I'll give credit for the amount of details and brain juice needed to string all those massive strategies together for the main character, Patrick Laningan. But the ending was totally predictable from the very beginning. It's not a twist if it is a predictable one. It's just a long journey of showing off how one can get away with many things when planned well.

3.7 / 5

"At some point in life everybody thinks about walking away. Life's always better on the beach or in the mountains."

Rewieving this book 18 000 km away from where I was born, on a beach with a view of the mountains.

Well…Grisham didn’t disappoint, again. This is one of the best ones I read so far. I gave it a 4 because I was really mad about the ending. Not because it wasn’t a good ending. It was a GREAT ending. I’m just pissed because I really liked Patrick. He planned everything so meticulously and it fell into place exactly as it should have. Except the one thing he was sure of. Or at least thought he was sure of.
The plot is about Patrick who fakes death and steals millions of dollars and disappears. Then he gets caught. Bit by bit Grisham reveals a piece of the story a little at a time. Perfect way to keep the reader wanting more. And I did.
Oh but the ending. It was ingenious. But it did not satisfy me. I’ll be thinking about this one for a while. And maybe I’ll come back and change the rating to a 5 once I’m over it.

This isn't Grisham's finest work.

There is none of the action of The Firm or The Pelican Brief. It doesn't have the interest of A Time To Kill or The Chamber.

The book starts at the end and then explains what happened. Remember, "Show, don't tell?"

It's a dull story about what happens when you steal a lot of money, and how to keep it hidden. Why not start at the beginning and show what led to the crime and then the escape from justice?

A good editor, agent or publisher should have reminded Grisham of the basics, before letting this book go out. Instead, "the emperor's new clothes" syndrome kicked in, again, and no one told him the truth. Although, to be fair, he should have realised it himself and probably did, but decided to publish anyway.

Till the second last chapter of this book, I kept thinking "John Grisham's novels were always so cool. What happened to this one? I ,mean, it's okay but not what I expected from this author."

Turned out I was wrong. The characters are all very interesting. Especially Patrick/Danillo.And Eva/Miranda was awesome. I loved what she did in the end. This is definetly one of Grisham's best novels. A must-read.

OK, it reads fast and it is entertaining. But I really do not buy the premise that the protagonist would give himself up in a occult way to put a complicated plan in play. Granted without that conceit we would have no story. But if you are going to start a complex mechanism going you had better be sure that no gremlins can spoil it and this is full of gremlins. And then the ending! The whole plot depended on the loyalty of a character that after giving up most of the money and aiding the main character faithfully decides to abscond with the remainder. WTF?

After reading several pretty heavy books about India and the Muslims, I needed a good, old-fashioned thriller. Grisham was what I was craving. This book is sometimes considered his best work, so I had to read it. I mean if it's his best, it goes without saying that I should read it, right? It's pretty exciting, and it's fun to watch the way Patrick Lanigan (the main character) plans and the way John Grisham plots the story. Grisham probably won't ever be taught in a college English course, but he is a master storyteller. And if he ever decided to turn into a criminal, with his mind, watch out!

This one is clean and devoid of language issues. And I stayed up into the wee hours to finish it.

Another great tale by Grisham, I flew right through it!

The Partner tells us about Patrick Lanigan, who once worked for a high law firm, and after overhearing about a scheme they're conspiring, which Patrick heard he wasn't gonna be in on, and that they were planning to fire him, Patrick splits. He steals millions of dollars from the corrupt firm, fakes his death, leaves the United States and transfers the money to an offshore bank account. Now 4 years later Patrick is living in Brazil under the name Danilo Silva. Until a gang of thugs who were hired by the crooked lawyers to hunt him down find and kidnap him, and demand where the money is, and Patrick says he doesn't know, and they torture him almost to death, but he still doesn't talk.

Now Patrick has returned home and is being put on trial for not only stealing the money but for a murder he did not commit. And he is also filing for divorce. He is assisted by his lover Eva Miranda, and his longtime friend and lawyer Sandy.

Although as much as I enjoyed the storyline, I didn't much like the ending, I felt it was rushed, like bing-bang-boom, and there were a lot of unanswered questions. Still it was an enjoyable read.

