Associate [Paperback]

Phillip Margolin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 5, 2002

Daniel Ames is a rising star in one of Portland's most prestigious law firms, however the lack of a silver spoon in his background makes him uncomfortable amongst his professional peers. He believes he has something to prove, so he is easily persuaded to take on the most tedious and least rewarding tasks. One of them is to swiftly evaluate a batch of documents a pharmaceutical company has to provide to prove they have properly tested a drug which is now being cited as the cause of babies being born deformed. However when the documents are turned over to the lawyer acting for the parents of the deformed children, papers are discovered which seem to prove that the company's original research had thrown up some adverse results. Daniel is fired for missing these papers and it looks as though his legal career is at an end. But he knows those papers were not present when he was assessing the whole file, so who is rigging the evidence? Determined to see justice done to the damaged children as well as to his own future, Daniel delves deeper into the murky netherworld of malpractice suits and discovers there is no limit to the determined greed of the compensation vultures.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Daniel Ames, a blue-collar associate at a preppy, white-shoe law firm, gets snookered by a pretty colleague into reviewing thousands of pages of documents. The client, a pharmaceutical company, is charged with falsifying test results on a new drug that appears to cause horrendous birth defects. Daniel is sure the company didn't do it, but among all the documents he overlooks a letter that could destroy his client's defense. The opposing counsel gets hold of it, and the next thing you know, Daniel's smack in the middle of a murder as well as the attendant legal fraud and chicanery. Who else, besides its manufacturer, wants the truth about the drug trials covered up? Whose body, charred almost beyond recognition, was found in the lab along with a score of dead test monkeys? And what's the connection between a double kidnapping and murder that happened years ago in Arizona and the headline-grabbing lawyer that's trying to pin the blame on Daniel's client for the drug's terrible effects?

Phillip Margolin, author of seven previous bestsellers (including Wild Justice), is clearly venturing into John Grisham territory here. Although he rarely probes beneath the surface of his central characters, he spins an electrifying yarn in this provocative thriller. --Jane Adams --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Another year, another young-attorney-in-peril story from Margolin (Wild Justice). This time, the attorney is Daniel Ames, an earnest, pink-cheeked associate at Portland's most prestigious law firm. Ames gets fired for a paperwork blunder that may force the firm's biggest client out of business. The client, Geller Pharmaceuticals, is being sued for its diabetes drug Insufort, which is believed to cause severe birth defects, much like thalidomide in the 1950s. Set up to take the fall by another lawyer in his firm, Ames mistakenly gives the plaintiff's attorney the results of a secret medical study documenting Insufort's shortcomings. Ames, however, suspects the story is a fake. To get his job back, he knows he has to prove that not only he, but also Geller Pharmaceuticals, has been scapegoated and hung out to dry. But who would do such a thing? The likely suspect is rich-but-sleazy attorney Aaron Flynn, who filed the lawsuit against Geller and has a history of backhanded tactics. Aided by legal investigator and love interest Kate Ross, Ames traces the case's roots back to a mysterious murder and disappearance in the Arizona desert nearly a decade earlier. Margolin's writing for the most part is unremarkable, his plot won't stand up to serious scrutiny and his characters engage only on a surface level. Yet the author of seven previous handsomely selling thrillers deserves credit. While his latest is eminently forgettable, the whole package light intrigue, good-looking, wealthy people under stress, a couple of ghoulish murders and a scattering of clever plot twists is undeniably entertaining and enjoyable if you don't think about it too hard. Major ad/promo; 25-city national radio campaign; 12-city author tour.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Time Warner Paperbacks (September 5, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0751532436
• ISBN-13: 978-0751532432
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (59 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,781,275 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Roller Coaster of a Ride to Nowhere....., September 30, 2001

By 

Roz Levine - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Associate (Hardcover)

Reed, Briggs, Stephens, Stottlemeyer and Compton is the largest and most prestigious law firm in Portland, Oregon and Daniel Ames, young, up and coming associate, still can't quite believe his good fortune of working there. But when Reed Briggs' biggest client, Geller Pharmaceuticals, is sued for manufacturing a pregnancy drug that causes horrible birth defects and opposing attorney, Aaron Flynn, finds evidence, during discovery, that Geller is hiding studies that prove it was aware of the problem, Daniel finds himself to be the company scapegoat, blamed for incompetence and fired. Within hours, senior partner, Arthur Briggs, is murdered and Daniel is arrested. Now, as murder and mayhem ensue, Daniel is determined to sort out this mess and get to the truth and he finds that his life may depend upon it..... Phillip Margolin is back with a readable, fast paced thriller, but this is also a book with problems. The plot, though compelling at times, is more complicated than intricate and the convoluted storyline jumps around so much, it's confusing. I found myself constantly flipping back and forth to keep track of who's who and what's what. His characters have little depth and less motivation and you never really get inside their heads. Add to that, an ending that leaves too many loose ends and unanswered questions and you have the makings of an unsatisfying novel that leaves the reader feeling cheated. Phillip Margolin has written some great thrillers, Gone But Not Forgotten and Wild Justice, being among his best, but not this time out. Do yourself a favor and skip The Associate.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Never Develops...., September 9, 2001

By 

John R. Linnell (New Gloucester, ME United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Associate (Hardcover)

Philip Margolin is one of my favorite writers, but he must have been fulfilling a contract with a time requirement on this one. The plot is interesting though overly convoluted and the characters are basically one dimensional. We have the non-ivy league associate in a major big city law firm, the attractive former cop/investigator for the firm who first befriends and then falls for our "hero", the highly succesful plainiff's lawyer who has filed suit against a pharmacutical company represented by the firm, a venal top litigator for the firm who sets out to make our hero's life a living hell for failing to spot a damaging document during a review of their response to a document request, we have the hero's best male friend in the law firm who never loses faith in him, we have the good cop/bad cop investigating team for the local police force and we have a whole other story within a story that takes place earlier in time and which provides an improbable link the the main tale. You do keep turning the pages because the writing is straight forward and you kind of wonder who all of the bad guys are. With several chapters to go you have it figured out and the book finally just ends. That was the best part.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Gone and Forgotten, August 22, 2001

By 

Seattle reader "dunneguy" (Seattle) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Associate (Hardcover)

Margolin's latest effort is a far cry from the giants such as After Dark and Gone, But Not Forgotten. The book premise is ludicrous and does not get started. The book's plot development holds no suspense and is by far the worst of all his efforts. Usually, his books are the highlight of my summerr reading activity but this fails to generate any excitement. I wish they would find the real Philip Margolin because he certainly did not write this book. Oh!! How the mighty have fallen. This book is about 300 pages too long. Once you get past the copyright page, it is all downhill from there. This book should be Gone and Forgetten. I strongly recommend that you do not "Associate" yourself with this novel and wait for his next effort. Please may the real Margolin come back and replace this imposter.