Going for broke (The Broker - John Grisham)

Member Name: bilbob20

Product:	The Broker - John Grisham
Date:	25/06/09 (32 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Well written and complex

Disadvantages: The characters are somewhat dull and not rounded enough

Its strange, given my love for the genre, that I have never came across John Grisham's work. I am not a complete stranger to the name, seeing as half a dozen of his novels have been turned into fairly questionable films. On holiday this year though, I picked up this book from the hotel library. It was about the only book that didn't come from the Jackie Collins school of romance fiction. Was I pleased with my choice?

Having been given a pardon by the outgoing president, Joel Backman is freed from prison six years after he was convicted of trying to sell a program that compromised government secrets. Packed off to Italy, he is given an entirely new identity and a small amount of cash to tide him over. Escorted by a protector from the CIA, he is taught the language in order to settle into quiet Italian life without drawing attention to himself. Unbeknown to himself though, he is being geared up as bait so that the US government can trace the owners of the secrets that he attempted to sell. Apparently, its not a question of him dying, but merely a question of which government will get to him first. He isn't a stupid man though, and soon works out that he isn't just being given a free get out of jail card. He will pay for his freedom, it just isn't clear yet how much the cost will be.

This book plays cat and mouse not only with its characters, but with its readers as well. As an introduction to Grisham's work, its pretty solid. His grammar is a noticeable let down in places, words missing from sentences, and occasional mis-spellings. Grievances like that are tossed aside though when the story itself is a labyrinth of spy expose. Grisham himself acknowledges in his footnotes that it might not necessarily be factually accurate, and even jokes that any accuracy is purely accidental, an aside to the fact that such books might just make him a target for a CIA assassination. Its nice to know that he has a sense of humour.

Inserted into the book though is a stunning description of the city of Bologna, and graphic descriptions of the architecture there. This is extremely well written, and blends nicely with the story to create a background that enhances the notion of just how out of place Joel actually is there. It is a lengthy portion of the book though and sometimes falters the pace of the book. However, it does create a world for Joel to exist in where he can attempt to flea his potential captors.

The dialogue is well-written, although Joel Backman is the only character who is given a fully 3 dimensional character. Other characters are created as fodder for his plight, and at times seem dull and uninteresting. Even the main characters are all given ulterior motives, making them somewhat disengaging. Another issue with the characterisation is that Joel's new found alter-ego Marco is written as a very different person from the wily Joel that we are introduced to early on and then in the latter chapters.

Despite its very obvious flaws, the pay-off is deftly written, and manages to surprise and regain some interest lost some of the way in. Grisham may not be the best writer in the world, and his film adaptations are considerably boring, but the man isn't short of imagination, and has weaved a terrific tale with enough layers to keep it complex without being contrived.

Summary: A fairly solid spy thriller from a writer than isn't nearly as good as his reputation would suggest