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    The Associate: A Novel
    Unavailable
    The Associate: A Novel
    Unavailable
    The Associate: A Novel
    Audiobook10 hours

    The Associate: A Novel

    Written by John Grisham

    Narrated by Erik Singer

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    The newest legal thriller from bestselling author John Grisham-expect high demand in all formats!

    Following the enormous success of The Appeal, his first legal thriller in several years, John Grisham's latest courtroom drama is sure to thrill his millions of fans. The author of twenty international bestsellers, John Grisham has consistently won critical and commercial acclaim since the publication of his debut novel, A Time to Kill, in 1988. The publication of The Appeal, "his savviest book in years," (New York Times) proved that Grisham remains at the top of his game when it comes to delivering masterful plotting and gripping suspense.

    "John Grisham may well be the best American storyteller writing today."-The Philadelphia Inquirer


    From the Compact Disc edition.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateJan 27, 2009
    ISBN9780739333051
    Unavailable
    The Associate: A Novel

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    Reviews for The Associate

    3.5/5

    946 ratings64 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Five years ago, as undergrad students, Kyle and his fraternity brothers participated in behavior that was inappropriate. They all had fairly good success in forgetting about the event, until Kyle was forced to take a particular, unwanted offer at a law firm upon his graduation. He was forced by blackmail.I have liked every Grisham book I have read. Yes, some are better than others, but I always enjoy the familiarity of his easy, but interesting law-based books. This one kept with the tradition. The characters were authentic and I believed the story line. Not only that, I was always eager to get back to it and when I did, it consistently took hold of me. (4/5)Originally posted on: "Thoughts of Joy..."
    • 2/5
      A good build-up and an intriguing blackmail scenario, but I was disappointed by the ending which seemed very unsatisfactory (although, as some have commented below, true to life!) I have read better JG novels than this one...
    • 3/5
      Kyle McAvoy planned to do legal-aid type work or perhaps join his father in a small private practice. Instead, he finds himself blackmailed into taking a job at the largest (or second largest depending on how you look at it) law firm when a video from college surfaces that could potentially incriminate Kyle and up to three other frat brothers.The blackmailer wants information on a big lawsuit. Kyle is caught between a rock and hard place. Refuse and the video may go public--giving the girl involved some ammunition in a potential lawsuit that would not only affect Kyle but others and also might affect any law career Kyle could have. Accept and he's put in an ethical dilemma: if he's caught, he could still lose his law license.Kyle appears to have a good father. He seems caring, both to his son and to his clients. (The father is not brought into the loop on much of this until later in the novel.) The father takes it upon himself to try to make a deal to protect his son and his son's friends in case the video does come to light. Perhaps not the best solution, since he is encouraging the woman to not take it to court by providing a settlement, but it is done through legal channels and deals like that are made all the time, so ...I can see where Kyle got his desire to help others by using his legal knowledge and education. I can also see where he got his sense of ethics. A friend recently told me that she'd heard Grisham is a Christian but that she wasn't sure it showed so much in his writing. There was some of a Christian belief system shown in the Father who helped Baxter at the halfway house in this book.
    • 2/5
      Not the ending I was expecting. But that probably makes it more realistic
    • 5/5
      Newly-graduated law student with great potential is blackmailed into accepting a position at a prestigious law firm. Somewhat shaky hold over the supposedly brilliant student to manipulate him. However, a great read and perfect for that long boring wait in airports.
    • 4/5
      This is one of Grisham's better legal thriller books in recent years. I think there is probably just so much an author can do with the legal thriller theme, and most of it has already been done. But, Grisham does manage some surprises with this one. He also leaves enough loose ends that a sequel would not be out of the question. That's unlikely, however, since he has never been known to write one. Nonetheless, the book is a good read for a rainy weekend, and I recommend it.
    • 3/5
      This was a decent story - probably 4 star on the story side - I've read way better and I've read way worse.

      My big gripe was grammar. Does Grisham not have an editor?? The proper modifier for a verb is an adverb. An adverb. Not a noun. Not an adjective.

      There were more than a dozen of these errors in the book and they were like fingernails on a chalkboard.
    • 3/5
      A good read and an eye-opener to the rat race known as the massive law firms and the pressures they face. Disappointed with the ending, could have been a lot better, felt as though I missed something or "Bennie" is a recurring character?
    • 3/5
      Average book. Disappointing, blah ending.
    • 3/5
      This was just OK. It didn't have the tension that early Grisham thrillers have but it is an easy read. And with the high level of stress I and everyone else is under at the moment I just needed something that would distract me whilst being an easy read. For that it was fine.Even if the main character and his friends are actually not that sympathetic and chronically self-justifying.
    • 4/5
      A young lawyer is blackmailed into working in a large law firm to spy. Interesting plot with a less than satisfactory ending - but probably more realistic than what we would like.
    • 4/5
      It was a nice reading. The plot is very well set, also some times I got the feeling it is a bit too far-fetched and it tends to bad guys / good guys thriller. A graduate from a law college is under a blackmail pressure by some dubious persons. Therefore he takes a job as an associate in a big law firm in New York. He feels very uncomfortable with the task to steal confidential documents from his employer. He gets the ability to detect his shadows and all the equipments which were tailing him and he tries to turn over the rules. With the help of his lawyer and different security agencies he was able to send off his persecutors. I have to admit that I miss a proper end because it is still open for which side the blackmailers are working.
    • 3/5
      Thrilling read, solid grishamesque descriptions of Wall Street quirks and absurdities, all very enjoyable, but in terms of plot, not up to the level of the best Grisham. There is great build up, and the concept is really intriguing, but the story never seems to "really take off". The pace is good, it kept my interest high, but it never reaches that special traction that I enjoyed in other Grisham books. Still a very good read.

