| Product: |
The Partner - John Grisham |
| Date: |
03/05/02 (1426 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: suspenseful, interesting, complex
Disadvantages: very dragged out (but good for suspense)
I chose The Partner, banking on the popularity and success of John Grisham?s books as well as movies. This paperback book, stamped #1 New York Times Bestseller on the front cover, was published in 1997. Working in the field of law himself, Grisham has written many books that fall in the category of legal thrillers. Not very well acquainted with this author?s highly praised writing, I decided to try one of Grisham?sbooks.
The Partner opens with several characters conspiring to kidnap a man named ?Danilo?, who is living in Ponta Pora, Brazil. In the next series of events, we discover that people have been searching for Danilo for over four years. Danilo is successfully captured, then detained. He is tortured, tortured by those who want to know where a large amount of money has gone. However, Danilo truly does not know where the money has gone, because he has entrusted it?s secret location to a woman named Eva.
The reader is given a very small amount of information. Danilo is really a ?Patrick Lanigan?, and has taken enough money from people to make a big deal. His attempt to change and begin a new life has only lasted a few years. As his torturers become frustrated enough (by not getting answers) to bring Patrick to the brink of death, the FBI steps in.
Patrick is taken to his old home town in Mississippi, where we learn of the premise of the story. Once a partner in a successful firm, Patrick faked his own death and ran with 90 million dollars. So of course he has angered many people through his actions.
Here, plot of The Partner slowly begins to unwind. The reader learns the story almost in reverse. Instead of getting the story as it happens from the beginning, with Patrick?s disappearance, we are given the plot from Patrick?s capture to his deportation to the United States to uncovering the truth. It is as though the story is written backwards, because the reader knows nothing. This fits the story appropriately, however, beca
use it would be repetitive and boring had we already been handed the information before Patrick is found and captured.
What The Partner comes down to is truly uncovering the truth. Just about everyone hates Patrick, and they are all ready to sue him, put him in jail, and make his life absolutely miserable. This is where the book takes you inside the minds of those who are money hungry, sharks waiting to close in on the drama behind Patrick?s escape and then capture.
The Partner takes the reader on a journey where we become slowly acquainted with Patrick and his personality. We slowly learn the sequence of events that took place leading to his disappearance, his faked death, and the aftermath of the funeral.
By using this type of approach, it was difficult to relate to the main character (Patrick). His torture was quite brutal, but you were never really sure if it was warranted or not. I felt sorry for him just because of the violence of the torture, and because it seemed like those who had captured him were rather unsavory characters. I assumed, why not just turn in Patrick unless they themselves had something to hide?
John Grisham does a great job of spreading the plot information very thin, so that you are clinging to each little bit of information, trying to get to the juicy part of the plot. While managing to keep The Partner interesting, the suspense is drawn out to the extreme. Almost 500 pages long, I finally reached the kicker of the plot about 95% into the book. Then, as if that weren?t enough closure or finality for this story, the last few pages deliver the true kicker.
I wouldn?t say this book is particularly action packed. Rather, it reveals the complexness of people and their actions, relationships, and so on. The Partner divulged one secret at a time, leaving me to finally realize and expect that the latter half of the book would continue to follow this pattern of writing and suspense.
Throug
hout much of the book, I was left wondering and pondering. Patrick is being sentenced to prison? so what?s the punch line? I knew that there was something more to the story, that it wasn?t going to be your proverbial ?open and shut case?. I knew Grisham had some things up his sleeve when writing this book. The anticipation of the truth and of uncovering new ground was motivation in itself to keep reading and to play the role of the reader being the invisible sleuth.
I enjoyed the intrigue of The Partner, especially since there was no ?thrill of the hunt?. I admire Grisham?s writing ability to be able to capture the reader?s interest while not needing to throw in action sequences or cheap thrills.
The Partner will keep you digging into each subsequent page for more truths. There is a great deal of satisfaction in this book (might I add, smug satisfaction), and a great deal of finality, although you?ll have to read it yourself to learn what doesn?t quite fit in those categories. Just when I thought I knew what was coming, I was in for another surprise. Therefore, there is not really any predictability in the plot.
There are no cheap endings in The Partner. I worked on this book in between other things I was doing. With time limitations, I was left frustrated in not being able to finish the book in an expedited amount of time. The Partner requires some patience and devotion. I found myself giving a peek at some pages from the ending, but ironically, when I finally did reach the ending, I was still surprised. My brief sneak peek had done no justice to the ever-changing and rapidly modifying storyline. There is one twist in this book that I hated, but that?s for each reader to decide for yourself. If you read the book, you?ll know what I?m talking about.
Most of The Partner deals with characters who are smart-thinking, the work of lawyers, courtroom affairs, and legal issues. Don?t expect high-speed chases, the patter of bullets, o
r bad guys in ski masks. That?s where I admire this book, which I highly recommend.
The Official Web site:
http://www.randomhouse.com/features/grisham/
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