The Associate

by John Grisham

book data

2,474 ratings, 3.22 average rating, 808 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		10%
4		27%
3		40%
2		17%
1		3%

edit

published

January 20th 2009 by Doubleday

binding

Hardcover, 384 pages

isbn

0385517836 (isbn13: 9780385517836)

description

If you thought Mitch McDeere was in trouble in The Firm, wait
until you meet Kyle McAvoy, THE ASSOCIATE

Kyle McAvoy grew up in his father’s small-town...more

find at: Amazon | Half.com | Barnes & Noble | compare prices ($2.10)…

new topic
discuss this book

topics	posts	views	last activity
The Next Best Boo...: The Title Game	5141	3866	51 minutes ago
Readers and Reading: * June 2009 reads	22	37	1 hour, 25 min ago
The Next Best Boo...: Your Latest Splurge	5978	6326	3 hours, 59 min ago
Book Nook Cafe: What I read last month	83	134	22 hours, 57 min ago
100+ Book Challenge: Huma's 100 for 2009	16	44	1 day ago, 12:33PM

friend reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

lists with this book

disappointing books

311 books | 744 voters

More lists...

other reviews (showing 1-20 of 3,722)

sort: default (?) | date
filters: all | text-only

01/25/09

Stephanie rated it:

bookshelves: books-i-own

Read in February, 2009

I was so disappointed in Grisham's latest work. He took more than half the book to create this wonderfully detailed plot and then three chapters to close the book. Three chapters in which he untwisted some of the elements of the plot, didn't resolve anything, and quit to early. I felt so unfulfilled at the end.

It kills me that his latest books haven't been up to par with his earlier works. In the beginning, his books were well-crafted and well-executed. After he began seeing his...more

Like this review? yes (13 people liked it)

10 comments

02/26/09

Michael rated it:

bookshelves: read-in-2009

Read in February, 2009

Good books don't necessarily have to provide all the answers to every plot thread introduced into them. We want our characters to feel like they have lives beyond the confines of the printed page and that their story exists before, during and after the book we're reading. But a good book should at least provide the reader with some sense of closure and not the feeling like an editor was standing over the writer, pointing out that he or she had x-number of pages left or he or she was slowly rea...more Good books don't necessarily have to provide all the answers to every plot thread introduced into them. We want our characters to feel like they have lives beyond the confines of the printed page and that their story exists before, during and after the book we're reading. But a good book should at least provide the reader with some sense of closure and not the feeling like an editor was standing over the writer, pointing out that he or she had x-number of pages left or he or she was slowly reaching the word count for the novel and that wrapping up the book soon would be a good idea. There should be some sense of closure, not just a sense of wrapping things up.

There's a distinct lack of closure to John Grisham's new novel.

"The Associate" spents 275 pages setting up the situation Kyle McAvoy faces. Years ago, his roommates at a frat party took advantage of a young woman, while she may or may not have been passed out. The young girl had a reputation and when she tried to press charges for rape, the investigation hit a quick dead end and the matter was dropped. Or so it would appear. While Kyle wasn't one of the participants, he was in the room when it happened. Now, years later video from a camera phone has surfaced in the hands of men who want Kyle to do thier bidding. He is to accept a job with a high-prestige law firm and spy on them for these men.

This mysterious group seems to have their fingers in a lot of pies an a lot of power, though it's never explained why or if they're manipulating certain aspects of Kyle's life and that of his friends. They hold the tape over Kyle's head throughout the story, saying that while it may not lead to charges it will certainly ruin the life of Kyle and his friends.

Kyle is pressed into service in an impossible situation and slowly begins to try and find a way out of it. By reading spy novels, he routinely sheds those tailing him and begins to slowly fight back, forming a plan of his own. Meanwhile, he's got the soulless first year job at a law firm and maybe a connection with a fellow female associate.