      I found it funny how Grisham, in order to keep his charchter likeable, needed to make sure that he ended up at the top law irm in the world against his will, while his true desire was to go and help people and make very little money for some years. This way, you get your readers to "like" the main charachter more (because he's not as immoral and soulless as the other associates in the firm!), and at the same you can give them up-close descriptions of the crazy wall street law firm life, that is a big part of what keeps the reader hooked.
    • 3/5
      The Associate by John GrishamI am a big fan of Mr. Grisham. Unfortunately, I am not as big a fan of this book. I think this may be this first of his books which I found to be weak. His style of writing is thrilling and exciting. The story, however not so much. The story was not as believable as previous. I didn't get as consumed and absorbed into the writing as I would normally. As a result, while I would call it dull, I just would not say it kept me hooked.
    • 4/5
      This is one of Grisham's better legal thriller books in recent years. I think there is probably just so much an author can do with the legal thriller theme, and most of it has already been done. But, Grisham does manage some surprises with this one. He also leaves enough loose ends that a sequel would not be out of the question. That's unlikely, however, since he has never been known to write one. Nonetheless, the book is a good read for a rainy weekend, and I recommend it.
    • 3/5
      Ein flott geschriebenes Buch, dem aber ein bißchen "Herzblut" und Tiefgang fehlt. Die Hauptfigur bleibt ein wenig blass und die Story haut einen auch nich um. Um den Urlaub zu überbrücken aber ganz ok.
    • 3/5
      This is another taut, legal drama from former lawyer John Grisham. The plot involves recent Yale Law School graduate Kyle McAvoy, who has been spurning offers from big law firms so he can do legal aid work for migrant workers. Unfortunately, a man named Bennie Wright wants to steal secrets from one of those big firms, and knows something in McAvoy’s past that will kill any career McAvoy has in mind. Wright thus is able to “persuade” McAvoy to join this firm and help him obtain classified military information, which the firm has because of a monumental suit it is litigating. The plot is a little strained; one wonders why someone as bright and altruistic as the hero doesn’t seek the help of a good criminal lawyer, the Justice Department, and the FBI on page 50 rather than on page 300, but it wouldn’t be much of a story if he did. Nonetheless, the book is worth reading to get a flavor (if a bit exaggerated) of the trials and tribulations of young associates in big law firms. Having once been one myself (i.e., a young associate in a big firm in Chicago), I could empathize with Kyle as he struggled with the pressure and temptations of life in the fast lane. Evaluation: Grisham never lets the narrative stall, and although it is not as breathtakingly paced as The Da Vinci Code, this one will keep your attention. (JAB)
    • 3/5
      Like all Grisham thrillers, this is a good page-turner and won't last long on your bedside table. But this one comes disappointingly short compared to his other novels. The characters lack depth, the story is rather straightforward, and the conclusion is entirely, almost depressingly expected. The book is replete with the usual law-firm clichés : ginormous salaries, abusive billing, staggering work hours... so much that the actual intrigue almost becomes a side story at times. Yawn.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this one of Grisham's. Not my absolute favorite, but still a good one. Reminded me of The Client.
    • 1/5
      Kyle is a top notch law student, editor in chief of the law review at Yale, when a sex scandal from his college days is used to blackmail him to go to work in New York for the world's largest law firm. Grisham spends many pages telling of bad practices at the law firm, over-billing, making associates live a dog's lie, etc. It is all exaggerated and totally unsubtle. I found the story exceptionally unexciting at times. At the end there some tension but it totally fizzles out. It is the 20th Grisham book I have read and is without doubt the poorest and least exciting . If any of his books has a weaker ending it does not come to mind. But at least at the end Kyle intends to still practice law--in a two-man firm.
    • 3/5
      As an idealistic law student and editor-in-chief of the Yale Law Journal, Kyle McAvoy has the promise of a highly successful career, although after graduation, he intends to devote three years to public service before applying for employment with a prestigious firm. His plans are derailed when he is approached by two FBI agents (later proved to be bogus) who interogate him and then pass him on to a mysterious man known only as Bennie Wright. Bennie has a videotape of a party that took place in Kyle's apartment five years earlier, when he was an undergraduate student at Duquesne University. In it, two of Kyle's fraternity brothers, Joey Bernardo and Baxter Tate, are seen having sexual relations with Elaine Keenan, a coed who later claimed she was raped while unconscious, a charge seemingly supported by Joey asking Baxter "Is she awake?" on the tape. At the time, the incident was investigated