The Broker
John Grisham
(Reviewer - Narayan Radhakrishnan)
2005 Doubleday
ISBN: 0385510454

The outgoing President grants a last-minute pardon to a notorious Washington power broker hidden away in a federal prison.

Sr. Associate Reviewer Narayan Radhakrishnan writes:

As with any Grisham work, The Broker is fast paced.
As with any Grisham work, The Broker is suspense laced.
As with any Grisham work, The Broker is a gripping read.
But... The Broker is not a regular Grisham-esque legal thriller.

Since 1991, Grisham used to deliver a legal thriller each January-February. This tradition has been broken only once, when A Painted House came out. It was not a legal thriller, or for that matter a thriller per se. Save for that, the author reserved his non-legal thriller skills for the months of November- December, & novellas like Bleachers & Skipping Christmas.

But with a title styled The Broker - & a jacket photo reminiscent of The Firm & The Client, I was expecting a first rate legal thriller... but it was not to be. It is a first rate thriller, no doubt, but for the teeming millions of Grisham's legal thriller fans, this may be a disappointment.

Hey, but don't get me wrong - I'm not saying that The Broker is not good, once I got over the mild disappointment, I began enjoying the first political/spy thriller delivered by Grisham. It all starts with the last days in office of an American President who has managed to alienate everybody. Arthur Morgan has just hours left in office, when the CIA Chief Teddy Maynard visits him. Once feared & respected in defence circles, Maynard, now crippled & reduced to a wheel chair, has a controversial plan which he needs the President to implement - the granting of a full-fledged pardon to one Joel Backman, a lawyer, lobbyist & power broker who once ruled Washington - who is currently serving a sentence for leaking the nation’s security interests.

Maynard believes that Backman knows about some “sophisticated defense satellite systems” & that he might have given the information to a foreign country - China, Israel, Arabia or Russia. A freed Backman would be hazardous to the interest of that foreign nation - & they would surely kill him - & by that act the CIA would know who got hold of the secrets. All in the interest of “America's National Security.”, so says Maynard.

President Morgan grants the pardon & Joel Backman is shifted to Italy where he can enjoy life as Marco Lazzeri. What follows is traditional Grisham action - with the CIA trying to get one-up on Backman, & Backman trying his best to stay alive & at the same time regain the life he once enjoyed.

The Broker has a superb finish, & without being a spoilsport - let me say one thing - Grisham's legal thriller fans will not be that disappointed - Grisham has reserved something good for them also.

I enjoyed The Broker. It reminded me a lot about The Partner with a narrative style reminiscent of The Testament. The quaint style in which Joel Backman/Marco studies Italian, the tenacity of the man is well portrayed.

Highly, highly recommended, but frankly, I can't wait for a cent-per-cent legal thriller from the Master. & Mr. Grisham, if by chance you are reading this, is there any possibility of a book version of your screenplays The Gingerbread Man or Mickey being published in the near future?

More from John Grisham:
The Last Juror
The King of Torts
The Pelican Brief
The Rainmaker
The Chamber
The Runaway Jury
A Time To Kill
The Summons & many, many more!
(01/30/05)

Narayan
2005©Narayan Radhakrishnan
A RebeccasReads.Com Sr. Associate Reviewer

Reviewer's Bio:
I am a 26 years old lawyer practicing in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. Along with my legal practice, I have finished post-graduate studies for both Business Law & Human Rights. I am a self proclaimed numero-uno legal thriller lover & am the proud owner of all of Grisham's & Turow's novels. I enjoy John Mortimer's Rumpole & relish an occasional Martini & a rare Scot(ch)t-oline with a Patterson on the side.

My work A FICTION OF LAW is now about 500 pages in length & features 500 lawyer authors & 2000 legal thrillers covering a 300 year period - inclusive of entries from the USA, UK, Asia, Europe, China, Middle East etc. Still in search of a publisher.
www.keralatourism.org