It's a lot to take in and Grisham does a nice job of keeping the plot moving for the first 300 or so pages. But it's right around a huge turning point in the novel that things slowly being to unravel. I won't say the turning point, but if you've read the book, you can probably peg it. It involves one of the group of the accused who went to Hollywood seeking his fame and fortune. Suddenly, things kick into a different gear and Kyle makes some decisions. These are things that could and should change the story and ratchet things into a higher gear, adding to the suspense and making the pages turn faster. And they do...except these things all happen 30 or so pages before the novel ends.

And the novel just wraps up. In one of the more unsatisfying endings I've read in a while, Grisham just finishes the story. In the end, justice isn't really served and you can see how Grisham is trying to create a morally ambigious ending, but yet it just doesn't feel satisfying. Kyle isn't a purely innocent character, but it'd be nice if it felt like some or any of the bad guys got what was coming to them in the end. Instead, it's one of those--hey, life sucks but what are you going to do? endings that left me frustrated and wondering where the rest of the book was.

We could at least know that Kyle got the girl or something. A hint, anything besides what we go.

And that's a shame. Because Grisham works hard in creating Kyle and allowing us to identify with him and feel sympathy for him as the net closes in around him.

This could have been great Grisham. Instead it's just mediocre Grisham. (less)

Like this review? yes (7 people liked it)

1 comment

01/30/09

babyhippoface rated it:

bookshelves: grown-up-stuff

Read in February, 2009

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

Like this review? yes (6 people liked it)

1 comment

02/26/09

Jeffrey rated it:

bookshelves: read-in-2009, thriller

Read in March, 2009

recommends it for: Grisham fans, legal thriller fans

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

This novel is not precisely a reworking of Grisham's famous first huge bestseller "The Firm", but some might jump to that conclusion because the setting is similar. If you recall, in The Firm, the partners were mobsters. In this novel, the firm in question is merely an oppressive giant New York law firm, probably no different in its treatment of first year associates than many of the giant white shoe firms in New York now. As an aside, Grisham is sure to throw in his usual barbs abou...more This novel is not precisely a reworking of Grisham's famous first huge bestseller "The Firm", but some might jump to that conclusion because the setting is similar. If you recall, in The Firm, the partners were mobsters. In this novel, the firm in question is merely an oppressive giant New York law firm, probably no different in its treatment of first year associates than many of the giant white shoe firms in New York now. As an aside, Grisham is sure to throw in his usual barbs about the law practice, in this case having one of the more decent partners reveal to the young Kyle that he "estimates his billing", overcharges clients for meals and treats his young colleagues as chauffers, but these are only petty comments about the book.

The real story in this novel is that an unscrupulous spy involved in industrial espionage has found a way to make Kyle, follow his orders. Kyle, the main character, is in his final year of law school at Yale. He is the son of a local lawyer (who as is typical is lauded by Grisham), and is the prestigious editor of the Yale Law Review. As a second year law student he worked for the giant New York law firm, which has offered him a job, but Kyle has no interest in this position as he intends to join a smaller firm where he can help people. However, he is approached by some men who appear to be agents of the FBI who want him to meet a Pittsburgh police officer Bennie, who they claim has a video showing that Kyle witnessed and/or participated in a rape on campus when he was a senior at his fraternity during his last year at college. Kyle sees the video which appears to be condemning.

Bennie, the fake cop, tells Kyle that if he does what Bennie wants, Kyle will not be indicted and the video will not be released. What Bennie wants is for Kyle to provide him with sensitive material that is being held as an exhibit in a pending law suit about a supersonic jet. He orders Kyle to back out of his planned next law job and take a job with the large New York law firm. Of course, Kyle, the underdog ingeniously plans out a way to escape this nefarious scheme. The ending is a little too pat for me, but the fun in this book is following Kyle's adventures in spydom, his life and the life of his fellow first year students and the hell that is a first year associates lot in a huge law firm.

