The Associate - John Grisham

The last few John Grisham books I have read have been away from his usual legal thriller style of writing and leaning more towards a different form of storytelling, whether it be his excellent collection of short stories entitled Ford County or the American Football in Italy based Playing For Pizza. The Associate doesn't waste any time in letting us know that this, for traditional Grishamites (if you like), will be a welcome return to the tense paranoia based thrillers he is most famous for. Kyle McAvoy is a brilliant law student. About to graduate from a top law school and looking like being ... more

I used to be an avid reader of John Grisham novels but for some reason they started to lose their attraction. I think they started to get a bit samey which is why I didn't read any for a couple of years. However, I recently read a review about 'The Associate' and that reminded me that this book was still in my 'to read' pile so I thought that I would give it a go. I did enjoy reading 'The Associate' although I don't think that it really has the same edge and suspense as some of Grisham's earlier books. The book features a young law graduate called Kyle McAvoy. We meet him when he is just about ... more

Now in the past I have been a big John Grisham fan with all the original books, however more recently I found they had lost their edge and were becoming a tad repetitive and uninspiring. To top it all other writers had popped into my reading (Mark Gimenez's The Colour of Law - well worth a read and maybe I'll review it at a later date.) While away recently I had run out of things to read and was given a copy of The Associate, I had nothing to lose as I didn't have anything else to read, so I started it with some trepidation. I needn't have worried as Grisham managed to suck me back in and he ... more

The Plot Kyle McAvoy is close to the end of his life as a law student, and about to start a new life as a qualified lawyer, just a few weeks of study and the bar exams stand in his way. That is until the FBI show up at a little league game where he’s coaching, and ‘escort’ him to a nearby cafe for a chat. The agent informs him that they have evidence of a crime he committed during his early college years, baffled Kyle asks for evidence of this so called crime, and the agents agree to produce the evidence if he meets them at a motel later that night. Moments after arriving at the motel Kyle’s ... more