The Broker has a painfully slow start, a nice middle and a preposterous ending.

I am finding myself totally attracted to the older Grisham novels. This one was published in 2005.

There is international political intrigue that kept me turning pages trying to figure out what is going on here and why is the main character, Joel Backman important enough to be pardoned by the outgoing President, protected by the CIA or wanting to be killed by other countries agents?!

And that is the beauty of Grisham’s writing – there is corruption at the top – but who is it, and why – and as readers we want to know! And, is our main character Joel worth saving?

So many questions need answering? So, what is a reader to do? Keep reading? Who needs sleep anyway?

And this is what makes this book so readable! Joel is a person who as an attorney in the past, has brokered deals, and now that he has been pardoned by the outgoing President, he realizes he is the cheese in a cat-and-mouse game with a target on his back. And he has no intention of parading around in full view of his hunters. So, what can he do to save himself?

And as readers, we turn pages quickly, intrigued with the spy-versus-spy intrigue in this well constructed, fast-paced non-courtroom thriller. Where we root for the flawed anti-hero, hope for a father-son reunion, some redemption, and wonder if he can out-run the guns in this political thriller.

It is an imperfectly, perfect reading experience. Why imperfect - because, so much of what I read, feels so oddly familiar, like a story I have read before, or a movie I saw. But then again, that is what happens when one reads a 2005 novel in 2024, right?

Still, I really enjoyed it. And...keep in mind…sleep is fleeting with this one.

4.5 stars rounded down.

My third John Grisham book.

Listened on Audio. Read by Dennis Boutsikaris. and VERY well read, I might add.

With 14 years left on a 20-year prison sentence, notorious Washington power broker Joel Backman receives a surprise pardon. But Backman has serious enemies from his past. As the CIA watches him closely, the question is not whether he will be killed, but rather who will get to him first.

Enjoyed the book.

Next Grisham: The Boys from Biloxi.

4 stars

WOW..... THIS WAS A WILD RIDE!!!!

This starts out with a super secret meeting in the White House, doing HIGHLY ILLEGAL things, and from that first bit we go to a Federal Prison to get out "The Broker" A High command, High powered lawyer/lobbyist(Rubbing shoulders with Senators, Congressmen, Even Getting a President elected!!!!) in Washington D.C. He is out and from there whisked out of the country to Italy......
From there is where our main character is on his own so to speak with the deck stacked against them (That's was always the plan....) Can he figure out how to save his butt from whats coming, Can he use all his wits and skills to keep 1 step ahead of trained CIA, FBI, AND MORE!!!! Little does he know the last deal that put him in prison is far from over... and it could be ANYONE around the corner ready to jump!!!

The first, somewhat sluggish half is immersed in Italian lessons before gaining traction in the exciting second half. 8 of 10 stars

My brother recommended this book. Since I want him to read Joel Salatin, in a tit-for-tat deal I agreed to read The Broker. The first 13 pages, the political pardon arrangement, were hilarious. I was hooked. But not for long. After the main character, Backman, was whisked away to Europe by the CIA, the spy-vs-spy vs innocent-in-a-strange-land story - or whatever this was supposed to be - went awry. At this point Grisham's editor - he does have one, I presume - should have sent back the manuscript and told his celebrated author to toss all pages from 14 on into the garbage and not only rewrite the book, but rethink the story.

What is all this mangiare and vino and birra and espresso doing in a story of a man hunted by assassins? While I belong to the 1% of Grisham's readers who thoroughly enjoyed learning to speak basic Italian right along with Backman, I was expecting a thriller, not a language lesson and tour guide to northern Italy with an emphasis on Bologna. To repeat, where was his knife-wielding editor?

Worse, The Broker doesn't make sense. It contains many plot Whys, but I'll note just 5 big ones. First, the CIA places Backman in Italy, gives him an apartment and wardrobe but no money or passport, tutors him in how and when to order a cappucino, and then gives the equivalent CIAs of 4 foreign governments a recent photo of Backman on the streets of Bologna just because the CIA wants to see who will kill him. The CIA says this plan is vital to the national security of the U.S.A., but even I, a non-reader of thrillers, recognize that this plan is pointless, so why do it? Second, how is killing Backman going to help the CIA get what they desperately want, which is JAM? Third, since the CIA believes Backman has JAM, why didn't they stick to Plan A and inject him with sodium pentathol when they had him under their thumb at the military hospital? Fourth, eventually we learn that Backman does have JAM. He's always had it. So why didn't he cut a deal with the CIA before he was sentenced to 20 years in solitary confinement? Of course, had Backman done that, this book would not exist. Fifth, while real life doesn't have neat endings, fiction does. But this story has no conclusion. Is Backman safe now from all his would-be assassins, or not? Is this sloppy mess typical of Grisham or was I just handed a lemon?

