The Broker - John Grisham

Advantages: Something to fill the time and pick up bits of Itallian
Disadvantages: Not much excitement

...given a new identity by the CIA and then left as a sitting target, it was actually more of a look into Itallian culture and language for myself. How I came across the book: I am in a book club at work, and this came up on our reading list. If you have read my review of The Pact by Jodi Picoult and the following Jodi Picoult reviews you will know that the first book that I read from our list I thought was excellent and have now been reading every ...
...by this author. The Characters: The characters are quite believeable. The main characters is Joel Backman/Marco Lazzeri, an ex-lawyer, recently pardoned from a 20 year prison scentence who believes that he is being given a whole new identity in Italy to help to keep him alive and safe. We see most of the story through his eyes, how he adapts to his new life, how he learns the language, the sights which he sees, the people he meets, and how he plans ... Read review

Advantages: good lead character, last 100 pages
Disadvantages: boring, long middle part that does not do much for the storyline

...than remaining at large in the real world. This is the life of Joel Backman, a once powerful broker, who people believe has obtained secrets that could compromise the world's most sophisticated satellite surveillance system, JAM. Backman is surprised when he is visited in jail and is informed that the outgoing President intends to grant him a pardon for the crime he has plead guilty to. Backman is suspicious of this development, but when he is put ...
...the pardon. Though acutely aware that something is not right about this pardon, nobody is aware that it comes as a result of the CIA exercising an enormous amount of pressure on the soon-to-be ex-President. Backman is smuggled out of the country and halfway across the world to Italy and is given a new identity and a new name. Much to his amazement, Joel Backman is renamed Marco Lazzeri and has become an Italian national - even though the only words ... Read review

Advantages: Takes you into Italy and schools you on it. I was satisfied with the ending
Disadvantages: Too much filler in this thriller. Plus, the pacing was sluggish

In the Author's Note there is the following disclaimer: "It's all fiction.. I know very little about spies, electronic surveillance, satellite phones, smartphones, bugs... If something in this novel approaches accuracy, it's probably a mistake" and also: "Im more terrified of high-tech electronic gadgets today than a year ago". Reading this makes me ask my self, Why then did you write this book? Well further in the Note, we find that it was his love ...
...endless) amounts of story where the main character is just learning and repeating Italy's language. You end up thinking.. I should keep reading because? The Story The Broker is the survival story of a man named Joel Backman. He was an extremely powerful person who had political connections like no one else and could "open any door in Washington". Sitting at this high position and making ten million dollars a year, he came to be known as "The Broker". ... Read review

Advantages: Easily readable.
Disadvantages: Slow at the start and at the end.

...feel one is there. The bulk of the story involved the main chatracter, Joel (or Marco), trying to come to terms with the Italian language, in an attempt to pass himself off as an Italian Canadian. This is in order to hide from the various factions who are determined to kill him in revenge for a double-cross some six years previuosly. Although Grisham goes into great detail with this part of the story, it does become quite tedious and sometimes ... Read review

Advantages: Indepth desciption of Italian small town life
Disadvantages: unbeliable character

...a bit longer. Its the tale of a high class broker who loses everything in shady circumstances and ends up being hidden away from his family and possibly his future killer(s) in a govenment cover up. You follow him on his journey from prison to small villages and towns in Italy, but it seems to lack pace and i lost some of the 'thrill' of the book becsue of this. Apart from some handy Italian phrases i didnt feel i got anything from this book. Definitely ...
...and never quite delved into the mind of the main character Joel Blackman - apart from the fact that he was slightly afraid and enjoyed Italian clothes. It felt like you were skimming the surface of the charcter and his transformation from high roller to passive submissive was a little over exaggerated. Worth a read if you are intrigued by the possability of govenment and a hint of Italian life, otherwise id unfortunately give this one a miss. ... Read review