(After the Firm)
By John Grisham
AN INTRIGUING LEGAL THRILLER WITH AN INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
SUMMARY
Author John Grisham returns with a sequel to his first bestseller legal thriller, The Firm, featuring hero Mitch McDeere. It is fifteen years later, and Mitch and his wife Abby live in Manhattan, and Mitch works at a large international law firm. His mentor, Luca Sandroni, who is in failing health and lives in Rome, asks Mitch for help. Mitch soon finds himself in the middle of a $400 million international financial dispute over a Turkish company’s construction of a bridge to nowhere in Lybia for Muammar Gaddafi and the kidnapping of Giovanni, Luca’s daughter, who had been on her way to tour the bridge when she was taken, and her bodyguards were violently killed. The kidnappers are requesting a $100 million ransom demand.
Mitch knows he must do whatever it takes to resolve the financial dispute and pay the ransom for the kidnapping. Resolving either issue would be hard enough, but tackling both will be nearly impossible as he must put both himself and his family at risk again.
REVIEW
Grisham is a masterful storyteller, particularly when it comes to legal thrillers. THE EXCHANGE is full of international intrigue. Grisham’s writing is insightful and descriptive. His descriptions are highly visible, from a beautiful view outside Mittch’s office window to the crowded but colorful Morroco's street markets.
The characters, particularly Mitch and Abby, are courageously center stage while many of Mitch’s partners run for cover and refuse to help with the ransom. Leaving Mitch globetrotting around the world, begging for ransom money, and negotiating a settlement on the bridge construction contracts with Gaddafi, who may or may not have been involved in the kidnapping. My favorite part is when the kidnappers demand that Abby fly to Morocco to deliver the ransom personally. While fearful, Abby handles the situation with courage and aplomb.
Grisham does a fabulous job of gently reminding us about what happened to Mitch and Abby in The Firm. He also fills in the blanks of what Mitch and Abby have been doing in the intervening years since Mitch brought down his first law firm for corruption.
Thanks to Doubleday and Netgalley for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own
Publisher Doubleday
Published October 17, 2023
Review www.bluestockingreviews.com
