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Summary: The Firm
Review: PLOT: Mitch McDeere is fresh out of Havard Law School with an ambitious attitude and the will to succeed. He receives the best job offers from the largest firms in the country, but a small firm out of Memphis brings him in with the best pay, a new home, relief of his student loans, and a new BMW. Within his first week at the firm, two of his coworkers are killed in a mysterious explosion off the coast of Grand Cayman Island. This makes him suspicious and later finds out that five lawyers have died in the past fifteen years, all very suspicious. An encounter with an FBI agent investigating the firm arouses his curiousity with the security of the firm and starts to unravel a downward spiral of crime, corruption, danger, and possibly death.GENRE: Drama-Suspense STRENGTHS/WEAKNESSES: Grisham's character development is perfect in a sense where you know the characters, but not too well. The predictability of the book is impossible as well as the ability to put it down. The scene changes act as a stimulant for the reader, not elaborating one part of the book too much. Grisham did a supurb job in entailing drama, suspense, and humor into his work. This book was the first of Grisham's I read and it will not be the last.
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Summary: Great story! must read it before seeing the movie
Review: The Firm is a book built up with suspense; you never know what happens to the main character. The story starts with the main character, McDeere surprises everyone by joining in a small, private, very rich tax firm in Memphis, Tennessee. McDeere and his wife Abby quickly settle in Memphis and start a new life, where they are young and happy. But things did not go as smoothly as they thought. Two of the partners in the firm died in a suspicious diving accident in Grand Cayman, the firm are also overly proud about how no one has ever resigned. Afterwards, a FBI agent by the name of Tarrance suddenly comes into McDeere¡¦s life, and tells him that the firm he is working in is actually controlled by a mafia family in Chicago. Everything that McDeere owned: cars, house, etc, are all being bugged and are being listened by the security of the firm twenty-four hours. Now McDeere has to make a decision, ignore the FBI agent, and might get busted in to jail, or cooperate with the FBI and taking the risk of getting killed by the mafia. Personally, I would give two thumbs up for this book, this book is full of suspense, it would just make the reader keep on reading until a part of excitement is over. It isn¡¦t like other books where the setting is based in Wall Street, and top lawyers compete with each other; instead the setting is in a city down south of America, where no one really pays attention. To say the truth, I don¡¦t really like the ending of the book where McDeere ends up escaping on a boat. I would rather see McDeere fighting in action, fighting against either the FBI or the mafia family. There is a movie based on the story, starring Tom Cruise and some other actors. I would recommend that people who are interested in this book should read the book first then watch the movie, because once you¡¦ve seen the movie, you wouldn¡¦t want to read the book, since the movie was so good.
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Summary: Just try to put this down once you've started
Review: I won't even mention any of the plot points here because I don't want to ruin even a part of a great story for anyone. Back when this book was all the rage I somehow remained blissfully ignorant of the whole dog and pony show. Someone gave a copy to my wife to read, which happened to correspond to a weekend when she got sick and stayed in bed. Bored, I sat down one Friday night and picked the book up to give it a quick look. Hours later I finished, having read the entire book through without even a stop for the bathroom. This was a great story. If you haven't read it already, take it along for your next vacation. Even if you saw the movie and hated it like I did, read the book. It isn't even the same story.
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Summary: Tense and exciting
Review: Mitch McDeere is at the top of his graduating law class at Harvard and fielding offers from top firms. A smaller tax firm named Bendini, Lambert, and Lock in Memphis, TN outbids all the others, determined to land their top pick. They make him an offer he can't refuse. At first it seems that the firm is a bit controlling of it's employees - it encourages children, it discourages working wives, etc. But after Mitch is approached by the FBI it turns out that the firm is merely a front for a Chicago crime family, and the only way out is through retirement or death (which is more common with the Bendini firm than any other). Mitch ends up running for his life. Overall, the story is very good and quite entertaining. I saw the movie years ago but I'm always surprised at how different it can be from the actual book. The suspense and tension were at times uncomfortable, although the ending seemed to drag out with no escape in sight for the characters. My only complaint would be with the reader (Scott Brick) who read everything with an excessively cool and arrogant manner, which was very annoying. But overall a good story.
