A stand alone thriller published 2005.

A so-so 3 stars.

This was, at it’s best, just so-so. There bits that were intriguing and bits that just went on and on.
Our main protagonist, Joel Backman, was a high level lobbyist who got his hands on some very sensitive software. So sensitive that it would become a game changer for future military conflict.
All Joel could see were dollar signs in front of his eyes and so he tried to sell it to the highest bidder. When the CIA became aware of this Joel was arrested and convicted for treason and to spend the next twenty years of his life behind a prison door.
There were a lot of countries after Joel’s blood, promises were made and promises were broken. As a result Joel spent much of his life looking over his shoulder, even in prison.

When the current Presidents term was just about over he gave, much to Joel’s delight and surprise, a pardon for past wrong doings. The reality was that this was a CIA ruse to see who would kill Joel first.
Part of the ruse was to give Joel a new identity and send him somewhere safe, which turned out to be Bologna Italy. So Joel ends up in Bologna with some CIA minders in tow.
At this point the book becomes a travelogue for Bologna, a crash course in learning Italian and also a good food guide to the best restaurants in Bologna. This would have been interesting had I been interested in going to Bologna. Enough said.

Where credulity leaves us was when Joel, who knows about as much about espionage as I do, decides to takes on the CIA at there own game.

Look there were parts that were quite exciting but there were lots of it that were just a drag so as I said at the beginning, at its best this was just so-so.

Tanto he leído escrito por y sobre John Grisham que creo poder distinguir entre sus novelas buenas y las malas y "El intermediario" está justamente ahí, en punto intermedio entre las historias que más valen como combustible para el fuego, y las que deberían enmarcarse y exhibirse en un museo.
Cuenta la historia de Joel Backman, un abogado experto en lobby que el presidente saliente de los EE.UU. indulta, presionado por la CIA, para que la agencia de inteligencia pueda averiguar quién (o quiénes) tienen la intención de ponerle una bala en la cabeza.
Como todo lo que escribe Grisham, esta es una historia entretenida, que se lee bien y sin muchas trabas, pero carece de suficiente profundidad en los personajes, llega a ser inverosímil en la frialdad con que el abogado enfrenta los problemas, que muchas veces ponen en riesgo su propia vida, y cómo llega a conclusiones importantes para el desarrollo del libro.
Lo anterior es salvable, frente a varias otras debilidades que tiene el libro, como personajes sosos y líneas argumentales que no se cierran. He llegado a pensar que Grisham pretende hacer una segunda parte porque deja sin resolver muchas cosas importantes.
¿Es un libro recomendable? Solo si su intención es leer para distraerse y ya ha visto cada una de las "Die Hard" varias veces.

I finally found a Grisham novel that I don't remember reading before!

The Broker, Joel Backman is in prison serving twenty years for a crime that he may or may not have committed. With fourteen still to go he is unexpectedly pardoned by the outgoing President and smuggled to a secret location in Europe. Then, the authorities of various countries sit back and monitor him as they wait to see who will get to him first.....

This was a great read and kept me hooked until the end. The danger the main character was in felt real and exposed the potential power plays going on at the highest levels of American government and within the intelligence systems.

I wasn't as interested in the well researched history of Italy and the various Italian words and phrases that are included in the narrative but this might be a bonus for some people.

As with most of Grisham's books, there are a few swear words, some violence and some sexual innuendo. There is nothing grossly offensive or especially graphic.

An entertaining read. Recommended.

Check out my John Grisham Shelf!

The Broker got his hands on some world-changing tech and had the world in his palms when it all came crashing down and the only way to save the rest of his family an friends was to go to prison. The outgoing President is convinced to pardon the Broker by the FBI. Why did the FBI want him pardoned? Because hopefully they can get some essential intel from whomever comes to kill the Broker. This is thee story of how the Broker using his brokering skills to navigate his post-prison life and tries to keep himself and his loved ones safer form multiple external and internal threats. Sounds a bit boring? Well, this one is a pretty tame Grisham, and it's only the Broker's personal struggles with post-prison faux deep-witness protection life that kept me reading. A subdued 6 out of 12, Three Star jam :)

2024 read

This is another novel in a long line of great books by John Grisham. You know it's going to be a fun book when the CIA is leaking someones whereabouts just to see who kills him. When I read the jacket of the book I was afraid that they may have given too much of the plot away. I was wrong. There was still plenty of suspense and drama to be had. This book had me guessing how it was going to end until it was over. I must admit that I didn't guess right at all.


