Lee Allen's Blog - Posts Tagged "mitch-mcdeere"

The Exchange by John Grisham

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The exhilarating sequel to legal thriller ‘The Firm’.

Mitch and Abby McDeere have built a new life for themselves in New York. Now a partner in one of the world’s most prestigious law firms, Mitch has clawed success from a career once brought to ruins.

Taking on a case on behalf of a construction firm suing the Libyan government, Mitch travels to Libya, an unexpected turn of events leading to his associate taken hostage by a terrorist group.

As the terrorists’ motives become clear, Mitch finds himself embroiled in a desperate case with global ramifications, as a woman’s life hangs in the balance.

‘The Exchange’ is a legal political thriller by John Grisham, a sequel to his second novel ‘The Firm’. Set fifteen years after the first book, taking place in 2005, the narrative layers legal drama with themes of organised crime and contemporary geopolitics, fused with international intrigue and suspense, in a race against time to thwart a kidnap and ransom plot by a terrorist gang. Now a partner in one of the world’s largest international law firms, with offices in major cities across the globe, Mitch has safely escaped his past, but the stakes are about to be raised higher than ever before.

Travelling to Rome to meet with an aged senior partner in their Roman branch, Mitch agrees to take on a case of one of their clients, a Turkish company, suing the Libyan government, the country at this time under the dictatorship of Colonel Gaddafi, following refusal to pay for work on a lunatic scheme to build a bridge in the middle of the desert. Mitch is also persuaded to take on Luca’s daughter, Giovanna, based in their London branch, as an associate on the case, a decision that will soon haunt him. During their visit to Tripoli, Mitch is taken violently ill; Giovanna proceeding to visit the site of the bridge alone, she and their security kidnapped en route.

Interlaced with the main plot is the story of Mitch and Abby’s life since the conclusion of the first novel; how they spent time staying under the radar and Mitch later joining his present firm. Early in the novel, Mitch must return to Memphis for the first time since they left to examine a death row case. It is clear that this time of his life and the avenue he pursued to escape continue to haunt him; briefly, he reunites with a former colleague from the firm he brought to its knees, this meeting offering some closure on his past, while the question also lingers as to what became of the mob money.

Grisham delivers a taught, suspenseful novel, a high-stakes race against time that spreads across half the globe from the US to Libya, with stops in Rome, Geneva and London along the way. The terrorists are relentless and determined, brutally murdering Giovanna’s fellow captors, requesting a ransom that may be impossible to raise. The international litigation and covert negotiations expose how fractious the relationship between western nations and Gaddafi’s regime, and critically how the US and UK’s refusal to negotiate with terrorists endangers Giovanna’s small chance of survival.

A riveting, fast-paced thriller, ‘The Exchange’ is a globe-trotting, action-packed escapade, a gripping follow-up to ‘The Firm’, approached from an entirely different angle, moral dilemmas leading Mitch to once again face a crucial decision about the future direction of his life. I hope we will one day return to Mitch and Abby for a third book!



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