Except for the ending, this novel is not bad and frankly is a lot better than his baseball novel set in Italy.(less)

Like this review? yes (3 people liked it)

add a comment

02/01/09

Carol rated it:

Read in February, 2009

There must be a lot of pressure on authors who've had a series of best-sellers of a similar popular genre. Some authors come up with decent fresh ideas for the next adventure of their hero or hero-type, and some struggle after the first few books. Grisham seems to be struggling. He's back with one of his early formulas, young lawyer trapped into a compromising situation by a bad guy. This time, the set-up is less plausible than in the early novels. Sure, we readers suspend disbelief, but we don'...more

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

add a comment

02/05/09

Nick rated it:

bookshelves: authors_john_grisham, fiction, read-2009, thriller

No spoiler alert needed because there are no spoilers. Every aspect of this novel has been done in earlier works of 'legal fiction' by Grisham, and sections bolted together for this new novel. It was enjoyable and a prototypical Grisham read, but there was absolutely nothing new under this literary sun...

Grisham should parody the creation of the next Grisham novel, where a bright young legal graduate is coerced into a secretive law firm. On his first day, he is spirited into a baseme...more

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

add a comment

02/10/09

Shannon rated it:

Read in February, 2009

If you like Grisham's earliest works (the Firm, the Pelican Brief, etc.) you'll probably like this one too. It's fast paced, about a young lawyer in big firm who is in trouble. However, I didn't like this one as well as some of the others because I thought the ending was VERY unsatisfying. Grisham didn't tie up the ends the reader is dying to find out at the end of the novel. Darn! I'll be interested in what others say about it

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

add a comment

02/08/09

Leah rated it:

Read in February, 2009

In most circumstances, the "quick reads" or "beach books" are so lame-brain and cornball that I skim the book in a half-hour (i.e. James Patterson) However, I have read (really read, not skimmed) every one of Grisham's books. I enjoy Grisham because his stories are the same. You have the same kind of characters, the same dialogue, but it's always suspenseful. You always want to know what's going to happen next. I am comforted by his predictability, for some odd reason.

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

add a comment

02/25/09

Kdb rated it:

Read in March, 2009

I was thoroughly caught up in this book from page 1 and could barely put it down until the last page. Very exciting even though at times I wanted to yell at Kyle, the main character, not to fall for the blackmail scheme laid out before him. For anyone who has been to a few too many drinking parties in college, this will bring back those memories of regrets and situations that could have gotten out of hand. Kyle was involved in the latter, and thought it was all behind him, until he is approac...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

4 comments

02/05/09

Roberta rated it:

bookshelves: legalthriller

The book read fast as do most of Grisham's novels. I enjoyed most of the book except for the ending. I felt that Grisham could have tied things up a bit better with about 50 more pages.

The main character in this novel is a Yale law student who is blackmailed into taking a job with a huge New York law firm because of a mistake he made in college. We find out exactly how he does his best to avoid breaking the law in this book. Written in the vein of the Firm, but not as good.

...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

add a comment

02/08/09

Sesh rated it:

With every book, Grisham gets worse. I keep telling myself I should stop reading the garbage he his dishing out, but I keep going back just to find out how bad it can get. What can I say? I give one star because for effort, just to type the words in. Otherwise there is not much to recommend in this book. The plot is weaker than Bud Lite, the ending is anti-climactic.

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

add a comment

02/06/09

Jim rated it:

Read in February, 2009

As usual with Grisham, I can't put a book down for very long until I've picked it up again. I would hope that there might be a follow-up to this one so I can learn about what happens to the "bad guys".

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

1 comment

02/09/09

Jim rated it:

Read in February, 2009

This is the slowest Grisham book I've read -- and I've read them all. It's tedious. It does not read like Grisham. There's almost no action until the end of the book, and then there's not much. What a disappointment.

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

add a comment

02/17/09

Betty marked it as to-read

bookshelves: to-read

Can't wait to read this - I've read all of his other books and saw him interviewed on the Today show the other morning. Looks like a good one!

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

1 comment

02/17/09

Terrie rated it:

bookshelves: adult--law

Read in February, 2009

The most anti-climactic book ever. What happened to the Grisham I used to love?

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

add a comment

03/12/09

Claire Grasse rated it:

Read in March, 2009

Although I only gave this two stars (for its two-dimensional quality), that's twice as many as I've BEEN giving John Grisham for his last decade of writing). I'm hopeful that this means that Grisham is on a climb back up to the quality of plot he used to write in his earliest days (quality that seemed to grind to a painful halt soon after The Testament).

