recruit McAvoy to be a conduit for information about a major lawsuit that focuses on important weapons systems developed by the Department of Defense. In order to accomplish this nefarious task, McAvoy must first accept the offer to join the Wall Street law firm that will represent one of the defense contractors involved in the litigation.
In his writing, Grisham has never shied away from using his books to reflect upon what he considers to be the shortcomings of the American legal system. From the death penalty to the buying of judicial elections and other stops along the way, Grisham often pinpoints what he believes to be deficiencies in the law. In THE ASSOCIATE, the treatment (or perhaps mistreatment) of young lawyers as fodder for income generation is highlighted by Grisham. As McAvoy works his way through the torture of a first-year associate at Scully and Pershing, the 100-hour work weeks, client billing excesses and a money-at-all-costs attitude are described in excruciating detail. But that behavior is only the background to McAvoy’s battle to expose the men who would destroy his legal career in order to gain an advantage in the weapons market.
THE ASSOCIATE is vintage John Grisham. Some of the plot twists and turns require a suspension of disbelief by readers, but that is an easily accomplished task. You begin a Grisham title and several hours later confront a serious dilemma. Do I put the book down to get some sleep, or do I keep reading? The answer for me is to continue reading. Grisham has that ability to keep you turning the pages until the thrilling conclusion of yet another masterful effort.
--- Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman
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