This book deserves a negative star, I'm honestly upset I read it. But there were five stars hovering there until the main character, Mitch, became the most misogynistic, arrogant, scumbag I have ever had the misfortune of reading about.  he cheats on his wife and then never tells her, even when she is risking her life and trying to help him by stealing documents from a senior partner. Also how the firm refuses to hire female lawyers and only hires ugly secretaries. Made me kinda sad that people write about women like that.

And the worst part is, it started out so well! I don't think I've ever been pulled into something so quickly, especially in the first chapter. Most books require some warming up and only in the middle do they really capture your attention. This book grabbed me in the beginning, which I am now upset about.

The main character, Mitch, acts and says what he wants, and the way women are treated in the novel is deplorable. They exist to further aid the plot line of the male characters, even if the male characters treat them with little to no respect. I grew tired of Grisham describing the wife as a supermodel at every turn--It seemed that the only real characterization any of the women received in the novel was their figure and how big their breasts were. Not. A. Fan.

If the authors goal was to make Mitch unlikable, then he succeeded too much. I found myself hating the character and truly not enjoying the novel because the character was too much. You can write an anti-hero, but even they must have redeeming qualities and Mitch had none.

I would give it a two-star, simply because of that stellar beginning but I'm much too sensitive to the perception of women in literature to deem a misogynistic book like this anything more than a one star.

Fast read & Good plot. I like it (3.75/5)

Mitch McDeere is near the top of his Harvard Law School graduating class and can virtually have his pick of jobs with high-powered Wall Street firms. But at the last minute, he agrees to an interview with a small Memphis firm, Bendini, Lambert & Locke. The firm's search committee has carefully vetted Mitch and has selected him as their number one draft pick for the year. They bring Mitch and his wife Abby to visit Memphis and make him an offer that is too good to refuse.

Mitch accepts the offer and is determined to be the hardest-working, most successful associate that B,L&L has ever seen. But he doesn't even have his feet on the ground before two of the other associate die in an apparent diving accident. Shortly after this tragedy, Mitch is contacted surreptitiously by and FBI agent who tells him that the deaths were not accidental and that no lawyer has ever left the firm alive.

The FBI insists that Mitch's new firm is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the mob. The Fibbies want McDeere to become their inside informant to help them bring down the firm. If he won't, the agents tell him that when the firm does go down, Mitch will be convicted as a willing participant in the firm's illegal activities.

McDeere is obviously caught between a rock and the proverbial hard place: If he doesn't help the FBI, he's going to wind up in jail, but if he does, he could wind up in the grave. The only way out is for Mitch to prove that he's smarter and more resourceful than either the FBI or the mob.

This is an engrossing story with appealing characters. Grisham gleefully describes the inner workings of a law office while at the same time weaving an exciting tale that ends with a great climax. It's not a legal thriller in the traditional sense in that it does not involve any courtroom scenes, but it provides plenty of thrills everywhere else.

Did I like it? Yes.
Did it blow me away? No.
Did I expect more? Definitely.
I liked the writing style at first. It was very descriptive and detailed. I appreciated it because it set up the story really well.
But it went on and on until the last chapter I just felt annoyed and exhausted. I felt like there were certain parts that could have been cut out since I felt like they were unnecessary stuff, especially the ones towards the end of the book. It was over 500 pages, and 80% in, I desperately wanted it to move so much faster.
Also, the major letdown for me was the weak climax. I didn't feel a strong "gasp" moment at all. There were several things in the story that would have made it more exciting, but were just dropped in the end. All that buildup from start to like 70% of the book kind of went to waste. No catharsis at all, which is a major letdown for a 500-page book!
I really wanted to be blown away by this as I had heard so much praise about Grisham's books, and I had watched and loved the TV show.
Unfortunately, my experience with this was not as great as I thought it would be.