They watched Danilo Silva for days before they finally grabbed him. He was living alone, a quiet life on a shady street in Brazil; a simple life in a modest home, certainly not one of luxury. Certainly no evidence of the fortune they thought he had stolen. He was much thinner and his face had been altered. He spoke a different language, and spoke it very well.But Danilo had a past with many chapters. Four years earlier he had been Patrick Lanigan, a young partner in a prominent Biloxi law firm. He had a pretty wife, a new daughter, and a bright future. Then one cold winter night Patrick was trapped in a burning car and died a horrible death. When he was buried his casket held nothing more than his ashes.From a short distance away, Patrick watched his own burial. Then he fled. Six weeks later, a fortune was stolen from his ex-law firm's offshore account. And Patrick fled some more.But they found him.
Literary slugger John Grisham returns with a story about-- surprise!--a lawyer in trouble. Patrick Lanigan had been a young partner in a prominent Southern law firm. He had a beautiful wife, a new baby girl, and a bright future. Then one winter night Patrick was trapped in a burning car; the casket they buried held nothing but ashes.
A short distance away, Patrick watched his own burial then fled. A fortune was stolen from his ex-firm's offshore account. And Patrick ran, covering his tracks the whole way.
But, now, they've found him.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
Long before his name became synonymous with the modern legal thriller, John Grisham was working 60-70 hours a week at a small Southaven, Mississippi law practice, squeezing in time before going to the office and during courtroom recesses to work on his hobby--writing his first novel. Born on February 8, 1955 in Jonesboro, Arkansas, to a construction worker and a homemaker, John Grisham as a child dreamed of being a professional baseball player. Realizing he didn't have the right stuff for a pro career, he shifted gears and majored in accounting at Mississippi State University. After graduating from law school at Ole Miss in 1981, he went on to practice law for nearly a decade in Southaven, specializing in criminal defense and personal injury litigation. One day at the DeSoto County courthouse, Grisham overheard the harrowing testimony of a twelve-year-old rape victim and was inspired to start a novel exploring what would have happened if the girl's father had murdered her assailants. Getting up at 5 a.m. every day to get in several hours of writing time before heading off to work, Grisham spent three years on A Time to Kill and finished it in 1987. Initially rejected by many publishers, it was eventually bought by Wynwood Press, who gave it a modest 5,000 copy printing and published it in June 1988.That might have put an end to Grishams hobby. However, he had already begun his next book, and it would quickly turn that hobby into a new full-time career. When he sold the film rights to The Firm to Paramount Pictures for $600,000, Grisham suddenly became a hot property among publishers, and book rights were bought by Doubleday. Spending 47 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list, The Firm became the bestselling novel of 1991.The successes of The Pelican Brief, which hit number one on the New York Times bestseller list, and The Client, which debuted at number one, confirmed Grisham's reputation as the master of the legal thriller. Grisham's success even renewed interest in A Time to Kill, which was republished in hardcover by Doubleday and then in paperback by Dell. This time around, it was a bestseller. Since first publishing A Time to Kill in 1988, Grisham has written one novel a year (his other books are The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, The Chamber, The Rainmaker, The Runaway Jury, The Partner, The Street Lawyer, The Testament, The Brethren, A Painted House, Skipping Christmas, The Summons, The King of Torts, Bleachers, The Last Juror, The Broker, Playing for Pizza, and The Appeal) and all of them have become international bestsellers. There are currently over 225 million John Grisham books in print worldwide, which have been translated into 29 languages. Nine of his novels have been turned into films (The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, A Time to Kill, The Rainmaker, The Chamber, A Painted House, The Runaway Jury, and Skipping Christmas), as was an original screenplay, The Gingerbread Man.
I don't know how The Partner by John Grisham has escaped me for so long as this is one of his earlier books. It has the action packed, conspiracy laden plot that we have come to expect from him. I read this 480 page book in less than 24 hours. While it was entertaining and suspenseful, I knew it was impossible for one character to have everything figured out.
Patrick Lanigan is a partner in a law firm in Biloxi Mississippi when he is killed in a fiery car crash. He is burned beyond recognition, and his remains are cremated and then buried. But when several weeks later, 90 million dollars goes missing from his law firm, Patrick becomes the chief suspect. Four and a half years later, Patrick is discovered living in Brazil, and is captured and tortured by some disreputable characters who are working on behalf of the companies that were bilked of their millions, including two insurance companies. Patrick does have the money, although he doesn't know the exact location of it. But he also knows a terribly powerful secret that can bring many people crashing down if the information was to be made public. The Partner becomes a literary game of chess as Patrick uses this information while bargaining with the FBI, the Justice Department and Harrison County Law Enforcement.
But while The Partner is entertaining, it is totally unbelievable. First, Lanihan has managed the almost perfect crime, and there are just too many coincidences to be realistic. He becomes an expert at disappearing, becomes proficient in a new language, masters electronic surveillance, tackles offshore banking, learns to hide money, creates gasoline bombs, and a host of other skills. I'm not sure that Lanigan was even likable, and when the book ended with a shocker, I wasn't sure if I was glad or sad for Patrick. In fact, there weren't a whole lot of likable characters in The Partner, except for maybe Sandy McDermott, who was Lanigan's college friend and served as his lawyer.
So if you're looking for something with lots of action and some twists and turns, The Partner is vintage Grisham. But don't expect it to be believable. It's more a light, summer beach book than a work of great literature.
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Patrick Lanigan was a young lawyer who had recently become a partner in a propsperous law firm. Feeling a sense of hopelessness in his life, he plotted for months on how he would disappear and start a new life in a foreign country. He learned about a scheme in which his law firm would earn $90 million dollars for their client. Patrick obtained a new identity and stole the money. He started a new life in Brazil with a beautiful young woman, but was always looking over his shoulder. Four years later, he was found and tortured. He was brought back to the US and treated at a hospital while under arrest. He took that time to create an impecable defense for himself and eventually all charges were dropped and he went back to Brazil with $30 million dollars to live happily ever after. But he didn't... I would strongly recommend this book to anyone looking for an intriguing story that is a fast read. I loved the character of Patrick Lanigan, with his attention to detail and the remarkable tactics he used to win his case. I did not enjoy the ending, however, because it left you with a sense of disappointment and wonder. It was still an entertaining book that I couldn't wait to finish.
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I thoroughly enjoyed the intricacies and twists in Patrick Lanigan's master plot to rip off his crooked law firm of enough money to be set for life. As someone who had gotten tired of Grisham's plot technique of using a super-powerful all-knowing company or firm who could track our hero to the ends of the earth and ruin in his life, this was a refreshing change. Quite the opposite was true-those seeking Lanigan were perilously close to running out of money for the effort. Also, the painstaking methods for tracking Lanigan's whereabouts were spelled out entirely for the reader, silencing even the most doubtful reader. In many of Grisham's other books, he shirks on the plot-building duties and just tosses out a super-sleuth team that can find anyone anywhere with no explanation.
I enjoyed the non-linear storytelling style: the book opened with Lanigan being found by his pursuers, and then the backstory of how and why he stole the money, and how he hid from his pursuers, is filled in. For most of the book, Lanigan looks like a "bad guy" himself, in fact. It was a nice change-up on the way the plot was laid out.
Many have complained about the end of the book. I enjoyed the journey enough to trust Grisham with the end. I'll leave all readers to make up their own mind about Lanigan's fate.
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