The Partner by John Grisham

I read this hot on the heels of Iris Murdock's "The Nice and the Good" and they're as different as fish and fowl. Murdock's an intellectual- uses big words and intriguing insight. Grisham on the other hand is a machine- and in this novel the plot runs like the engine of a Ferrari.
How good he is. From the opening words, "They found him in Ponta Pa..." to the end; "Surely, one day she would find him," the story ticks over without missing a beat. The partner disappears with $90 million, a goodly sum- after faking his death. Through a series of beautifully logical stages, he's found - but the money isn't. Thus the story develops.
Unlike in Murdock's novel, you don't really give a toss about the characters. And by the end, you find yourself to have been singularly unmoved. But the writer's ability leaves you breathless. Grisham, there's his picture on the inside back cove, smart-looking, sassy, knowing-knows how to do it- through all the natural twists and turns of the plot, to the hinted at, but still unexpected denouement.
Raindrops in the hair it's not - reality is never present, But he keeps you reading by unassailable logic. Clever boy, but different by far from Murdock. For what he does- 5/5