Welcome to John Grisham's fast pace, high-tech (not too technical) International, political, suspense/thriller. All complete with a nicely flawed antihero. A tad bit of romance. And a nice descriptive trip to Italy (however and unfortunately, at times the language interpreting portion within this trip has a casual tediousness to it).
Oh, did I forget to mention CIA hitmen?

4 to 4.5 stars

“The president had shifted to the 'we' mode now, something he invariably did when a potentially unpopular decision was at hand. For the easy ones, it was always 'I.' When he needed a crutch, and especially when he would need someone to blame, he opened up the decisionmaking process and included Critz.”

Every so often, we wonder how the decision making process goes inside the government, particularly in the seemingly superior branch of the government (go figure). The Broker gave us a little preview of how the decisions go into process inside the government legally and (surprisingly…not!) illegally. In this novel, the process goes a little too corrupt. It began with a Washington power broker-lobbyist and a lawyer, Joel Backman. He is, in the story, the famous broker that was sent to jail for six years. Upon the dissolution of his sentence, the political wheels in Washington have turned and numerous powerful people want him dead. So, several bloody bargains were made. Unexpectedly, the outgoing disgraced president granted him a full pardon at the request of the CIA. Joel Backman now finds himself out of the prison in the middle of the night, bundled onto a military plane flown to Italy to begin a superficially new life. He began having a new name and mysterious "friends" who will teach him to speak the language and to blend in with the people in Bologna.

The Broker is not a very good book but I don’t hate it. The novel’s plot has a lot to offer but I was surprised that it didn’t turn out the way I wanted it to be. There are too many “extra scenes” and the pacing was too slow. For instance, the story intensively put the attention to Joel Backman’s idle days where he ordered pizza, cappuccino before 10:30am in an Italian café speaking Italian. The routine of his life is too reiterated, that it is too much to be told.

Anyway, this book is one of my n  Vacation Readsn, so I am off to read a new one! *happy*

Another Grisham that is poor writing. The book started fairly well with a broker being pardoned by the President of the USA and is dumped in a small town in Italy, where he is to start his life again. And yes, there are people who want to kill him, for good reasons. The plot definitely falls apart when the broker reaches Bologna. The pace is too slow and the storyline not believable. The end of the story is a joke.
I would not recommend it.

Some time ago, i entered a multistore in my area. I was just browsing books, when this book caught my eye. I took it in my hands to take a look at it. When i saw writers name, a had a feeling that i know this name.

«John Grisham? John Grisham? I know him for sure…», i thought. It felt like, i’ve heard of him, before. Of course! It’s the write of «Pelican Brief», the book that, the 1993 homonymous film, was based on. As i start to read it, it felt like i was the main protagonist and i was commiserated with him.

The book is about a big-time lawyer called Joel Blackman, which is entangled with goverment secret and some strange coincidences, involving White House, the secret agencies of several countries (CIA, FBI, Mosad etc.) and a group of hackers.

The writer narrates in the third person , so his way , does not potentially confuses, the reader.

After six years in prison for illegal possession of confidential documents, Joel Backman, suddenly gets pardoned by outgoing President , after a request from CIA. He is released from prison, but now, he must live in Italy with a new name and a new identity , while CIA is protecting him(?)

The case is unfolding in Bologna, Italy, Where the author – narrator describes the entire city with tremendous accuracy. From the city monuments to the shops!

This book has all the elements of a good spy story! Double-crossing, manhunt, disguise, even a love story.

5/5 stars from me.

Should have been five stars, but the ending fell flat. Brilliant writing as always, and the entire time throughout the book was a big build up toward what I thought was supposed to be an ending with fireworks, but it ended without a bang and sort of fizzled into nothingness.

