THE ASSOCIATE by John Grisham
John Grisham should be getting better with each book he writes; he isn’t, he’s getting worse. From the superficiality of PLAYING FOR PIZZA to the frustrating message of THE APPEAL, Grisham hasn’t wowed us in quite some time. Now comes his latest novel THE ASSOCIATE and we get a warmed over plot from THE FIRM and little else. Oh John, where did your talent go?
The central focus of THE ASSOCIATE is Kyle McAvoy, a brilliant law student who upon graduation is blackmailed into taking a job with a high powered law firm and spying on them. The reason he succumbs to this blackmail threat is a little nebulous but for the plot’s sake you accept that he does.
>From this point on the book just doesn’t know where to go. It veers into a narrative about one of Kyle’s former roommates and his addiction to alcohol and drugs. This really has nothing to do with the basic plot of the book but Grisham drags it in to add to the pages of the story.
Then there is Dale, a co-worker of Kyle’s at the law firm. There is a hint of a romance with Kyle but nothing that Grisham elaborates on, but then romance has never been Grisham’s strong suit. Dale is a shadow player whose role will probably be expanded in the movie version of the story. Rest assured there will be a movie version. Shia Lebouf is already warming up to play Kyle.
THE ASSOCIATE would not be such a disappointment if Grisham hadn’t so thoroughly entertained and enthralled us in the past. When he was good he was great; now that he is less than that he is terribly disappointing. You read the pages of THE ASSOCIATE hoping against hope he will somehow turn it around and make the story worth reading.
The fatal flaw in THE ASSOICATE is that Grisham paints, make that writes, himself into a corner. He hurls his flimsy plot towards a conclusion that has no answer, or at least no satisfactory answer. The reader is left shaking his/her head in dismay as the ending arrives and just falls apart.
Grisham has enough momentum to push him through another two or three books, but if he doesn’t grab hold of his talent and make it work for him his days as a top ranked author could be numbered.
THE ASSOCIATE is published by Doubleday and Company. It contains 384 pages and sells for $27.95.