I enjoyed this novel which at times was impossible to put down. This was more like Grisham's "The Firm" than his more recent efforts like "The Appeal" & "Playing For Pizza". Basically, a young lawyer is blackmailed into stealing secrets from his firm by a shadowy group of "spies" working for another law firm interested in undermining a big case worth billions of dollars. The young man has to manoeuver his way past his own firm's security without really doing anything illegal. A tricky business, to say the least. My biggest disappointment was the anticlimatic ending (I'll try not to spoil it too much). While the ending makes sense, and is quite believable, it is rather "ho-humm" as far as the word "exciting" goes

It has been a while since John Grisham has reached the level of some of his earlier works like a Time to Kill, but the Associate has to be one of his worst yet. The book is so full of holes and the main character is not someone worth cheering for. He is a guy who is incapable of empathy for a young woman who may have been raped. Perhaps the biggest problem is the driving force for ihs actions is not even mentioned in the last third of the book when he makes all his key decisions.

The story was exciting, although I felt like I was left haning at the end. If you like Grisham's previous lawyer stories, you will like this one too!

I have read all the Grisham books and enjoy reading new titles as they come out. I enjoyed reading the Associate and had a hard time putting it down long enough to get somethiing done. I am afraid that John is just knocking out new books for the money and runs out of steam when the end is near. For Pete's sake tie up some loose ends. I paid for a complete novel not a lead up to a series.