The Broker

The book is a huge let down. While clearly legal thrillers is his forte, he has ventured into spy thriller genre with this novel. However, neither is the chase thrilling nor is the plot gripping. Some how limping and disenchanted you will reach the climax which is quite a dampener. The novel at times looks like a tourist brochure for Italy!

Joel Backman zit in de gevangenis, maar krijgt gratie van de aftredende president. Hij wordt echter niet zomaar vrijgelaten, hij wordt in het grootste geheim naar Italïe gebracht, meer bepaald naar Bologna. Daar moet hij leren een echte Italiaan te worden, de taal leren, de gebruiken, enz.

Backman had een software programma in bezit dat satellieten kon beheersen. Hij wilde dit verkopen aan de hoogste bieder: de USA, de Saudi's, de Israëliërs of de Chinezen. Maar omdat de mensen in zijn nabijheid vermoord werden, pleitte hij schuldig in een proces (over fraude geloof ik) om zo 'veilig' in de gevangenis te belanden. Het software programma werd nooit teruggevonden.

Na twee maanden in Italïe, onder het toeziend oog van de CIA, beseft Joel dat hij hier ook niet veilig is. Men is hem toch op het spoor. In feite zit het zo, dat de CIA hem een tijd in leven wilde houden, en dan informatie over zijn verblijf zou lekken, om te zien wie zou trachten hem te vermoorden.

Maar Joel is een echte manipulator. Hoewel hij soms in nauwe schoentjes komt te zitten, slaagt hij er toch in te ontsnappen uit Bologna. Maar zal hij zijn problemen kunnen oplossen? Zal hij ervoor kunnen zorgen dat hij ooit terug ergens veilig kan leven?

Het boek wordt langzaam opgebouwd, een groot deel gaat over de tijd van Joel (dan Marco) in Bologna. Zijn lessen Italiaans, zijn bezoekjes aan verschillende bezienswaardigheden, aan restaurants waar hij algauw zelf zijn menu moet bestellen in het Italiaans en dergelijke.

Het is pas een eind in het tweede deel van het boek dat de spanning er echt in komt, en dan gaat het eigenlijk razendsnel. Zo snel dat het moeilijk was het boek weg te leggen.
Ik vond het dus eigenlijk super goed geschreven, en hoewel het eigenlijke onderwerp politiek is, was het toch niet moeilijk te volgen en begrijpelijk beschreven. Goed boek.

If you know me, you know that I am a Grisham fan through and through. So I loved this book!!!

The Broker was intense, fast-paced and well written. I missed sleep because I couldn’t put this novel down. From the presidential pardon to the tour of Italy, this book moved quickly

Of note,his characters were complex and evolved at the right pace. Joel’s struggle to learn Italian is a struggle that I can relate with. I have struggled with German my whole life.

The ending caught me by surprise. I loved it. Grisham stiles again!!

I highly recommended.

It's OK. Not that bad, not that good either. The plot was promising, but I got bored along the way. Because it's Grisham, the characters are always interesting and the writing is always great. But my problem here was the pace. There were a lot of instances where I thought Grisham was beating around the bush. He was rather fond of the Italian culture and took lengths to explain quite a few things and that would have been nice if this was a book about Italy. But, this is an espionage thriller of some sort and there were quite a lot of dull parts. Well if this is a thriller, I wasn't thrilled. The ending was redeeming because it contained some excitement, but it was little too late. I was at the point of no return. I had already gotten bored and my mind was already filled with thoughts about how I wasted my time. That being said, I still think that Grisham's sub-par work is better than most out there. If you're a Grisham fan then read this. If not, then don't. You're better off reading his other books.

Not exactly your typical Grisham legal-eagle book. But rather a story with a different twist toward an international espionage/change of identity/cat and mouse thriller.
The book was an easy read, but there seemed to be a lot of needless filler. That filler was just the setup for the fast paced ending.
Overall, an enjoyable read.

It starts promisingly.. Then it gets repetitive and reads like Italy's tour guide instead of a thriller. Even the ending seems too far fetched & implausible.

The unique (and successful) combination of thriller with a European travelogue!

With technology stolen from two US defense contractors, a cutting edge satellite surveillance system dubbed Neptune was secretly built and launched under the very nose of the CIA and the rest of the world's elite spy communities - Israel, Saudi Arabia, Russia, England and China. Nobody even knew of the system's top secret existence (let alone who was operating it) until two brilliant Pakistani computer wizards unwittingly hacked into the system and parlayed that illicit entry into an astonishing piece of software capable of hijacking, manipulating and neutralizing the system.

When greed and human nature drive these naive programmers into the arms of Washington power broker, Joel Backman, to ask for his help in shopping the knowledge of the clandestine satellite system and their superlative software package to the highest bidder, the best laid plans of mice and men and crafty programmers and Washington lawyers are smashed into a million tiny pieces. The hapless young hackers are assassinated and never seen from again and Joel Backman is indicted and hidden away in prison on some nebulous but entirely bogus conspiracy and treason charges. The reputation of his multi-million dollar legal firm is shattered, his partner commits suicide (maybe?) and his son's reputation is left in tatters.

The story really begins in earnest when a cynical, conniving director of the CIA and an unscrupulous outgoing president hatch an idea to solve the continuing puzzle of who owns Neptune. Grant Backman a pardon, create a false identity for him in another country, be a little less than 100% efficient in guarding this identity and location and, finally, sit back to see who comes gunning for him!

Joel Backman's character as a man, a failed father, a wealthy lawyer and power broker, a broken prisoner, a driven student of culture and language and a newly minted caring lover is exceptionally well-developed. Francesca Ferro, his language tutor, is equally well crafted and a wonderfully detailed study of an enigmatic and sophisticated but very human European woman.

While its fundamental premise is a tad over the top and registers a little low on the credibility meter, THE BROKER is an enjoyable spy vs spy suspense thriller with the legal overtones for which Grisham is so well known. It's a cautionary tale that warns of the dangers of power without checks, balances and accountability. It's a dark and sinister story that should terrify readers about the extent to which an unscrupulous government spy agency will go, ostensibly in the interests of national security.

Finally, and perhaps this will be quite difficult to believe, it is also a charming low-key romance and a wonderfully informative travelogue on Italian life in the city of Bologna. By the bye, THE BROKER also relates an exceptionally interesting narrative of the difficulties of cultural assimilation and learning a foreign language. As surprising as the juxtaposition of these story components may be, Grisham has pulled it all off quite effortlessly. It's not a combination that will work and be of interest to every reader but I found it thoroughly enjoyable and charming at the same time as it was exciting.

THE BROKER is a fine addition to Grisham's already excellent and well-stocked body of work. Highly recommended.

Paul Weiss

I read every book Grisham writes but seldom read one twice. The Broker is by far my favorite, thanks to the Italian setting. (Yes, I know it's becoming cliche to set books in Italy but I am shamelessly in love with that country and believe you can't have too much of a good thing in this case.)

Caution: do not read while hungry and especially not while in need of coffee with no way of getting any. I considered counting how often the main character drank espresso or some other delectable Italian coffee drink but decided not to, as I was trapped on an endless toll road with days of indifferent McDonalds lattes behind and before me.

The plot is perhaps improbable but kept my interest all the same. I liked the main character and most of the secondaries and this was one of those books you really want to end all tied with a bow.