by local police, who determined there had been no assault and declined to take further action. With the tape now in his possession, Bennie threatens to expose Kyle's secret unless he cooperates with him and his associates.Bennie's plan is to have Kyle accept a position at New York City-based Scully & Pershing, the world's largest law firm, which is representing Trylon Aeronautics in its case against Bartin Dynamics. The two defense contractors had joined forces to design the B-10 HyperSonic Bomber for The Pentagon, and when they won the contract over Lockheed, the competitor sought support from senators and lobbyists. Legal battles ensued, and Trylon and Bartin – each laying claim to ownership of the design and technologies developed for the project – are ready to wage battle in court. Kyle will be required to infiltrate Scully & Pershing's files and deliver to Bennie crucial information the people he represents need.His first instinct is to ignore Bennie's blackmail threats and deal with whatever consequences may arise, but the thought of the shame and embarrassment his family will suffer if he is indicted for the incident in his past, not to mention the negative impact on his own future, leads him to agree to Bennie's demands.Constantly under surveillance while outdoors and living in an apartment in which he knows bugs and cameras have been hidden, Kyle slowly learns how to trick those who are trailing him into believing he is unaware of their presence. He seeks help from Joey, who has more to lose than Kyle does if the videotape is made public, and with his old friend as a somewhat unwilling accomplice, plots to outwit his blackmailer. What he doesn't anticipate is the re-emergence of Elaine, who still maintains she was raped, and Baxter, who has completed a lengthy stint in rehab and, as part of his twelve-step program, wants to make amends to the girl he raped. His admission of guilt will give Elaine the proof she needs to file charges, and with Kyle drawn into the spotlight, his position at Scully & Pershing will be jeopardized, a risk Bennie must eliminate by any means. Baxter is found shot dead, with no evidence of the murderer's identity, although Kyle is certain that Bennie ordered it.After working at the law firm's 'boot camp' for some months, as do all new associates, Kyle eventually gets drawn into the Trylon case and is granted access to the highly secure computer room where the confidential information is stored. Bennie and Nigel, a computer expert, force him to use a thumbdrive to download the files, which he does. But by this time, realising that Bennie is nearly always one step ahead of him, Kyle has spoken to Roy Benedict, a criminal lawyer and former FBI operative. He tells Roy the whole story.Roy still has good connections within the FBI, and they set up an operation to catch Bennie as the information is being transferred. But it misfires; Bennie and his associates vanish and remain unidentified and unapprehended.Kyle admits his actions to the firm's partners, and agrees to leave their employ immediately and not practice law in New York for two years. He also voices his belief that one of the firm's partners has acted as a 'mole', passing information to Bennie.Refusing the FBI's offer of witness protection, Kyle goes home to his father, also a lawyer, who knows the whole sorry saga. He plans to became a partner in his father's law firm.
    • 3/5
      Really thought I'd reviewed this. Decent read, ending was lame. Typical Grisham
    • 1/5
      I should have been suspicious when I found it at Target for $4. He spins a pretty good tale...for a while...and then has no idea how to end it. Worst Grisham book I've ever read.
    • 1/5
      The book built up suspense and then left all the ends loose. A complete waste of time.
    • 3/5
      Rather enjoyed it, but was a a bit disappointed in the ending.
    • 2/5
      I couldn't get into this book and I normally love John Grisham.
    • 4/5
      A spontaneous purchase at the airport for some in-flight entertainment this book fulfilled my expectations 100% and in every respect: A suspenseful read from the first to the last page, but very unlikely to stick in my mind for much longer.
    • 4/5
      I'm a huge fan of John Grisham...I've read everything he's written. However, I was apprehensive about reading The Associate, his latest release, since I was so disappointed in his last two books, The Innocent Man and The Appeal.Mr. Grisham has redeemed himself.I really enjoyed The Associate. The plot began twisting and turning right at the beginning and didn't stop until the end. I finished this book in two days...it was so good, I couldn't put it down. It is an intensely suspenseful legal thriller - Grisham's calling card. If you enjoy this genre, or are a fan of Grisham's, you will love this book.
    • 4/5
      Rather better than some of his other recent novels, though still not as good as his earlier ones. Rolls along quite nicely, though the unresolved ending was a bit disappointing.
    • 2/5
      This is a typical John Grisham novel about a young law graduate from Yale who joins a prestigious law firm. He is forced to divulge company secrets because he is blackmailed for some follies he committed in his student days. The novel is fast paced and quite entertaining. Grisham keeps going through the same scenarios in his novels.