And John Grisham is back! And I mean really back, with one of his legal thrillers. The site gives a nice enough blurb and just like the last book, you get hooked. Young law student, past secrets, threats, the works!
’Kyle McAvoy is one of the outstanding legal students of his generation: he’s good looking, has a brilliant mind and a glittering future ahead of him. But he has a secret from his past, a secret that threatens to destroy his fledgling career and, possibly, his entire life.’
The beginning is nice enough, the introduction clears that the protagonist wants to be the authors’ favorite type of lawyer...a hard hitting, heart in the right place street lawyer.
There is suspense, sex, a sex video in fact, hidden bugs and cameras, murder, mayhem, the bad guys etc etc. the usual JG fare. The author builds up the scenario and by the end of the first couple of chapters you are in the thick of the plot.
The pure of conscience protagonist is stuck between majorly BAD defence contractors and their equally evil money making, over billing legal firms. He has nowhere to go and noone to turn to! The plot is going from strength to strength!
And therein lies its weakness too. The blurb at the back of the book says something like ’Full of twists and turns and reminiscent of The Firm, The Associate is vintage John Grisham.’ And sure enough 400 pages or so do make you nostalgic because they remind you of the John Grisham of yore, the time before he rediscovered his childhood and veered to the world outside the courtroom.
The non-courtroom books were nice enough but can you imagine John Wayne as anything but the dusty old westerner or Shahrukh Khan without his stutter?By the middle of the book it starts loosing steam and you start thinking where it is going, perhaps The Firm way?
Will the guy walk away from this mess to a pristine sun soaked beach with his life AND family intact having outfoxed bad people, bad law firms and seriously bad FBI? You keeping waiting and waiting and waiting and then realise that lo and behold, the book is already over! But where are the gunshots, damaging videos, the peril of death, the witness protection program.
Does noone go to jail? Does the big bad firm survive the righteous anger of our smart young street lawyer? The last page is here and I’m still waiting, very patiently. But alas there is none of all that. Perhaps Mr. Grisham has a sequel ready to spring on us. The Associate II?