Excellent then, excellent now.
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9/18/2023
Let's go!! Listening this time around.
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Read long time ago. Loved it and have to re-read this one again.

Pretty clumsy writing for a lawyer. More importantly, I couldn't stand the main character, Mitch McDeere. Critics gushed about how he's a likable everyman, but to me he was a major asshole. He's excessively competent, has many of those characteristics we associate with TV geniuses (like a photographic memory), stays ice cold under pressure, and proves time and again that he's smarter than a whole firm of experienced lawyers, plus the Mafia and the FBI. We never get a hint of uncertainty from him, perhaps because the narration switches awkwardly to other characters at key times in order to obscure Mitch's machinations.

Also, Grisham does that trick of making Mitch come from desperate circumstances and do a whole lot of bootstrap-pulling, in order to get us to sympathize. But the improbability only serves to make him less human: who can come from poverty, barely make it into college, somehow make the jump to Harvard Law, get a Big Law Job with a Big Law Firm, and do it all without ever breaking a sweat or revealing a chink in the psychological armor?

It's almost like the Count of Monte Cristo, except at least in that book, Edmond's misfortunes are dramatized. Plus, those misfortunes have serious effects on his psyche that play out over the rest of the book. In The Firm, all we get are repeated asides about Mitch's past and glimpses of his mother serving waffles at a crappy Panama City restaurant. And none of that past does anything to Mitch except make him more determined to get rich or die trying. So that's a little too transparent for me.

That said, it's a legal thriller, and increasingly, I have a soft spot for those. So I liked it okay.

Grisham's The Firm is simply fantastic. The tale of a young lawyer who finds his new dream job really is too good to be true is one of those books you'll find yourself stealing moments to dip into until the last tremendous page. Burnt dinners, annoyed, ignored spouses and all round tardiness will lie in its wake.



- John Bowen is the author of 'Vessel' and 'Where the Dead Walk'. You can find him here on GoodReads, and his published work at Amazon.

Mitchell McDeere graduates from Harvard Law and is about to begin his career as a lawyer. Blessed with superhuman capabilities handed down generously by Mr.Grisham himself, Mitch finds no trouble in getting nailing three top job offers: two from from Wall Street, one from Memphis. Among other things, Mitch graduates with top honors, is among the top five in his class, was a quarterback at school, is an athlete (but his diet is mainly alcohol and cheeseburgers for the remainder of the novel), works for 20 hours a day, and, of course, requires hardly any sleep. Yet, unwittingly (oh, how I love the innocence), lured by money and associated perks, our man finds himself as a tax lawyer in the Memphis law firm Bendini, Lambert & Locke, where more sinister dealings happen under the cover of a legitimate law firm business.

The story-line never launches itself into the epic thriller that the plot threatens to become, the pace is completely off, and I can safely say that there is no single point of real suspense in this novel thanks to the some early giveaways with which you can construct most of what's about to happen (mhmm, no twists either). The novel starts somewhat promising but crumples into a muted, unimaginative ending with nothing much left to say.

A horrendous lack of detail regarding the crucial money laundering activities, non-existent lawyer talk, no legalese, and, worst of all, no gun descriptions or explanations for what the hell Mitch does 20 hours a day, seven days a week with the obscenely large files handed to him. He works on them! See? (Some brilliant explanation that involved checking client deposits and interest details (lol!) were scattered in the beginning, but Grisham gives up on the pathetic explanations eventually)

The book is so full of repetitions it makes you want to kill yourself for reading it. Every single bar in the Cayman Islands that finds mention in the book involves the three same things. Always! Islanders are playing either darts or dominoes. There is always a band that is tuning up. Mitchel orders the same kind of beer and cheeseburgers.

Our guy Mitch barks orders to an FBI Special Agent in the early parts, and the relationship deteriorates later when Mitch can't help calling Tarrance an idiot every time he is required to say something. Not joking. Tarrance is a sock puppet character who does not come up with any good ideas during these conversations. Why converse at all?!!! Sadly, Tarrance is made to alternate between: "Will do", "I'll ask my boss", or make some feeble attempt at bargaining in a deal or ask a stupid question. The last three options don't bode well for poor Tarrance, and all such replies are followed up by Mitch calling him an idiot.

