The Associate by John Grisham

From the book jacket . . .
"If you thought Mitch McDeere was in trouble in The Firm, wait until you meet Kyle McAvoy, THE ASSOCIATE.

From that one sentence I hoped we be returned to the John Grisham legal novels of old, like The Firm or The Pelican Brief. I have been a tad disappointed in his most recent legal offerings, The Appeal, The Broker, probably as far back as The Brethren (although maybe that one is okay and I'm confusing it with a Stuart Woods novel that had a similar idea). I felt like Grisham would rather be writing the other things, Skipping Christmas, The Painted House, Bleachers, Playing for Pizza - all of which I loved, and was writing the legal thrillers only to fulfill a contract or something.

The Associate has a story that could have been up there with The Firm and others, but it was a bit slow to get started and when I finally felt like it was about to get exciting, the story fizzled. It ended too easily, too cleanly with no real payoff.

Now again, I'm asking myself if I'm giving credit were maybe none is due. Because really, if I think of The Firm of The Pelican Brief, I think of the movies. So maybe the books wouldn't not stand up to my memory up them. I will have to reread a few of them. I 'll let you know what I discover.