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Monday, August 1, 2011

The Firm

I've always been a John Grisham fan, ever since I read A Time To Kill back in high school. His stories are compelling, fast reads. Who knew lawyers and courtrooms could be so interesting?

The Firm is Grisham's second novel, published in 1991. Mitch McDeere, number 3 in his class at Harvard Law, has job offers from all over the country, including one for a small firm in Memphis with Bendini, Lambert, and Locke. The Bendini firm paid off his school loans, leased him a BMW, and arranged the mortgage for his first house. Thinking they'd finally made it, Mitch and his wife celebrated.

But strange things are happening at the firm, and when the FBI tries to recruit Mitch to help them take down the firm from the inside, he has to make a deadly choice. Does he stay and risk losing everything, or leave and risk losing his life?

Overall, I really liked this book. It had me hooked from the beginning and didn't let up. The plot was intriguing and there were plenty of moments where I was really nervous for the characters and couldn't wait to find out what happened. However, I didn't feel like the climax was as edge-of-my-seat exciting as it should have been. Granted, I wasn't bored, but there didn't seem to be enough drama.

My only other issue with the book was that the main character, Mitch, was kind of an asshole. While I still felt bad for his situation and was concerned for his well-being, I was never a big fan of his attitude.

However, neither of those criticisms should be a deterrent to reading the book. If you're looking for a fast-paced thriller, I highly recommend The Firm. 4 out of 5 stars.

2 comments:

  1. New look to your blog? :)

    The Firm is one of my favorite Grisham novels (I read a ton of them back in college). It's also a pretty good movie!

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  2. I thought it was time for an update. :-) I've never seen the movie, but I bet it would be good! I'll have to check it out. Actually, of the Grisham I've read, I'd say The Firm is probably my second favorite (after A Time to Kill and above The Brethren).

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