When the FBI and the Mafia are hot on his tail, Mitch also finds, serendipitously, the assistance of an ex-con while being holed up in a room at a seedy Motel along Pacific Beach. The Mafia also give false leads to the FBI to throw them off his trail. Who needs the FBI, right?

The absolute worst--and this no writer should engage in--is an extended recital of the events occurring up to a certain point in time in the form a nervous realization by one of the characters, completely ruining the pace and putting the reader to sleep.

Eventually you will be tempted to assume that Grisham doesn't have a brain.

The book fails to entertain just as much as it fails to inform. The uninspired title should've been a giveaway, but I read the book only because I heard that this was Grisham's big break that made him famous in the 90s. I most certainly can't see how. I don't advise you to try either. Yuck!

“[you’ll acquire] A certain amount of cynicism. This business works on you. When you were in law school you had some noble idea what a lawyer should be. A champion of individual rights; a defender of the Constitution; a guardian of the oppressed; an advocate for your client’s principles. Then after you practice for six months you realize you were nothing but hired guns. Mouthpieces for sale to the highest bidder, available to anybody, any crook, any sleazebag with enough money to pay your outrageous fees. Nothing shocks you. It’s supposed to be an honorable profession, but you’ll meet so many crooked lawyers you’ll want to quit and find an honest job. Yeah Mitch, you’ll get cynical. And it’s sad, really.”
― John Grisham, The Firm


The book is so much better then the film version. The Firm is one of those books I reread every few years or so and it still feels fresh. Undeniably one of Grisham's best, if not his best.

I am not going into the plot because 90 percent of readers already know it but a few thoughts:

I adored Abby. Not so Mitch Mcdeer. OK..in case someone has not read it, I should put a spoiler warning in here.

SPOILERS:

I thought Mitch was one of those smug "to cool" jocks and never really took to him although I did root for him. But he so easily cheated on Abby (even before they were married) and I just could not imagine being friend's with his character but that's me.

Bit there is not one dull moment in The Firm. It is really one of the most fun suspenseful legal thrillers you could ever hope to read and that is why I often reread it.

Terriffic page turner!

Am citit acearta carte in vacanta la tara cand eram adolescenta. Foarte bine scrisa si actiunea este bine gandita, te tine intr-un ritm alert si in suspans pana la ultima pagina.

wow I was surprised I never rated or gave a review for this book. This was the first book by him I ever read and I was still away at college just out of the navy. I have not read every book by him but have read the vast majority -the last two I did not have a big interest in reading but I could read the next one I though Mitch was him in the book. I thought it was a good story and was better than the movie. I would give it a good spin and most of you have lol

A tactfully crafted novel that pumps adrenaline relentlessly. Tension rises with each page and Grisham managed ingeniously to keep the pace on a steady-rise basis. Although I found some cracks in the plot here and there,they are negligible comparing with the exhilaration it had given to me. One hell of a read. Good job Grisham.
3.8 stars on 5!
-gautam

wowwwwwwwwwweeeee so much better than the movie- surprise, i know. but honestly the second half of the book was completely different than the movie, so i was still hanging on the edge of my seat because i didn't know what the heck was going to happen!

i haven't read grisham before and i was a little wary to do so. i read this book so fast i didn't have time to put it on goodreads, though, so i'm a definite fan! mitch and his wife abby are sucked into a crazy life in memphis and i was immediately sucked into the story.

you should know something will happen when the job offer and life seem too good to be true...can't wait for my next grisham read!

Far and away Grisham's best. Even if you've seen the movie, read the book.
The movie was faithful to the novel for about half-way through then pulled a left turn and kept going. Why on earth do screenplays do that???
Anyway, this one of the best stories I've read. It was the first I had read by him, and I have been consistently disappointed with any of his others I've read. A Time to Kill was OK, Pelican Brief was forgettable,
The Runaway Jury was, as a story, adequate. Interesting subject matter, though.

I'm digressing again. Read The Firm!

3.5