Book info

• Title The Firm
• Author John Grisham
• Year 1991
• Genres Thriller, Legal, Mystery

He thought it was his dream job. It turned into his worst nightmare. When Mitch McDeere qualified third in his class at Harvard, offers poured in from every law firm in America. Bendini, Lambert and Locke were a small, well-respected firm, but their offer exceeded Mitch's wildest expectations: a fantastic salary, a new home, and the keys to a brand new BMW. Except for the mysterious deaths of previous lawyers with the firm. And the FBI investigations. And the secret files. Mitch soon realises that he's working for the Mafia's law firm, and there's no way out - because you don't want this company's severance package. To survive, he'll have to play both sides against each other - and navigate a vast criminal conspiracy that goes higher than he ever imagined...

Thoughts

Here’s the annoying thing: I may have read this before, I don’t remember, but I read it now because we watched the film adaptation. And although in 9 times out of 10 the book is always better than the movie, in this instance I’m not so sure. If I’d read this before watching it, it’d probably have been a straight up 5 out of 5, John Grisham writes law adventures exceedingly well, of course.

But having seen the alternative ending to the film, I’m not so sure. In the book, Mitch steals money from the bad guys and goes along with the feds, in the film there’s a clever twist that allows him to stay above board.

Still, like I say, it’s a good book, a great adventure, and a classic John Grisham, so nothing to complain about really.

Rating: 4 / 5