Rating:
Summary: The Firm
Review: The Firm by John Grisham is a fast-paced and exciting novel about Mitch McDeere, a lawyer fresh out of college trying to make the big bucks. Mitch is asked to join the law firm of Bendini, Lambert, and Locke. They offer him a huge salary, a free BMW, and a low interest mortgage on a nice house. Mitch immediately takes them up on the offer. It sounds too good to be true and he finds out that it is when he is contacted by the FBI. The FBI knows that the firm is connected to the mafia and they want Mitch to help them bring the firm down. Mitch knows that he has to help the FBI but he also knows that he could end up dead like the other lawyers who tried to blow the firm's cover. John Grisham did an excellent job writing the many plot twists and surprises that this book contains. This is a very exciting and suspenseful book that is impossible to put down once you begin reading. If you like books with a lot of action and surprises The Firm is the novel for you.
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Summary: Wealth and Trust
Review: "He was their top choice. In fact for this year there were no other prospects. The list was very short. It was Mcdeere or no one" (pg 2). The Firm by John Grisham is a wonderful book about a lawyer fresh out of Harvard expecting money and extravagances. This book plays on every whim of a realist's imagination. Mitch McDeere, the main character, becomes entangled in a fantasy life as a lawyer in a very wealthy firm called Bendini, Lambert, and Lock. Money, cars, vacations, work, Mitch is given the life of luxury. The only setback is a mysterious death of some of the company's associates. But almost as quickly as he was swept into his dream the FBI pulls him out, when he finds that his wonderfully rich law firm is corrupt and sketchy. In further examination of his surroundings, Mitch finds his life threatened by mobsters associated with the firm. This great book holds your attention and keeps your imagination reeling.
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Summary: The Firm
Review: This book was great. I was surprised by how easy it was to get into and how it kept me interested the whole way through. It was one of the few books that I have read that I found impossible to put down. All of the action in the book kept me reading and made me feel like I got to know all of the characters - now I want to know what will happen for Mitch and Abby.
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Summary: what up with race?
Review: This book seems to be really good, but there is a constant reoccuring talk about the number of white people. At the Manhattan Club, all of the diners were rich, established. And white. In Nashville, it was safe. And all white faces. Dang! The only mention of Black people where the cooks at the firms and delievery guys. John seems to like to point out race-especially when he is talking about status. What is the point? Is John prejudice or something? Don't buy the book if you are senstive to race. Borrow it from the library-but don't support the author financially.
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Summary: Oh, man, is this ever good!
Review: What a fantastic read. By far this is Grisham's best effort and worth every cent. Grisham has taken a classic "caught between a rock and a hard place" idea and spun it into a wonderful page turner that you will NOT be able to put down. With its themes of mafia, the FBI, and a "too good to be true" job handed to the main character, this flawless tale will keep you up at night. Excellent writing, believable characters, and a tour-de-force plot make this one of the best buys for your money. Can you tell I like the book? Have also read two other very good novels lately, though they are completely different in theme and pace from this one: "Birth of Venus" and "Bark of the Dogwood." Both are great, but please, please, please buy "The Firm" first!
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Summary: A ripping good read! Filled with surprises and suspense.
Review: This is the book that made John Grisham famous, and it is a ripping good read. By now who doesn't know the basic outline of the plot? Mitch McDeere, a top Harvard Law grad, is recruited into a small, exclusive, Memphis law firm. The perks are incredible: they buy him a BMW, set him up in a beautiful home, pay off his huge student loan, and promise to make him rich. What's not to like? Quite a bit, as it turns out, and that a basic summary of the ingredients of an engaging and exciting read. No spoilers here: if you have somehow managed to spend the last 10 years or so on Mars and don't know the story, I won't ruin it for you here. Suffice to say, the story has more twists and turns than a pretzel, but Grisham does a good job of keeping it all together. The storyline never plods--it races. This is a wonderful read, and a very creative tale. Grisham's background as a lawyer shines through. His observations as regards the practice of law are as insightful as they are cynical. They are also largely true, at least for some lawyers some of the time. (I'm a lawyer myself, God forgive me, grin.) As far as being a good read goes, this book rates five stars, or even six. It is not "great literature" by most reckonings, which is the only reason I deprive it here of that fifth star. The reader will not miss that fifth star, and this is a novel that no reader should pass up. This is one of those novels that you will be reading until three in the morning. Enjoy it if you already have not. Or even if you have: I've read my copy a half a dozen times.
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