The Broker, John Grisham

The Broker is a suspense novel written by American author John Grisham and published in the United States on January 11, 2005. The novel follows the story of Joel Backman, a newly pardoned prisoner who had tried to broker a deal to sell the world's most powerful satellite surveillance system to the highest bidder.

Joel Backman is "The Broker," a Washington power broker-lobbyist, considered by some to be one of the most powerful men in Washington. However, his life falls apart when a deal collapses involving a hacked spy satellite that nobody knows about, and Backman ends up in jail.

Six years later, the political wheels in Washington have turned and other power-hungry men are eager for his blood. Bargains are made, and after an outgoing disgraced president grants him a full pardon at the behest of the CIA, he finds himself spirited out of the prison in the middle of the night, bundled onto a military plane, and flown to Italy to begin a new life. He has a new name and mysterious new "friends" who will teach him to speak the language and to blend in with the people in Bologna.

However, he soon realizes that something isn't quite kosher in this new setup, in that he is under constant surveillance. In reality, the CIA is setting him up for professional assassins from China, Israel, Russia, Saudi Arabia and other countries. They intend to sit back and wait to see who kills him in an effort to solve the biggest mystery to hit the US government in decades: the question of who built this seemingly impenetrable and most advanced satellite ever. It turns out to be China; despite having low satellite technology, they stole the information from the U.S.

Backman barely survives several assassination attempts and manages to establish communication with his son, Neal. He escapes surveillance and returns to his home to contract a new deal with the U.S. government. The CIA is told about the satellite, along with the taking of the satellite's program. In return, they agree to do what they can to get the countries targeting him to back off, though they caution him that some of them will not listen. Backman then covers his escape by pretending that he is resuming his old life, then quietly disappears and presumably returns to Italy.

تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز دوم نوامبر سال2006میلادی

عنوان: سوداگر؛ نویسنده: جان گریشام؛ مترجم: قاسم کیانی مقدم؛ سبزوار، امید مهر، سال1384؛ در400ص؛ شابک9648605386؛ موضوع داستانهای نویسندگان ایالات متحده آمریکا - سده21م

ریاست جمهوری «آمریکا»، در آخرین ساعات حضور خویش در «کاخ سفید»، حکم عفو جنجال برانگیزی را، در دقایق آخر، برای «جوئل بکمن»، صادر میکند؛ «بکمن»، فردی بدنام، و فوق العاده پرنفوذ، در دنیای قدرت، و سیاست است، که شش سال بگذشته را، به دور از انظار، در زندان فدرال، گذرانده است؛ اما چیزی که هیچکس از آن، خبری ندارد، این است که رئیس جمهور، تحت فشار شدید سازمان اطلاعات مرکزی «سی.آی.اِ (سیا)»، این حکم عفو را صادر کرده است؛ به نظر میرسد که «بکمن»، به اطلاعات فوق محرمانه ای، درباره ی پیشرفته ترین سیستم جاسوسیِ ماهواره ای، در جهان دست یافته باشد؛ «جان گریشام»، با کتاب «سوداگر»، بار دیگر داستانی بی نهایت جذاب، و قابل باور، برای طرفداران خود تدارک دیده، و مطمئناً توانسته انتظارات بالای آنها را برآورده سازد

نقل از متن: (اکنون که افتان و خیزان، در حال خروج از آن بود، این فکر شیرین را مزمزه میکرد، که آخرین سیلی مستبدانه را، بر دهان حکومت واشنگتن، که چهار سال را از او دریغ کرده بود، بزند؛ تقریبا مطمئن بود، خبری از اینگونه دستگاهها نیست؛ اینکار از زمان «واترگیت» متوقف شده بود؛ «نیکسون» به قدری سیم در کاخ سفید کشیده بود، که برای شنود یک شهر کوچک، کافی بود، ولی البته تاوانش را هم پرداخت؛ رئیس جمهور حالا از ضمیر «ما»، استفاده میکرد، و این کاری بود، که هرگاه میخواست تصمیمی بالقوه نامطلوب بگیرد، بدان متوسل میشد؛ برای تصمیمات راحت همیشه «من» میگفت؛)؛؛ پایان نقل

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 04/11/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 15/11/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی