The Partner is the 8th novel from the award winning legal thriller author John Grisham. With a background as a lawyer, Grisham has applied his learnt trade to his novels with great effect.

The Plot

Patrick Lanigan had it all: beautiful family, lovely house, great job at a top law firm. He was riding high on life. Then, one day, he dies in a sudden car crash, and everything ends. His family mourn, and his company rue the loss of a great employee. Until, that is, $90 million disappears from the company's funds a mere few days after Patrick's death. Suspicious, they realise all is not what it seems, and Patrick has conspired to fake his own death and embezzle $90 million from his law firm.

All good things come to an end, and Patrick is tracked down by the ruthless investigators hired by the law firm, living in Brazil under the name 'Danilo'. He is interrogated brutally for hours by the firm, with the FBI hammering at the doors as well, looking to make a case against the crime. Add to this Patrick's wife, infuriated and aggressively seeking a divorce, and we have a mix of different people all gagging for Patrick to suffer. However, as with every Grisham book, things are not always as they seem, and the author naturally has a few twists to the tale.

My Opinion

This novel from Grisham opens better than any of his previous publications. The story captured me from the very start and I thought I was in for the book of my life. However, good as this ook is, the story does not really progress or enthrall much beyond the capture of Patrick. Pieces of the puzzle are added bit by bit by Grisham, and we learn the story in a sort of reverse order as the FBI and investigators hired by the law firm work to find out how he did it and where the money is. The plot drags a little, I must say, but it is saved in the last 50 pages of the book, which return to the outstanding form seen at the beginning.

Plot aside for one second, Grisham has yet again done a fine job with the characterisation in the novel. Patrick's character has attributes I found myself tuning with, and in breaks from reading the book, I was constantly thinking about this character and how and what he had done. The other characters in the book, while well documented, pale into insignificance beside this one, and Grisham's lead sends us on a merry escapade around his mind.

The writing style of Grisham does make for good reading, although this is perhaps one of his more intrinsic and therefore harder books to read. I must say I was disappointed with the variation in pace, with an immense start and finish let down by a languid middle, but I still enjoyed the book.

Conclusion

Another good book, but a differing style and pace not up to his normal standards.

I rate this book at 3 stars out 5.

The book is available from amazon.co.uk for £4.19.

This review may also be posted on ciao.co.uk.

Thanks for reading.