‘The Firm’ by John Grisham

My Review (4 stars out of 5)

When newly qualified lawyer Mitch McDeere considers offers from a bevy of law firms, it’s Bendini, Lambert and Locke who table the biggest salary and the most benefits. However, Mitch and his wife soon discover that this particular law firm has a few skeletons in its cupboards – and not only the unexplained recent deaths of some of its workers. Approached by the FBI, Mitch learns the company’s main client is the Mafia, and finds himself drawn into a situation that could easily end in his own death.

This is the third of John Grisham’s books I’ve read (the others being The Reckoning and Runaway Jury). As you’d expect, there’s a difference in the quality of the writing from the author’s earlier books and The Firm (1991) has its share of clunky dialogue and endlessly repeated phrases (the number of people who ‘ease’ past someone else is unbelievable). However, that aside, for the most part it’s a pretty darn good story and while it differs somewhat from the movie version (starring Tom Cruise), the first half of the novel is generally more interesting. Where the movie wins out, though, is in the ending. In the book, Grisham stretches out the final chase for many chapters, with a series of unlikely scenarios that at times are just plain silly.  

A good solid tale, marred by a slightly unbelievable ending.

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