This is my sixth John Grisham review although I am sure I have read more of them! The Associate is not the best of the bunch by any means.

Kyle McAvoy is graduating from one the USA's premier law schools and life seems rosy. That is until one night when a man turns up to chat to him and makes him an offer that Kyle can probably not refuse. So he doesn't refuse.

The deal is that Kyle will get a job with a major law firm, against his idea of doing a couple of years' pro bono/cheap work to salve his expensively educated conscience. Whilst he is working there he is to ensure he becomes part of a certain case team. Once he is on the inside of that team, his job is then to steal lots and lots of information.

That's it really: I think you can guess that he gets the job and can probably anticipate whether he steals any information.

Why they singled out Kyle and why he feels obliged to work for these people is not so obvious so you'll have to read the book to find out where their stranglehold came from.

The people Kyle gets mixed up with seem to be all powerful and persistent: they have access to all sorts of resources but by and large they don't turn up in any police, FBI, CIA or kindred databases ...

The story pans out in true Grisham style but I was left with a feeling of a fair amount of padding in this story that I have not felt has been such a hallmark of previous books. There is also some incredulity in the story too but since that might be just my own impression I won't potentially ruin your own enjoyment of this book by telling you what I am thinking here.

Overall, a reasonable book to read on a journey where you might be distracted from time to time and when that doesn't matter! Not up to Grisham's higher standards.

Duncan Williamson
17^th August 2009