The Partner

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: Excellent Story shame about the ending
Review: Very entertaining, it was fun to see how Patrick Lanighan had planned ahead and got away with his prize. yet the ending does not make any sense whatsoever. Not because it was sad, but because throught tbe book the author did not give any background to make this type of ending logical. I understand you have to add an unexpected twist, but this ending is almost an insult to the reader. The Brazilian lawyer could have run away with whole lot of money from the start, and even if she did not want any one to be after her, she still had the money to enjoy at her home town with man she presumabley loved and near her father. Disappointing end to a great book.

Rating:
Summary: Low Expectations=High Satisfaction
Review: There's two approaches to reviewing this book:

1. It's a great mass market mystery paperback that will provide you with a great way to fill up a rainy Sunday afternoon or a long flight or a day at the beach. It's always interesting, moves fairly fast, and is rather sensational.

--or--

2. It's a formulaic, shallow book that reads more like a screenplay than a piece of literature, who's characters are one-dimensional, underdeveloped, and inconsistent. It's over-expositional and it borrows heavily from "The Firm".

When I approach a John Grisham book, I usually don't expect much. I don't expect to undergo any kind of self-realization or educational enlightenment. I do hope to be entertained, at the very least. So my expectations with "The Partner" were filled, and then some. I'd call "The Partner one of his better books. Just mind your expectations.

Rating:
Summary: The quintessential Grisham -- and that's not a good thing
Review: Read this book to get a feel for what nearly every other Grisham novel is like. This is a novel about a big pot of money, and characters who have no souls who are chasing it around. You won't care about the relationships--this is about dreaming what it would be like to have millions of dollars. A lotto ticket might be a better investment.

I don't want to spoil the end except to say that it ends like all other Grisham books: it won't make much sense, it will be "ironic" in the sense that suddenly characters behave completely differently than you would have expected, and it is a "twist" in the sense that the author has been holding out on you and then suddenly reveals a fact you should have known all along. And, of course, it is about the money anyway. I turned the last page realizing I didn't really care about anybody in this book, I just felt, for a little while, that I was going along for a 90 million dollar ride.

Rating:
Summary: Good read. Dissapointing ending. (spolier!)
Review: Like many said here, the beginning of the book was kind of boring but things picked up rather quickly when Patrick starts to tell the truth. The ending however, was very very disappointing..how and why would the girl Eva do such a thing like this to the man she loves or loved did it mean that money finally wins??? And what about her dad? is she going to ditch her dad as well since she knows that Patrick knows where her dad is and she knows that he'll return to Brazil..this is just not making sense here...

Despite the bad ending...this is a good read.

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: What a way to ruin a good book...
Review: The book started out fairly well. It was an interesting read, and a fairly good book... until the ending.

The ending was awful, and came out of nowhere. There is nothing in the book suggesting this kind of ending could take place. Plus, a lot of the different sub-plots in the book never came together and the ending left the reader hanging on those.

The plot is fairly simple. A partner in a law firm, Patrick, fakes his death and runs off with $90 million. They track him down and torture him, but can't get the money because a girl is hiding the money, and not Patrick. Patrick goes to jail, but things get interesting when he starts showing evidence that the money maybe been obtained illegally...

One will enjoy reading this book for the most part, although the start is a little slow. However, the ending will ruin the entire book.

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: 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 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.