The characters in this book are well rounded and well developed. It seems that Grisham takes great pride in developing the characters and the settings of his books and it shows. The chase in this book takes you into 3 or 4 different countries and crosses paths with many, many people.


If you are a mystery fan or a Grisham fan then this book is a good read for you. It's not as good as "A Time to Kill" or "Runaway Jury" but it's by far better than "The Brethren" (those references will make sense to the Grisham addicts out there).


Overall Rating: 4/5

Am a fan of John Grisham and if am not mistaken I have read almost all his work starting from "A time to kill,The firm,The pelican brief,The runner way jury, The client and so on and so forth.
John Grisham don't disappoint.

When Joel Backman is pardoned by an outgoing US President (why is this even a thing?) he is given a new identity and is dropped into the beautiful Italian city of Bologna. Backman (now Marco) is a potential target for intelligence agencies around the world due to him possessing software able to disarm various satellite intelligence systems. The very thing that put him in prison in the first place. It is not clear exactly why he was pardoned, not initially anyway.

I must say it is a refreshing change to read a story with a plot. For some reason, my preferred stories are character based – this is the first time I’ve ever read Grisham, or any thriller/spy type story, with the possible exception of a Le Carre tale when I was in high school. I think I need to change this!

What made this super interesting for me was Marco’s life in Bologna, he had to learn Italian in quick time, so he had to fully immerse himself in Italian life - such as frequenting cafes, tourist sites, and various other places under the watchful eyes of his handlers. The fact, I have been to Bologna meant I recognised many of the wonderful sights – Grisham captured the mood of the city brilliantly.



The beautiful towers of Bologna

Anyway, this plot is complicated and there are many players - FBI, CIA, Mossad, Saudi, China, and Russian secret services, Politicians and more. Marco is constantly looking over his shoulder. There is an ominous feeling throughout this story. Grisham can certainly spin an interesting tale, he had me totally invested to the point I would get that sinking feeling in my stomach if Marco was in danger, or even if he was answering his door or crossing a street.

I really, really enjoyed this and now I have a new author to enjoy.

4 Stars

What the hell was that? A travel guide for Bologna? A beginners guide to speaking Italian? I really like him and I can’t believe Grisham allowed it to be published. I’m not even going to waste any more time with this review. Do yourself a favor and skip this one.

По принцип съм любител на творчеството на Гришам, но тази книга е поредно разочарование.

Интересна идея и много слабо изпълнение, типично за този автор в последните няколко години. :(

It's ages since I read any Grisham books but I thought I'd give this one a try. One of those where you remember that some people simply write well. I really liked the Broker as a character. Baddie he may be but I quickly found myself liking him. Other characters were generally good. The basic story idea was ok. I really liked Marco's time on the run in Italy - it felt well worked. As I said I did like as a character and simply couldn't see how he could survive the situation he was in. Hence the 4 star rating - the ending didn't really do it for me but certainly not a bad read.

4.5

I thought this was a very entertaining book, fairly easy to read and with a bunch of interesting characters. Perhaps the most amazing thing was that it got me to cheer on a guy that was a total asshole before going to prison - a super rich lawyer/lobbyist who liked to show off how rich and powerful he was more than he liked to spend time with his family. One of the few people who even admitted to knowing him after he went to prison was his mother, who barely knew who she was herself, and perhaps one son who didn't hate him too much. He was arrogant, and seemed only interested in power. Yet somehow, Grisham made him likable, and someone we wanted to see win.

I guess it helped that some of the "good guys" were just as bad or worse, if the CIA and other government officials can be called good guys. The outgoing president was so bad that he came very close to getting zero votes for his reelection. The incoming president was so bad he contested the one state (Alaska) that that gave 3 votes to the old president, because he wanted to completely whitewash his opponent. But the incumbent finally won Alaska - by 17 votes.

The outgoing president had nothing to lose really by giving pardons to a few lowlifes, including our unsuspecting hero, Joel Backman. The CIA initiated this, in order to use him as bait. Joel became a free man, but had to stay out of the US, because the CIA wanted him dead, but not in the US. So, they took him to Italy, even though he knew no Italian. A lot of the book was about Italy, and learning to be Italian, which Joel, now Marco, did pretty well for an old worn out American. I enjoyed this part of the book, which made me want to go to Italy. It seems like a great place except for the speaking Italian part, which although I'd love to be able to do this, I'd probably never be able to learn.

By the end of the book, I was wishing it wouldn't end so soon. We have to use our imagination a bit to guess what happens afterwards, but I think everyone lives happily ever after. Don't they always?