The Exchange

Spoilers!

It was fun to be back in the world of John Grisham.  That familiar, highly readable style that makes even the most complex of plotting and legalese palatable. Snappy, often playful dialogue. Wry observations. Similar in some ways to Law & Order.  Complicated scenarios made clear and entertaining enough for all us non-lawyers.  Grisham became a household name in 1991 with The Firm, truly a can't-put-it-down thriller about a just out of school attorney who discovers, yep, all those perks his new firm is offering are too good to be true.  That everything has a price.  It became a bestseller that led to a popular movie with Tom Cruise in the lead. The first of many filmed Grisham adaptations.

In the Author's Note following the conclusion of 2023's The Exchange, Grisham notes that over the years readers wrote to ask him if they would ever see Mitch and Abby McDeere again.  That amiable small town couple from The Firm who found themselves tangled with the FBI and running from the Mob.  If you are unfamiliar with the story, be aware that I am going reveal its outcome and aftermath as I discuss this new novel. 

When I learned of The Exchange's existence I wondered how the author would explain how Mitch got away from the network of mafiosos who owned Bendini, Lambert, & Locke after he ratted them out to the Feds.  Grisham doesn't really provide a plausible explanation but I guess it doesn't really matter.  Yet how is it Mitch, now in New York City and a partner at Scully & Pershing, the largest law firm in the world, isn't discovered by vengeful goombahs, even fifteen years later.  Even if everyone was incarcerated, wouldn't there be outside contacts at the ready to put a cap in McDeere's ass? As I said.....

We learn a good deal about S & P, its personnel, its locations around the globe.  Luca is partner at the branch in Italy and Mitch's old mentor.  He is also dying of pancreatic cancer.  There's a big case involving a client, a Turkish construction company that was commissioned by the Libyan government to build a bridge in the desert. Yes.  The Great Gaddafi Bridge.  Luca wishes to hand off the case to his friend, who will work with Luca's daughter Giovanna, another lawyer at Scully.  During a trip to Libya, Mitch is felled by food poisoning and Giovanna is kidnapped by Libyan terrorists.  The sort who make videos of the slaughter of their abducted and post it online.  They will eventually demand a ransom of one-hundred million for her return.  

Most of The Exchange is concerned with how such an outrageous sum will be raised.  The partners in NYC are very reluctant, even if their outlay is insured, after all.  Government officials in London and elsewhere, on paper at least, don't cave to ransom demands.  The suspense here is mild, ramped up a bit when Abby is summoned to Morocco to meet a go-between, ostensibly with the full ransom.  The breakneck pace of the earlier novel is not to be found, but this is still a brisk, enjoyable read. 

Some have been disappointed with Grisham's updates to the events in The Firm.  I felt the history was sufficiently referenced, namely during Mitch's bittersweet (mostly surprisingly and realistically bitter) reunion with his old law school buddy and later co-worker at BL & L, Lamar Quinn.  Outside of Memphis.  Mitch will also, late in the novel, find himself back in Grand Cayman.  Some poignant moments, here.