The Partner by John Grisham

As the book opens, a group of private investigators in Brazil kidnaps an American named Patrick Lanigan, a former Biloxi, Miss., lawyer who stole $90 million from his firm, and avoided capture for more than four years. Patrick changed his looks and didn t live that opulent life style of a millionaire as they thought he would be.

By the time the F.B.I found out that private investigator had caught Patrick, he was half-dead, there was no mercy on him. Patrick s body had burns all over where they tortured him. After the F.B.I frightened Jack to put in jail if he won t bring him Patrick in whole peace tortures stopped and Patrick was moved from Brazil to a hospital in America for a full recovery.

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Patrick has allegedly faked his own death in a car accident, and watched his own funeral from a distant tree. He then altered his appearance by losing 50 pounds, having plastic surgery and changed his name to Danilo Silva.

Patrick's family and colleagues reacted differently as they notified that he was alive. His widow wife who lived very happy after she collected money from Life Insurance and inheritance that Patrick left for her. She bought a beautiful house, a new car, and lived with her lover Lance. They were so scared that now their new life in jeopardy that they began to plane Patrick s murder. Patrick's greedy law partners, still practicing though officially bankrupt because of his theft, are ecstatic because they may yet retrieve a good part of the $90 million he stole.

People didn t waist their time and while Patrick was recovering he managed to get himself indicted for capital murder, sued for divorce, stolen money, plus punitive damages, sued for thirty million by his old law firm buddies, sued by Insurance company, plus another ten million in punitive for good measure.

Patrick opened up to his lawyer and law school friend Sandy McDermott and to another old friend, Karl Huskey, now a judge. He also made a new friend one of his nurses to whom he paid for taking pictures of his burst body.

Patrick had an associate: Eva Miranda, a lawyer in Rio who's been moving Patrick's $90 million through an international assortment of banks only she can identify. Following the elaborate plan Patrick worked out years before, Eva vanishes the moment of his kidnapping so that even he, under torture, couldn t tell the bad guys where she or the money might be. He does, however, reveal Eva's existence and role in the scheme, which means that Stephano and the FBI are now after her, not him.

The climax of the story comes when Patrick who was acquitted of all crimes in exchange of returning all the money finally becomes a free man. However when, he tries to locate Eva and start their knew lives together he learns that she has disappeared with everything he owned. Patrick went through hardship of fake identity, cutting out all his contacts with people he lived all his live, went through torture, abuse, pain, and fear; all for the sake of quite life with a person he loved, but it all disappeared in front of his eyes.

What ideas is the author trying to make?

The author tries to explore the issues that people deal with on daily basis; the good and the bad. Through out the book we read about the characters and experience their behavior and deeds to determine who is really good and who is automatically bad. In addition, John Grisham touches on the issue of justifying stealing. From the story we learn that such issues exists not just among crooks, but also among simple people who see money as the way of changing their lives. These people are willing to take drastic actions in order to achieve their goal.

At the beginning of the book the author shows seemingly bad characters the partners of the law firm where Patrick used to work. These people were able to get their hands on the big settlement and as a result were behaving very unethically by showing their superiority to other lawyers and people in the city. On the other hand, we see Patrick who also was a partner in the firm, but was caught out of the deal. He is shown as a moral man, who also hates behavior and the life style of his colleagues.

However, all of the sudden things change. The partners are now the victims; their lives, reputation, and livelihood destroyed. Whereas Patrick, who is now a criminal for stealing the money is still regarded as a positive figure. This reinforces the idea that there is more to good and bad than people s actions. There are other circumstances involved and only by looking at each situation from all perspectives, can one reach a conclusion. This is an important idea because it contradicts the common practice of judging people solely by their actions.

Another idea that author deals with is that people who commit crimes maybe able to justify them. Patrick s character justifies two issues; the first is the theft, and the second is his faked death. He reasons that stealing wasn t a crime because Patrick s partners didn t really deserve it, and that the money belonged to whoever got it first. Justifying faking his own death Patrick rationalized that his wife would be better off with the money from the life insures than left with nothing after his disappearance. These ideas are very real because people always try to justify their actions despite to their consequences.

Why did you like or dislike this book?

I truly enjoyed reading this book. I had a hard time putting it down. It has an unusual twist ending, which was so unexpected. However, I was a little bit disappointed with it.

First, I couldn t help but compare this book with John Grisham s previous novels. In contrast with his previous legal thrillers, which usually set in the courtroom; The Partner is set just about everywhere else. I also felt the boob was lacking Grisham s famous courtroom dramas and a character of an ambitious lawyer.

Grisham is very good at developing a story and making it rich with other little sub-stories. This book deals with lawyers, bad marriages, and the value of good friendship in a cruel and lonely world. We also sense a great deal of crookedness but the book does not really discuss it. I liked that the author did not really go deep into a social problem of the character. Here you appreciate Grisham as the book reads itself. You do not have to make any effort. He brings a lot of characters into the picture but you never lose your concentration. He stays shallow and does not go into deep maintaining a wide array of personalities and little related stories attached to his hero. The characters are rather forgettable but the plot is a survival tale so rich that it stays with you for a while.

I was impressed with this book even though it's a departure from the usual Grisham fare and I hope he decides to write a sequel to explain the maddening ending.

Why did you read this book?

I read this book because John Grisham is one of my favorite authors, and I am trying to read all his books. When I read on the back of the book, I thought right away that I had to read it.

The reason I like John Grisham is because he writes very thrilling books. John Grisham has an ability to capture the reader into a net full of mysteries, which always keep me on edge. I read John Grisham s biography, and I know that he used to be a lawyer before he became a writer. I think his experience makes his books very realistic and even educational. In addition I like John Grisham s books because his style makes him unique and very enjoyable to read.

Characters

Patrick Lenigan is the main character of the story. The entire plot revolves around him.

At the beginning of the book the author presents Patrick as a negative character. He is a thief, a criminal but gradually he became a victim.

During course of the book we learn that Patrick and Danilo are the same person. Danilo was a Brazilian who lived in a small town called Ponta Pora and as we know packed ninety million dollars. He was happy but at the same time lived in fear that one day he would be caught. In contrast Patricks character was desperately searching for happiness.

Jake Stephano was a former Chicago detective with two degrees in criminology. He was a former high-priced bounty hunter, expert marksman, and a self-taught master of search and espionage. He owned a shady D.C. firm, which apparently charged huge fees to locate missing people. Jake Stephano was responsible for finding Patrick, torturing him, and handing him over to the FBI.

Eva Miranda was 31 years old Brazilian lawyer who associated in Rio law firm. Eva was Danilos friend and a lover. Through out the book Eva keeps contact with Patrick and helps him to handle his financial situation as well as to stay out of the jail. Eva s character appears as very strong woman, who can go through a lot for someone she really cares about. But like all human beans she had limits and was scared. At the end after all she has been through we see that the idea of having all the money to her self prevailed.

Sandy was Patrick s friend since the College days, and even though they worked in different places, they kept in touch. After Patrick s disappearance Sandy was very supportive and even helped to his wife to rehabilitate. After Sandy learned that Patrick was a live, he wasn t critical of his behavior and even agreed to represent him as his lawyer in courtroom.

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