Sean Swindler

This is possibly my least favorite Grisham book. And my favorite is The Firm. Ignore the link to The Firm - the book itself is horribly paced, the first half is basically an SNL skit with someone coming into a conference room and saying "no news yet". You could lose half and turn this into an OK short story. But... ... the fact that this is Mitch McDeere had almost no bearing on the story. I was expecting there to be a "the terrorists don't know who they're messing with" scene in the end at least, where Mitch, because of his mob money laundering experience and ability to look over his shoulder, pulls the same fast one on the terrorists he pulled on the mob. None of that happens. I thought after he meets with Lamar, he'd somehow end up involving him in the scheme, I thought Abby would outsmart her terrorist contacts... I thought Mitch would end up with the small law office in Italy at the end... Here is a better plot - I'd warn of spoilers but I ain't spoiling anything if you don't read this... Mitch is practicing law again, and uses his expertise (like Frank Abignale) to advise corporate law clients and handle tricky situations.. like a kidnapping wire transfer... Abby ends up involved against her will, and it causes tension because the one rule they had when Mitch chose to go back to practicing, is it can't endanger her or their kids. Mitch devises a scheme to box in and out smart the terrorist kidnappers, and as soon as the money lands in their account and they have the the woman who was kidnapped, it disappears... maybe he exposes that Lannack (the construction firm) set this all up to begin with to force Libya's hand... through Mitch's skill and knowledge of how mobsters and terrorists operate... That would have been fascinating and would have made for an interesting series of future books. or... Mitch is exposed in the press when his photo and name appears... and that triggers alarm bells with the mob guys, who see an opportunity to whack him... so enter the mob guys tracking Mitch and Abby along with the terrorists... so many possibilities... it is disappointing. The short-lived NBC series was better than this.