Rating: 
Summary: Talky
Review: "The Partner," John Grisham's 1997 crime novel about a superlawyer on the lam pitted against his beautiful but shallow wife, his well-connected but shallow former law partners, and the military-industrial-political-financial-legal-insurance-press complex of the entire Western world, is decent beach reading. No more, no less.Told largely through flat, deposition-style dialogue -- a narrative technique, as old as Richardson, in which characters tell a story simply by relating to each other what happened before the novel began -- the book features a heavily diagrammed (and largely implausible) plot, morally ambiguous characters, swatches of local color (here, the Mississippi Gulf Coast and Brazil), plenty of cynicism about the motives of powerful men, and a final twist that, because of the limited character development, rings false. Graham Greene's standard of literary criticism was defined by a question: is there anyone in this book you'd care to invite to lunch? I don't think so here. Grisham aficionados may find "The Partner" to die for. For anyone else, save this talky book for a lazy day at the beach. Robert E. Olsen
Rating: 
Summary: Good thriller with interesting ending
Review: (SPOILERS) Some readers seem very disappointed with the twist ending of "The Partner," but I felt that, upon reflection, it was quite good and in tune with John Grisham's longtime commitment to good ethics and moral endings. One of Grisham's strongest themes is: lose money, find yourself.
As "The Partner" begins, the novel's protagonist, Patrick, has absconded with $90 million illegally gotten funds from his law firm, and is hiding under a new identity in Brazil. He has a friend/lover in Eva, a Brazilian lawyer, and Eva helps Patrick when he is captured in Brazil, tortured by private mercenaries, and returned to America for trial by federal and local authorities.
"The Partner" brilliantly shows how Patrick, with the help of Eva and an American lawyer friend named Sandy, fends off every single one of the enemies waiting for him and his $90 million in America: the FBI and local authorities who want to try him for everything from fraud to murder (he burned a body in his car to fake his own death); an unfaithful wife and her thug boyfriend; the criminal mastermind who stole the $90 million; his crooked law firm partners and their clients, etc.
Patrick pulls it off and heads off for a wealthy life with the beautiful Eva -- and finds that Eva has run off with the rest of the money and disappeared.
What Grisham is doing here, I think, is showing Patrick what it feels like to be left behind by a person who -- like Patrick -- runs away from his or her life. Even as Patrick outfoxes his enemies, we learn that his flight and disappearance caused pain to his mother and friends, and led to the arrest and incarceration of Eva and the kidnapping of her own father. Eva is simply "paying Patrick back" for the pain. He is left broke (as Grisham always likes it -- his tales are anti-greed and anti-wealth), and hoping that he'll someday find Eva. Or that she'll again find him. Like Patrick, Eva has escaped her old life -- and left Patrick feeling the pain of her loss.
It's a wonderful, thought-provoking ending to one of John Grisham's best thrillers.
Rating: 
Summary: Awsome
Review: A huge fan of Grisham, I have read many of his books and this one definately caught my eye. It was far from a typical mystery; it kept me interested and made me finish it in two settings. Read this book! You'll get hooked!
Rating:
Summary: A Twisted Ending
Review: Although some people wrote a review that the story was predictable, I couldn't see how. The ending was something that I never thought was going to happen. While the book followed Grisham wordiness as usual, the plot was as good as ever.
Rating:
Summary: Would have been perfect with a better editor
Review: I always enjoy the 'reading' of Grisham's novel and this one does not disappoint. I expect to hate Grisham's ending and this one does not 'disappoint'. It has a typical lack-luster ending that comes from nowhere. I know going in that getting to the end is the great part.
The story remains unfinished. About three more chapters would have made this an excellent book.
In typical Grisham fashion, I was glued to the pages throughout the novel. This story develops right "on the nose". There is little surprise as the story unfolds, usually by wordy Grishamian dialog with a few too many details. This seems to be written as a primer for a screenplay in its execution, yet details such as mentioning Mercedes Benz and Jaguars for no apparent reason will only conflict with the movie when it's made.
The problem with the final-twist ending is that there is not any closure for our anti-hero, Patrick. He loses in the end by Eva, who was not a sufficiently developed character. When she wins in the end, there is not enough attitude behind it.