John Grisham processes a great writing style that instantly pulls you into the story and keeps you there until the very end.
Loved this book, great plot, great characters and the only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was that I saw the end coming and maybe a little disappointing. Back to his best.

El socio es Grisham haciendo de Grisham... Un thriller legal con ritmo, bien planteado y que te va enredando para que sigas leyendo hasta su resolución. Veredicto: Recomendable.

Se spune ca fiecare om are pretul sau. V-ati gandit vreodata care ar fi suma pentru care v-ati vinde sufletul? Dar trupul? Dar totul?
Patrick Lanigan are raspunsul pentru toate aceste intrebari: 90 de milioane de dolari. Pentru aceasta suma el renunta la identitate, familie, cariera si prieteni. Inscenandu-si moartea reuseste sa incaseze banii si sa-i transfere in diferite banci din Panama si Elvetia, apoi sa se faca nevazut in Brazilia.
Trecutul insa ii bate in mod insistent la usa deoarece fostii sai parteneri influenti socotesc ca nu e de prisos sa mai cheltuiasca niste milioane in plus pentru a-l gasi.
FBI-ul il cauta de asemenea si romanul incepe chiar cu momentul in care identitatea sa este descoperita si cade pe mana unor mercenari care incep sa-l tortureze pentru a dezvalui locul unde sunt banii. Ceea ce ei nu stiu este ca Patrick are o complice avocata, brazilianca, sexy si desteapta care are grija de ei. Pe o plaja din Franta, intr-un bikini minuscul are foarte mare grija de bani.
Romanul mi-a placut foarte mult datorita ritmului alert, personajelor interesante si de care te poti atasa si mai ales a intrigii cu tematica juridica foarte inteligenta si captivanta. Consider ca planul lui Patrick este foarte bine elaborat si pentru un plan de o asemenea anvergura este si realist, chiar realizabil pentru anul 1992 cand are loc actiunea.
As vrea sa amintesc si de Thiopental de Sodiu - adica 'serul adevarului', ce este folosit pentru marturisiri, in special de psihologi si anchetatori. Este bine de stiut ca acesta este un barbituric cu efect rapid, insa, care trebuie administrat cu foarte mare grija si atentie pentu ca pacientul sa ajunga la nivelul de constienta potrivit, la care sa poate fi supus unui interogatoriu. Daca doza este prea mica nu are efect iar daca este prea mare subiectul cade lat.
M-a amuzat faptul ca in roman toata lumea bea cola dietetica ca si cum s-ar face reclama produsului si consider ca, daca tot consumi asemenea bauturi, atunci s-o faci ca lumea, nu la modul dietetic.
In ceea ce priveste autorul, Grisham este unul dintre preferatii mei datorita experientei sale vaste in domeniul juridic, a mintii sale stralucite cu care tese aceste intrigi si mai ales a plot-twist-urilor de la final. Si romanul acesta are unul senzational, insa pe care l-am prevazut datorita, ati ghicit, braziliencei sexy. Nu e bine niciodata sa lasi banii pe mana unei femei atat de frumoase si atat de destepte.
Trebuie sa amintim si de romanele lui Grisham care au fost ecranizate:
"The Rainmaker" 1997 - un film senzational in regia lui Coppola, unde recomand intai sa cititi cartea si apoi sa vedeti filmul.
"Runaway jury" 2003, cu Dustin Hoffman si Gene Hackman.
"The Pelican Brief" 1993, cu Julia Roberts si Denzel Washington.
"A time to kill" 1996, cu Samuel L. Jackson si Sandra Bullock.
"The Firm" 1993, cu Tom Cruise si Gene Hackman.
In incheiere subliniez ca atunci cand vreau sa citesc o carte buna mereu mizez pe John Grisham si daca vreodata doriti sa fugiti de nevasta, de facturi, de creditori, banci sau orice, atunci cititi mai intai acest roman ca sa stiti cum se face ca la carte.

This law-based thriller is a unique novel (for someone who has read crime thrillers all along) and how one man escaped his life to become a whole other person in Brazil. Beautifully detailed, brilliant writing and an intriguing plot. Four stars because the last two pages made me pretty upset. (Cons of living in a book)