The Firm

By John Grisham

Book Overview

#1 WORLDWIDE BESTSELLER - The iconic legal thriller that launched the career of America's favorite storyteller, hailed as "an absolute master" (The Washington Post)

" An] ingenious man-in-the-middle thriller."--Entertainment Weekly

Mitch McDeere has worked hard to get where he is: third in his class at Harvard Law. Aggressively recruited by all the top firms, and initially headed for Wall Street, Mitch surprises everyone by joining Bendini, Lambert & Locke, a very private, very rich tax firm in Memphis. Mitch and his wife, Abby, move to Tennessee and quickly settle into their new life: they're young, happy, and on the fast track. Or so they think.

Soon, though, Mitch senses trouble: two of the partners die in a suspicious diving accident off Grand Cayman; the firm's management is overly proud of the fact that no one has ever resigned; and security measures at the firm, even for a company with billionaire clients, are more than a little stringent. Then, suddenly, Mitch's vague suspicions come to life.

The FBI has the lowdown on Mitch's firm and needs his help. Now Mitch is caught between a rock and a hard place. The FBI will bust him if he doesn't cooperate, and the firm will kill him if he does. There's no way out.

Or is there?

The story continues in The Exchange, the "breathtaking" (The Wall Street Journal) sequel to The Firm

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385416342
• ISBN13: 9780385416344
• Release Date: February 1991
• Publisher: Doubleday Books
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 1.34 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

A Classic for a Reason

Many people will first think of the classic movie with Tom Cruise and Gene Hackman when they think of The Firm, but the book, as is often the case, was significantly better. The book starts with a young Harvard Law grad interviewing for his first job at a law firm and, after years of grueling poverty, he gets snagged in by an enticing though strangely selective law firm in Memphis. Fancy cars, a new house, paid-off student loans, and a fantastic salary all reel in this optimistic new attorney. And it’s all played off as so very believable despite what we know must be too good to be true. Lots of intrigue, fun characters, and enthralling twists and turns had me flipping pages like I couldn’t believe. Despite the book’s age and dated cultural references (pay phones and tape recorders sadly age the story to a pre-2000’s era), the plot holds up extremely well. Definitely recommended for anyone that wants a little political or office intrigue story. It takes a while to build up and I held the book off for a week or so after losing some interest, but once the story picks up it’s a formidable page-turner. Highly recommended for fiction lovers.