The Mafia Wants You DEAD: What Do You Do?

Author's Rating:

Pros: Fast paced, full of action and excitement.

Cons: You won't be able to put it down until you finish!

The Bottom Line: 
"The Firm" is not just a story, it's an experience

Author's Review
What would you do if you were wanted dead by the Mafia? Would you go to the cops? But what if the police were after you too? What in the would would you do?

This is the dilemma faced by Mitch McDeere, the husband of Amy McDeere, a former top student at Harvard Law School, and a new member of Bendini, Lambert & Locke.

In "The Firm" by John Grisham, this man, Mitch McDeere has finally finished Law School. After searching New York, Chicago, and Washington for a law firm to join, he has settled on Bendini, Lambert & Locke, a small firm in Memphis, Tennessee. The firm offers him a deal he can not resist: a BMW, a new house, a large salary, and an even larger potential raise. Mitch and his wife decide that location doesn't really matter after all. There is no way they are passing this deal up.

Man, I know I wish I could be Mitch McDeere. This guy has it all. But not everything is as it seems. . .(Hey, it's a book, what did you expect?)

Mitch soon learns that, for such a small firm, quite a few lawyers have died in recent years. After doing some digging of his own, he finds that these dead people had been "problems" of some kind. They were talking to the police (but what about?), or just being a pain around the office to everyone in the firm. Could this be a coincidence?

After being approached by a man named Tarrance, a police officer, Mitch is confused. The partners of the firm tell him that all is well, the cops just think they are skimping on the taxes of their clients. Nothing to worry about. But this Tarrance keeps coming back, telling Mitch that this firm is part of the Mafia. Mitch doesn't know what to do.

Suddenly Mitch's perfect life is not so perfect anymore. The cops are after him. They want him to get incriminating evidence to prove that the firm is working with the Mafia. The Mafia thinks he knows too much, and they want to dispose of him. What does Mitch do? How does he get out of this jam? Or does he get out of the jam at all? If I told you, would you honestly go read the book? Yeah right!

Other Stuff
The Movie
Yeah, there was a movie called "The Firm". And yeah, it was based on the book (and Tom Cruise was in it). However, I firmly believe that there is no way that a movie can be more thrilling, more exciting, or even more interesting than the book version of "The Firm".

The Writing Style
The reason that the book is so much better than any movie could ever be is the writing style. Grisham knows how to keep you on the edge of your seat, wondering what is going to happen to Mitch. However, the book manages to toy with your mind, slowing down for a few pages and then suddenly speeding up again with such a vengeance that you feel putting the book down and going to bed would be a crime. Just the fact that he can make a lawyer's personal story into a #1 Best Seller proves that John Grisham knows what he is doing when he picks up a pen.

The Characters
One of the greatest parts about "The Firm" was the selection of characters. Some, such as the director of security at Bendini, Lambert & Locke are so predictable that they are almost comical. Some, such as Mitch, are always willing to change their game plan. This makes them much more interesting and exciting. The characters are also very realistic. Mitch's wife Abby reacts as a normal wife would when Mitch works 18 hour days. John Grisham has really used a wide variety of characters, and he has managed to work them together into an amazing book.

The Author
John Grisham tends to write mostly about lawyers. He himself was a lawyer (and a politician too, he served two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives). He is a very knowledgeable man about his topic of choice (law), and he is able to work that knowledge to his benefit, making his stories very realistic and believable.

Other Books
The only other book by John Grisham which I myself have read is "A Time To Kill", a book about a lawyer defending a man who committed murder out of revenge. The book was a little more predictable than "The Firm", but I think that was just because I had already read one of his books. Other famous books of his include "The Pelican Brief" and "The Partner", all best sellers.

What I Liked The Most
The thing I liked the most when I read this book was the feeling that I got while Mitch was in trouble. I felt like I was the one in trouble, I was the one running from everyone. That is the true power of John Grisham's writing. He can draw you into a story like no other writer. "The Firm" is not just a story, it is an experience.