"Poor John Grisham. He pretty much single-handedly creates a genre, achieves blockbuster status with only his second novel, and every further effort flies off the bookstore shelves and onto the movie screen. And then, when he writes yet another of his books, everyone bashes him for being boring.^M ^M
Like The Firm, this is a novel about a man who is preternaturaly clever at figuring out the details. The protagonist is the same, although the name has been changed. I imagine this is Grisham's response to all those people who must have asked: ""But didn't they come looking?"" There are no surprises if you've read Grisham's other books, and plenty if you haven't. The most distinguishing factor for this book is a strong moral sensibility that hasn't been expressed since A Time To Kill. It isn't art, but it is fast-paced and cleverly plotted, which is why you pick up a Grisham after all."

I finished reading this book within 3 days, a gripping story which full of twists and the unexpected. Here’s my 5 cent review...

Luck was always on his side, his plans were well thought out, and they turned out to be perfectly schemed, and he finally succeed in buying his way out of jail, the punishment he always wanted to avoid, a nightmare to him. Started with how brilliantly he faked his death, ran away with his ex-firm’s USD 90 million and lived on the run for four years in Brazil, fell in love with and had a loyal companion in Eva, and finally when knowing that the people after him someday will be able to capture him, taught Eva meticulously how to vanish and what to do with the money and how to keep in touch with him when they had him in their custody. As the plots developed, Eva turned out to be a lovely wife-to-be, faithful friend, brilliant and dependable partner. But you have been warned, read until the last word...

I feel something awkward about the ending. Never did it come across his mind even once that it would happen to him, that she would do that to him? True, that he had found his love in her, that they’d both had a wonderful feeling to each other, but how could he ruin his brilliant plans ever since he decided to part with his former life and begin a new one by putting so much undivided faith on her, and how could the shrewd master of scheming fell foolishly to his partner? Hemm, but that twisted ending certainly will give readers a great surprise, as it did to me...

Brilliant strategizing, excellent suspense, but FRUSTRATING AND SAD ENDING.

REVIEWER’S OPINION:
I love Grisham’s writing style. I was engaged all the way through. There was good action and a lot of suspense. By the end I was amazed, impressed, and intrigued with all the planning, strategizing, and how things worked out. It may not be believable but it was fun. Then the ending was frustrating and unhappy. I WANT HAPPY ENDINGS. Unfortunately that was my only problem with the book. I loved the experience. The only thing positive about the end was that it was thought provoking. I had to tell myself yes I could see that. But it’s not a story I want to hear. I normally would give this book a below average rating due to the ending, but because the rest was so good, I compromised at 3 stars. For someone who would enjoy smart-thinking, out-thinking others, and a good suspenseful read, go ahead.

STORY BRIEF:
Patrick worked for a law firm that was about to receive 90 million dollars from a lawsuit, 60 million of which would go to their client Arecio. Patrick fakes his own death in a burning car. Soon after that, he steals the 90 million, transferring it to an offshore account. For four years he has been hiding with a fake name in Brazil. Arecio and two insurance companies hire Stephano to find Patrick. They have just found him. They kidnap and torture him asking “Where is the money?” Eva is a Brazilian lawyer who helps Patrick during this time.

The narrator Frank Muller is great. He adds fun suspense and drama to his reading of the book.

DATA:
Unabridged audiobook length: 11 hours 26 minutes. Narrator: Frank Muller. Swearing language: none that I recall. Sexual content: none. Setting: current day mostly various places in the U.S., plus S. America and Europe. Copyright: 1997. Genre: legal suspense.

Grisham never disappoints. The plot got better as the pages went by, and each line I read surprised me and kept me on my toes - right up until the very last page. I won’t be able to wait long before picking up another of his awe inspiring books!

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?

Karma! Not everything was thought out perfectly ;)

Interesting tale of a law partner who stole ninety million dollars from his firm, faked his death and ran for his life to many foreign countries. Eventually he was caught and brought back to be tried- but it was not that simple. Good book, but took me a while to wade through it.

It was a most enjoyable hoot reading this book again, since the last time was in 2009.

Grisham (The Client, 1993, etc.) justifies a colossal first printing of 2.8 million copies with his best-plotted novel yet, gripping the reader mightily and not letting go. Nor is there the dispersal of belief that often follows his knockout openings. Patrick Lanigan is tracked down to his hideout in Brazil, where he lives modestly near the Paraguayan border. Surely, Jack Stephano thinks, Patrick could not have spent the $90 million he ran off with four years ago. Jack has spent $3 million tracking Patrick down, and he wants that money. He wants it so much that he's blithely torturing Patrick to discover its location. The problem is that Patrick doesn't really know. He's given power of attorney to his lover, the brilliant Brazilian lawyer Eva Miranda, and she has been shuttling the money from bank to bank around the world, keeping it untraceable. When Patrick fails to call her at four in the afternoon, per usual, she skips out, as they've planned, and goes into hiding. And as planned, she phones the FBI office in Biloxi, Mississippi, and tells them that one Jack Stephano has very likely captured Patrick and is holding him in Brazil. The FBI puts pressure on Stephano to bring Patrick back to Biloxi, where the embezzlement took place and where Patrick's cremated remains were buried after his car went over an embankment. Patrick even attended his own funeral, watching through binoculars. As it turns out, the $90 million he ran off with was dirty money his law firm had helped collect in a criminal conspiracy to rob the government. Will the money be returned? Will Patrick escape trial for the murder of whoever it was that died in that accident? And what of Eva, now hiding in the States and helping Patrick orchestrate his defense? Grisham comes up with a masterfully bittersweet end (with his title taking on a sly double edge) that may be his most satisfying ever Decent read, enjoyed the story, would recommend. Maybe not as strong as others, still good.

"After his death, the firm's letterhead properly included him: Patrick S. Lanigan, 1954-1992. He was listed up in the right-hand corner, just above the paralegals. Then the rumors got started and wouldn't stop. Before long, everyone believed he had taken the money and disappeared. After three months, no one on the Gulf Coast believed he was dead. His name came off the letterhead as the debts piled up." (PG. 40)

I'm stuck between a 4 or 5 star but it was a criminally amusing, fast-paced thriller. Grisham knows how to tell a story with so many twists and turns that I'm sure the reader would think this type of crime isn't doable. Who can steal 90 million dollars from their law firm, die, and come back to life in Brazil after four years on the run? Mr. Patrick Lannigan, that's who. Did he do it for greed or revenge?

The plot unravels at a pace where maybe you won't have much sleep tonight or the next until you finish it. The brain to create this crime and the work it took was pretty amazing. Grisham also shows the disappointing angle of the justice system but we all know justice is all in who you know and that money talks.

The ending was satisfying and surprising. "Where else could he go? His journey was over. His past was finally closed." (PG. 401)

Such a fascinating read from page 1. I will do more of these white-collar thrillers. My nails are very chewed up.

Creo que los thrillers jurídicos no son lo mío.

The detail in this book is impeccable. If there ever was a movie remake it wouldn’t do justice to this stellar novel!! One of my favourite books read in 2021.

titular sentence:
p32: The partner was half-asleep.

ocr:
p209: "She won't stay here as long as her father is miss-mg.

p237: Now that his set-dement had been approved, reality has hit hard, and he thought thirty million in legal fees was obscene.

The familiar cover indicates that I've read a loaned copy (most definitely my classmate Katrina's) back in college. Nothing is familiar about the story, though. Ergo, unmemorable.

This time, I gotta say this is the most exciting Grisham novel I've read so far.

Is Eva the titular character, though?