The Associate

The Associate by John Grisham
Review by Gerti

John Grisham is famous for writing legal dramas. Some, like "The Last Juror," are amazing. While not up to the the genius of that book, "The Associate" is still class "A" storytelling. Grisham's effortless writing is a joy to read, even is his storyline here, about a group of college friends who may/may not have committed a rape, is not the most palatable. Kyle McAvoy is the protagonist, and his is the Tiger Woods of law students. The son of a small-town lawyer, Kyle grew up around the law, and therefore excelled at it in college, even becoming the editor-in-chief of the Yale Law Review. While his father and girlfriend want him to do some pro bono work for a few years in order to give back to the community after graduation, McAvoy is also being courted by some big name law firms from New York, and one of them just made him an offer he can't refuse.

Some cell phone video of the rape just surfaced, and someone, we're never sure who, is using it to force McAvoy to join the largest law firm in the world and become part of a lawsuit they are putting together for a defense contractor. McAvoy is being forced to discover secrets in order to save his own reputation and that of some college buddies, including Baxter Tate, a drug-swilling trust fund baby. Another college buddy tries to help McAvoy figure out who is behind the blackmail attempt, but it is never clear whether it's the opposing law firm, the government itself, or some characters with an even shadier agenda.

There is of course a little sex with a cubicle mate named Dale at the law firm, but McAvoy doesn't tell her about the trouble he is in either. Finally, when McAvoy is on the brink of doing something illegal, he comes clean to his father and another lawyer, who get government officials they can trust involved. Still, the setup for his handler doesn't net the suspect, and McAvoy has to go into hiding, because he knows he just made somebody's hit list, too.

"The Associate" is a good book with enough twists and turns to keep it interesting. The only thing I didn't like about it was that although we know that McAvoy never committed rape, which is good, the truth about who exactly is manipulating him is never revealed to the reader, and even after all that effort and investment in the plot and character, we are left with fewer answers than we'd like. As a result, reading "The Associate" is a little like a date with a cute guy who never calls you again. You are left wondering why, and spend your time, dissatisfied, going back over what happened to see what you missed.