Rating: Summary: "To Tell The Truth? " Review: Quite a few years ago, there was a television show called "To Tell the Truth" in which a celebrity panel, egged on by a celebrity moderator, would try to guess which of three guest panelists, when quizzed about their lives and circumstances, would turn out to be the actual named person. The game always ended in the command "Will the real 'John Doe' please stand up", at which point our suspense was relieved and we all got to congratulate or commiserate on our own candidate of choice.And so with our now famous author, some times I feel like saying "Will the real John Grisham please stand up." In Partner, this is not (to my mind, thankfully) the slow-paced dramatist of book one, A Time to Kill, or book five, The Chamber, the latter of which I predicted would never be a movie (wrong!) for its dullness and lack of intrigue (right!). Nor is this the social commentator proselytizing in The Rainmaker (wife abuse is bad) or The Runaway Jury (smoking is bad), although at least these two gave us moderately satisfying page-turners. Nope -- the good news is that our clever creator of Pelican Brief, The Client, and The Firm is back, with all the complexities of plot, action and thrills, even an ironic twist at the end, to captivate our imaginations and keep us up until three in the morning with no regrets. And make no mistake, this movie will be a barn burner -- the only question being how many millions more will it dump into the Grisham coffers. By now, you may have heard snatches of the plot. I hate to spoil the story, but the gist is that a successful young law firm partner "dies" in an accident, only to be discovered years later hiding abroad with close to eight figures in stolen loot. [Relax -- all that becomes clear in chapter one of forty-three, so I'm hardly giving away the plot...] What follows are the intricacies of legal maneuvers and one-up-man-ship by our hero, as he masterminds his own extrication from prison, while gradually spinning the whole incredible yarn through various conversations meted out carefully enough to keep us turning pages into the wee hours. So, for me, the best John Grisham has indeed stood up -- with riveting story telling, political and social insight into the mechanisms of lawyering, and a tale that engrosses from start to finish. Can't wait for the movie !
Rating: Summary: intricate tale, overly clever Review: Grisham enjoys playing around with the reader's perspective in most of his books. In The Partner, he manipulates to the extreme. At first glance, Patrick is presented as a con-man extrodinaire having bilked $90 million away from his former law firm. As the plot unwinds the reader learns that there were justifications for Patrick's actions. The ending is just another manipulative plot twist that causes the reader to feel he has never really had control of the story. But in a way it is appropriate, after all, the ulltimate con-man has himself been conned. And besides...it was only money he lost, he still has the small brick abode, the shiny red Beetle, and the quiet Brazilian streets. I enjoyed this book but it wasn't as good as some of Grisham's others--The Runaway Jury and Testament. Still, it was lots better than The Chamber.
Rating: Summary: Great plot, horrible ending Review: The book is great to read. Once I passed chapter two, it was hard to put it down. The characters were well defined and the plot was great. The more you read on, the more you get to understand and sympathize with the main character Danilo, who appears to be the "bad guy" in the beginning. But the ending...! Horribe and incosistent. The ending just doesn't make sense. Eva suddenly made a 360 degree change in character at the end. It did not follow the way she was presented all along. She might as well just take the money and disappear from the beginning. Why bother going through so much trouble? Conclusion: great book to read, but the ending ruined the perfect score.
Rating: Summary: "The Partner" by John Grisham Review: This book grabbed me from the beginning and I couldn't let go. I enjoyed the plot. But ending was a shock. I couldn't truly understand why Patrick trusted her, would love to ask John Grisham that. I knew she was shaky.I love the scheme and the way he planned his death, but always felt it would be in vain. I would recommend this book.
Rating: Summary: Guadalupes view on: The Partner Review: Hi! My name is Guadalupe Arroyo and I read the book The Partner. I give it five stars because it is a very interesting book that has a lot of torture and discais. At the beginning of the book it throws you a quantity of characters that you don't know who is who. At the beginning I was confused but after chapter two I could not put the book down. When they capture Danilo the torture starts building up. At the beginning of chapter three and middle of chapter two you have your mouth open and you start chewing your nails. The emotion you feel when they are touring Danilo is very harsh and brute. You say how they torture a person like this, that is not human. The unfairness of not believing him after the second level of electrical shocks to the whole body, you can have you body all fried and toasted from so much voltage received by your body and skin. In my opinion it is very harsh because people should not be tortured but should be punished for their bad deeds. I will bring some religion into this because we as humans don't have the right to punish other people. God is the only one that should punish us for our bad deeds. We as people make mistakes and are not perfect and also we sin which it is not fair for other people that also make mistakes and get tortured and punished very harshly for the same mistakes other people make. So I hope you read this book and always have in mind that it is just a book.
Rating: Summary: Good book, but bad ending Review: Up until the last 2 pages I thought the novel was excellent, then I was extremely dissappointed. The ending simply does not make any sense after you've read the book and know Eva's character. I'd recommend this book to anyone thinking of reading it and it's great while you read it, but the ending leaves a very bitter aftertaste.
Rating: Summary: Great book, but the ending.... Review: I am a great fan of Mr. Grisham. I travel a lot and "read" most of his books via books-on-tape. The Partner was one of the best and most interesting yet. I loved the characters, the plot and the twists and turns along the way. As I drove along I-77 listening the the ending, I almost had to pull over. I rewound the tape and played it again, thinking I had missed something. It seems highly unbelievable that someone as smart and meticulous as Patrick would allow someone to take off with all the money. And then he did not have the knowledge to track her down! Just totally disappointing.
Rating: Summary: In typical John Grisham fashion... a great book! Review: I had a hard time at first trying to feel sympathy for a lawyer who stole $90 million, faked his death leaving behind a wife and daughter, and starting over with a beautiful stranger (also a lawyer) in another country. As the story unraveled though Patrick Lanigan became less of the "bad guy" I first imagined. Twists and turns along the way, _The Partner_ kept me turning pages and wanting more. Another hit by John Grisham!
Rating: Summary: Great Book - abhorrent ending Review: I have just finished reading The Partner and am actually furious. The book was a wonderful read, with a slowly deveoping plot, plausible character development (as much as Grisham deveops characters), some nice twists. Then the last chapter occurs - it was a totally unnecessary and uncalled for ending, completely unprepared for and out of character for the main protagonists. Within the confines of the story, it is not a reeasonable ending. However, the worst thing about this ending is that it is cheating the audience., The only way the ending is plausible is if Grisham lied to the reader (i.e. him porttraying a character's inner thoughts and feelings, and then later implying that that person was being dishonest in the things that they thought to themself) If the author was attempting to imply that this character has been killed, then Grisham has failed miserably, but after reading to story, this is the only rationale solution given the characters as Grisham has written them but a totally different ending is implied. He is known for slightly awkward endings at times (see the Pelican Brief, for example) but the ending in The Partner made me wish I had never read the book. To summarize, a wonderful book, ruined by an arbitrary, unbeliveable, and cruel ending.
Rating: Summary: Good Review: This isn't Grisham's best, but still a great book. If legal thillers are your thing then you won't be disapointed with this one. Its an intresting book in that it almost works backwards. The beginning of the book is like the climax and the rest of the book reveals the previous events. To a certain extent. Read the book and you will see what I mean.
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