Grisham appears to triumph morals via immorality failures, yet the treatment is incomplete. Essential, our main character Patrick is on a path to self-awareness. Mid-life crisis backed by the consummate cheating wife begins the journey. In his attempt to start over, he plots to disappear forever. In wonderful storybook fashion, he gets the girl and the cash. That part is excellent reading and is expected. Then in a final attempt to transcend pure greed, our anti-hero is rocketed into self-realization when the girl and the loot are taken from him. That part, too, is fine and almost expected. Here is where the plot falls to pieces.
The eventual 'winner' is Eva, The Partner of our main character. She wins without foundation, thus the need for a few more chapters. Patrick is stripped of his self-realization. We needed to know more about Eva; what was Eva trying to escape? How did Eva set Patrick up?
Since Patrick was so perfect at paying attention to detail as demonstrated by the whole premise of the story, how did Eva become so wise as to be the only one to outsmart Patrick? Thus what are her credentials, her motivations and her feelings afterward? If this was purely a last minute decision we need to know! If this was the plan the whole way, then how and when did Eva find Patrick? Everything tells us that he found her, yet this doesn't present enough evidence of her abilities. The only reason I didn't deduct a Rating Star was because this actually might be genius: Patrick was such a smart thief, that he couldn't help but be a smart, perfect tutor to Eva in the ways of the financial, legal, and underground world that the 'student' passes the 'teacher'. However, if this is the case, we needed the final fax, the final phone call, or final telegram from Eva to Patrick to put in the last dig. She needed to put Patrick in his place by either her wit, her whiles, or her heart, thus finishing the self-realization for Patrick.
That is why a few more chapters would have made this story perfect.
...I always read Grisham with the idea of loving the story and hating the ending. When you read with these expectations, you come away totally satisfied. Highly recommended! 4.9 Stars
It's easy to be a critic. Grisham wrote an excellent story. It was the editors' fault for not pointing out the shortcomings in the story and telling John Grisham that it needed just a little more. I couldn't write this well myself. You all are lucky!
Rating: 
Summary: A page turner, but maybe for the wrong reasons
Review: I am currently working my way through the Grisham novels and The Partner although very well written I found a bit predictable. The way the book sets up Patrick as the anti-hero gives the idea that he has everything under control from the begining. A line in the book says when planning a murder if you can think of 15 of the 25 things that can go wrong you are a genius. Well I think Patrick gets about 24 right.
Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: I believe this is one of John Grisham's best three legal thrillers, along with "The Firm" and "The Runaway Jury". It's a must.
Rating:
Summary: Typical Grisham
Review: I liked this book better than I thought I would, considering the limited scope of the plot. After all, most of the story takes place with Patrick, the runaway lawyer, in custody. The story takes many unpredictable turns and is, for the most part, plausible. But the ending is disappointing, and somewhat unbelievable given Eva's risk-taking behavior throughout the book. Still worth a look and one of Grisham's better efforts.
Rating:
Summary: Weak Enterntainment
Review: I picked this book of the top of a stack that my friend was planning on giving to the library. It is the hardback version, and I simply have a weakness for free hardbacks. Yes, I know I'm a freak....
Most of my exposure to Grisham has been through the movies that were made from his books, so I'm not too familiar with his actual writing. The Partner is a very quick read, coming in around 350 pages in hardback, this is a fairly straight forward story.
Patrick Lanigan has faked his death and stolen $90 million of his former firms ill gotten gains. The story really starts at his capture in Brazil and lays out the "how he done it" over the course of the book. The problem for me was that the book devolved into characatures instead of buidling interesting people to follow. It just seemed too formulaic at times and way too many things just fell into place to be believable. In hollywood when an proven actor/actress stars in a bomb and doesn't appear to try it is generally said the actor "dialed it in". I think Grisham did the same here.
Frankly, a lot of reviews here didn't like the ending, but that was really my favorite part. Wasn't too much of a surprise, but boy did it give me some satisfaction. All in all, there are other things you can be reading for pure entertainment, but this book wasn't totally lacking some redeeming qualities.
Rating:
Summary: One of his best books yet
Review: John Grisham surely knew what he was doing when he wrote this book. This book is a classical example for a "John Grisham" thriller. The way he builds up the story is amazing and I've never seen something like it before. He starts with a story about a person named Patrick and then rolls the story to the point where we find out who he is and why he was captured to the point where the "legal stuff" starts. A great book, Very much recommended!
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