*****SPOILER ALERT*******

This book is really The Firm, reworked. The first 3/4 of the book has the protaganist Kyle h...more Although I only gave this two stars (for its two-dimensional quality), that's twice as many as I've BEEN giving John Grisham for his last decade of writing). I'm hopeful that this means that Grisham is on a climb back up to the quality of plot he used to write in his earliest days (quality that seemed to grind to a painful halt soon after The Testament).

*****SPOILER ALERT*******

This book is really The Firm, reworked. The first 3/4 of the book has the protaganist Kyle hemming and hawing about how NOT to compromise himself by handing over the documents. There is a lot of time wasted here when not much really happens, except that Kyle slams a lot of doors and attends a lot of ball games where he speaks out of the side of his mouth to his friend Joey, who eventually walks away from the whole mess and is not even involved in the final solution. IMHO, this kind of "filler character" and "filler activity" (think: the big gambling angle in the The Summons) is a waste of the reader's time, as it accomplishes very little toward the end result.

Kyle's anger too, is unconvincing. His relationships with Olivia and Dale are two-dimensional and unconvincing. Also unconvincing is why he is so worried about the "rape video." The video in no way implicates him in the rape, and if he's really planning on going into "public defense" type of law, he's not exactly going to be the kind of high-roller who has to worry about his image. One expects Kyle, even as a 3rd year law student, to know enough law to realize that shouting "extortion!" would put a quick end to the matter. He'd suffer a bit of public embarassment, but then again, he didn't DO anything in the video to implicate himself.

Meh. Frustrating!

The end of the book is just as frustrating. Kyle doesn't really do anything clever to extricate himself from mess he's in. Remember Mitch, in the The Firm? He really stuck it to the b******s who had him in a corner, and left the reader cheering. Kyle just runs to daddy, who bails him out by talking nice to the other side.

Jeepers, Mr. Grisham, I'm starting to lose faith in you.(less)

Like this review? yes

add a comment

03/07/09

Darbyscloset rated it:

bookshelves: mystery

Read in February, 2009

recommends it for: Mystery Lovers

The Associate

John Grisham’s latest book is “The Associate”, which I just finished reading. I always enjoy Grisham’s work and so I was eager to read this book once it was released to the public.
Grisham’s previous release was “The Appeal”. The first part of this book I was a little disappointed, for I thought he was rewriting the same story as in “The Appeal”, yet with different characters. I should of known better for just as the background was being laid ...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

add a comment

03/02/09

Chuck rated it:

Read in February, 2009

This is the best Grisham in years. It gets back to what he did well in his earlier fiction, but it is still fresh.

Kyle McAvoy is about to graduate from law school, and had planned to work in the non-profit world and reject corporate law. But two men appear who have manufactured an "incident" from his past--not true, but a public accusation would have been enough to ruin his life. So Kyle is forced to accept a job at a law firm which is embroiled in a law suit over who ow...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

02/20/09

Randy rated it:

Read in February, 2009

Gosh, it seems like so long ago since I bought this novel called A Time To Kill by John Grisham. Now, some 20 novels later, he's penned some I'd rather forget but he remains one of the few I buy hardbound.

The Associate is the usual Grisham. By that I mean, the guy is always a helluva writer, he's always got a character you love, a way with a story that compells you to read on, an interesting setup. Any Grisham is worth a read. Even a bad Grisham is hands a feet above most of the law ...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

06/07/09

Dlora rated it:

bookshelves: legal-thriller

Read in June, 2009

This Grisham novel is reminiscent of some of his earlier books with less obvious soapbox pounding and a more central entertaining storyline. Enter Kyle McAvoy, the sympathetic main character caught in a sticky web who must find a way to block blackmail, somehow outsmart the professional con men, avoid being fired and prosecuted for corporate spying, and still maintain his ethical beliefs. One goodreads reviewer complained that the plot took a long time to construct but then resolved in just a fe...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment