The Exchange: After The Firm (The Firm Series)

Description:

About this item:

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • John Grisham delivers high-flying international suspense in a stunning legal thriller that marks the return of Mitch McDeere, the brilliant hero of The Firm.

“A breathtaking update on the McDeeres and the life they made . . . Grisham, in vintage form, ratchets up the suspense in this winning sequel.” —The Wall Street Journal

What became of Mitch and Abby McDeere after they exposed the crimes of Memphis law firm Bendini, Lambert & Locke and fled the country? The answer is found in The Exchange, the riveting sequel to The Firm, the blockbuster thriller that launched the career of America’s favorite storyteller.

It is now fifteen years later, and Mitch and Abby are living in Manhattan, where Mitch is a partner at the largest law firm in the world. When a mentor in Rome asks him for a favor that will take him as far as Istanbul and Tripoli, Mitch finds himself at the center of a sinister plot that has worldwide implications. Once again Mitch’s colleagues, friends, and family are targeted. Mitch is a master at staying one staying one step ahead of his adversaries, but this time there’s nowhere to hide.

Don’t miss John Grisham’s latest novel, Camino Ghosts, and the upcoming Framed, his first work of nonfiction since The Innocent Man!

Review

Praise for The Firm, John Grisham’s iconic legal thriller

“Grisham is an absolute master.”—The Washington Post

“Taut, fast and relentless.”—San Francisco Chronicle

“Keeps the reader hooked . . . From the creepy first chapters . . . to the vise-tightening midsection and on to the take-the-money-and-run finale.”—The Wall Street Journal

“[An] ingenious man-in-the-middle thriller.”—Entertainment Weekly

About the Author

John Grisham is the author of numerous #1 bestsellers, including The Firm, A Time to Kill, The Rainmaker, The Innocent Man, The Whistler, The Boys from Biloxi, and many more. His books have been translated into nearly fifty languages. Grisham is a two-time winner of the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction and was honored with the Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for Fiction. Grisham serves on the board of directors of the Innocence Project and Centurion Ministries, two national organizations dedicated to exonerating those who have been wrongfully convicted. Much of his fiction explores deep-seated problems in our criminal justice system. He lives on a farm in central Virginia.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Chapter 1

On the forty-eighth floor of a glistening tower on the southern tip of Manhattan, Mitch McDeere stood alone in his office and gazed out the window at Battery Park and the busy waters beyond. Boats of all shapes and sizes crisscrossed the harbor. Massive cargo ships laden with containers waited almost motionless. The Staten Island Ferry inched past Ellis Island. A cruise ship packed with tourists headed out to sea. A mega yacht was making a splendid entrance into the city. A brave soul in a fifteen-foot catamaran zigzagged about, dodging everything. A thousand feet above the water no fewer than five helicopters buzzed about like angry hornets. In the far distance, trucks on the Verrazano Bridge stood still, bumper to bumper. Lady Liberty watched it all from her majestic perch. It was a spectacular view that he tried to appreciate at least once each day. Occasionally he succeeded, but most days were too hectic to allow time for such loafing. He was on the clock, his life was ruled by it, just like the hundreds of other lawyers in the building. Scully & Pershing had over two thousand scattered around the world and vainly considered itself to be the premier international firm on the planet. Its New York partners, and Mitch was one, rewarded themselves with larger offices in the heart of the financial district. The firm was now a hundred years old and reeked of prestige, power, and money.

He glanced at his watch and the sightseeing came to an end. A pair of associates knocked and entered for another meeting. They met around a small table as a secretary offered coffee. They declined and she left. Their client was a Finnish shipping company having problems in South Africa. The authorities there had embargoed a freighter packed with electronics from Taiwan. Empty, the ship was worth about a hundred million. Fully loaded, it was worth twice that, and the South Africans were upset over some tariff issues. Mitch had been to Capetown twice in the past year and was not keen to return. After half an hour, he dismissed the associates with a list of instructions, and welcomed another pair.

At 5 p.m. sharp he checked in with his secretary, who was leaving, and walked past the elevators to the stairs. For short rides up and down he avoided the elevators to escape the mindless chitchat of lawyers he knew and didn’t know. He had many friends in the firm, and only a handful of known enemies, and there was always a new wave of fresh associates and eager junior partners with faces and names he was supposed to recognize. Often he did not, nor did he have time to pore over the firm directory and try to memorize them. So many would be gone before he knew their names.

Taking the stairs worked his legs and lungs and always reminded him that he was no longer in college, no longer playing football and intramural basketball and able to do so for hours. He was forty-one and still in decent shape because he watched his diet and skipped lunch at least three times a week while he worked out in the firm’s gym. Another perk for partners only.

He left the stairwell on the forty-second floor and hustled to the office of Willie Backstrom, another partner, but one with the luxury of not billing by the hour. Willie had the enviable position of running the firm’s pro bono programs, and though he kept up with his hours he did not send bills. There was no one to pay them. The lawyers at Scully made plenty of money, especially the partners, and the firm was notorious for its commitment to pro bono work. It volunteered for difficult cases around the world. Every lawyer was required to donate at least 10 percent of his time to various causes, all approved by Willie.

There was an even split down the middle of the firm on the issue of pro bono work. Half the lawyers enjoyed it because it was a welcome break from the stressful grind of representing high-pressure corporate clients. For a few hours a month, a lawyer could represent a real person or a struggling nonprofit and not worry about sending bills and getting paid. The other half paid lip service to the lofty notion of giving back but considered it wasteful. Those 250 hours a year could be better spent making money and improving one’s standing with the various committees that determined who got promoted, who made partner, and who eventually got the boot.

Willie Backstrom kept the peace, which wasn’t really that difficult because no lawyer, regardless of his or her ambition, would ever criticize the firm’s aggressive pro bono programs. Scully even gave annual awards to its lawyers who went beyond the call of duty in service to the less fortunate.

Mitch was currently spending four hours a week working with a homeless shelter in the Bronx and representing clients who were fighting evictions. It was safe, clean office work, which was just what he wanted. Seven months earlier he had watched a death row client in Alabama utter his last words before being executed. He’d spent eight hundred hours over six years trying in vain to save the guy, and watching him die was heartbreaking, the ultimate failure.

Mitch wasn’t sure what Willie wanted, but the fact that he’d been called in was an ominous sign.

Willie was the only lawyer at Scully with a ponytail, and a bad one at that. It was gray and matched his beard, and just a few years before someone higher up would have told him to shave and get a haircut. But the firm was working hard to shed its fossilized image as a white-collar club filled with white men in dark suits. One of its radical changes was the ditching of a dress code. Willie grew hair and whiskers and went about his work in jeans.

Mitch, still in a dark suit but with no tie, sat across the desk as they went through the small talk. Willie finally got around to it with “Say, Mitch, there’s a case down south I want you to take a look at.”

“Please don’t tell me the guy is on death row.”

“The guy is on death row.”

“I can’t do it, Willie. Please. I’ve had two of those in the past five years and both got the needle. My track record is not very good.”

“You did great work, Mitch. No one could have saved those two.”

“I can’t take another one.”

“Will you at least listen?”

Mitch conceded and shrugged. Willie’s fondness for death row cases was legendary and few lawyers at Scully could say no to him. “Okay, I’ll listen.”

“His name is Tad Kearny and he’s got ninety days. A month ago he made the strange decision to fire his lawyers, all of them, and he had quite a team.”

“Sounds crazy.”

“Oh, he is. Off-the-charts crazy, probably legally insane, but Tennessee is pushing hard nonetheless. Ten years ago he shot and killed three undercover narcotics officers in a drug bust that went haywire. Bodies everywhere, total of five died at the scene. Tad almost died, but they managed to save him so they could execute him later.”

Mitch laughed in frustration and said, “And I’m supposed to ride in on a white horse and save the guy? Come on, Willie. Give me something to work with.”

“There’s virtually nothing to work with, except insanity. The problem is that he probably won’t agree to see you.”

“Then why bother?”

“Because we have to try, Mitch, and I think you’re our best bet.”

“I’m still listening.”

“Well, he reminds me a lot of you.”

“Gee thanks.”

“No, seriously. He’s white, your age, and from Dane County, Kentucky.”

For a second Mitch couldn’t respond, then managed to say, “Great. We’re probably cousins.”

“I don’t think so, but his father worked in the coal mines, same as yours. And both died there.”

“My family is off-limits.”

“Sorry. You caught a lucky break and had the brains to get out. Tad did not and before long was involved with drugs, both as a user and a dealer. He and some pals were making a big delivery near Memphis when they were ambushed by narcotics officers. Everybody died but Tad. Looks like his luck has finally run out.”

“No question about his guilt?”

“Certainly not for the jury. The issue is not guilt but insanity. The idea is to have him evaluated by some specialists, our doctors, and file a last-minute Hail Mary. First, though, someone has to go in and talk to the man. Right now he’s not accepting visitors.”

“And you think we’ll bond?”

“It’s a long shot, but why not give it a try?”

Mitch took a deep breath and tried to think of another way out. To pass the time he asked, “Who’s got the case?”

“Well, technically, no one. Tad has become quite the jailhouse lawyer and he filed the necessary papers to terminate his attorneys. Amos Patrick represented him for a long time, one of the best down there. You know Amos?”

“I met him once at a conference. Quite the character.”

“Most death row lawyers are real characters.”

Review:

4.5 out of 5

89.23% of customers are satisfied

5.0 out of 5 stars Authentic, and a great read . . .

S.S. · June 26, 2024

As someone who spent decades practicing law in a Big Law firm, and has some experience with diplomatic matters, I read the book with a view from the inside-out. I found the plot and depiction of characters very (actually surprisingly) authentic. He caught the nuanced subtleties that most would overlook. The ending was a bit abrupt, but I forgive him for that. Grisham's clean, direct, and fast-paced writing style made it a joy to read.

4.0 out of 5 stars Grisham at his (almost) best

C. · December 2, 2023

I always start looking for the next Grisham book six months in advance, and especially this one, to find out what happened to Mitch and Abby. I was disappointed that the book skipped over the interim 15 years since “The Firm” and we find out almost nothing about their lives before they are suddenly hugely successful in New York. How did Mitch become a lawyer again, after sacrificing his law license in “The Firm”? In “The Exchange”, he and Abby are both a little too perfect. No flaws, no weaknesses. Is it really realistic that Abby would fly off to a foreign country to meet with someone from a terrorist organization?I would have liked to know a little more about Ray, who was one of my favorite characters. Couldn’t he have had just a small cameo role?I admire Grisham for pulling off engrossing, fast-paced books without resorting to lurid sex or swear words. But the violence in some of his novels, including this one, is a little off-putting. I prefer a good vintage Grisham courtroom drama. But I read “The Exchange” in two days and hope that Mitch and Abby will be back for Act 3.

3.0 out of 5 stars Well written but simple plot

K.C. · September 25, 2024

The story is well written but the plot is very stright forward. Girl kidnapped. ransom paid.Girl returned. No twists no surprises. Just bunch of attorneys moving funds around pretending that they are heros....

5.0 out of 5 stars Intense legal thriller!

K. · October 10, 2024

John Grisham wrote a great believable thriller. Great characters with depth of character. This was Grisham at his best, well done.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book.

A.C. · October 15, 2024

I love 95% of Grisham's Book. This one as well. Good storyline.

4.0 out of 5 stars The ending is naggingly unsatisfying.

A. · September 8, 2024

The Exchange reintroduces us to lawyer Mitch McDeere from The Firm, which was the first Grisham I ever read, mostly due to the buzz around the 1993 movie starring Tom Cruise. If you read that book, you know it ended with Mitch and his wife Abby going into hiding after he exposed his law firm for its ties to organized crime.Now it’s fifteen years later, and they believe it’s safe to return to the US with their two sons. Mitch has joined a high-powered multinational Manhattan law firm. He is tasked with helping a Turkish construction firm get paid for a huge bridge project in Libya. The case turns into a kidnapping drama.The book is well-written. The tension doesn’t let up until the very end. When you think that things can’t possibly get any worse, they do. Yet the ending is naggingly unsatisfying.Many people die in this book, though **SPOILER ALERT!** the hostage is released relatively unharmed after a multi-million dollar ransom is paid. The kidnappers are never identified except as a terrorist group. The ransom money will undoubtedly fund years of escalating violence. So there is no release of oxytocin that you might experience from a more benevolent resolution.

5.0 out of 5 stars Another great book by Grisham

m.K. · September 30, 2024

Was nice to continue the series. Characters were portrayed as they should have and the story is relevant to our current times. I recommend this book.

2.0 out of 5 stars LET DOWN-but still a fan

D.M.A. · January 19, 2024

I had just finished and thoroughly enjoyed The Boys from Biloxi, from one of Americas best teller of stories. I am a Grisham fan since The Firm. I heard he was going to finally going to tell what happened to Mitch and Abby and immediately bought the Hardcover, The Exchange. It was advertised as a sequel to the Firm, that would reveal what became of Mitch and Abby. The book jumps them forward in time to a life in NYC with Mitch as a partner in the biggest USA law firm and Abby a successful editor of cook books.But the few short pages that gets them were not believable and a disappointment. There is no way the major Mob organization from the Firm would let Mitch walk with ten million of their money. I seriously doubt Mitch would ever be licensed to practice law again or be allowed to live openly and unmolested in London or be hired by a reputable law firm. Abby gets zero character development. This book is not a "sequel" as I understand the term. It is to Grisham's credit that he readily admits to wanting to sell books. This reads to me like a "paint by numbers" cash grab and movie treatment aimed at selling the film rights and tempting Tom Cruise to reprise his roll as Mitch from the Firm movie.It was a mistake for Grisham to attempt to write an international "thriller". I do not think it would have been accepted for publication it if didn't have Grisham's name on it. Simple errors put me off. Like saying Marrakesh is eight hours flight from London.I have flown that route which is about 1,400 miles and takes 3 hours and 20 minuets. And the Bombardier Challenger does not cruise at 40,000 feet. And Muslims do not "run to their mosques" for their 5 times a day prayers. Except for Friday Prayers(their Sunday) they pray where ever they happen to be. It is clear to me that Grisham does not have the experience or knowledge necessary to write convincingly about international terrorism. As a "thriller" it is a failure.

O retorno de Mitch McDeere

C.B. · September 14, 2024

Depois de The Firm, Mitch McDeere retorna em aventura eletrizante. John Grisham com sua habitual habilidade de entretenimento.

As usual Grisham is a master of his craft.

O.R.B. · March 20, 2024

A good read, although I found the plot a bit untidy. Not my favourite Grisham, but then YMMV.

The Exchange

M.C. · November 15, 2023

El Sr Grisham nunca defrauda, tiene una mente maravillosa y hace disfrutar al lector enormemente. He leido varios libros de él e invariablemente me deja pensando en frases, diàlogos, sitios. Le deseo mucho éxito y bendiciones.

Wonderful read.

H. · August 29, 2024

Twists and turns good. I did feel the hostage story had some weak spots and the information about the hostage takers was not clear. Overall though a great read and a good introduction to John Grisham

great

T.f.b. · August 15, 2024

Really enjoyed this book the air miles were something else hope we will see Mich and Abby again some time in the near future

Visit the Doubleday Store

The Exchange: After The Firm (The Firm Series)

Name: The Exchange: After The Firm (The Firm Series)
Brand: Doubleday
SKU: U0385548958
Price: 7.75 BHD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4 (13 reviews)

^BHD7⁷⁴⁹

Quantity:

Order today to get by

Free delivery on orders over BHD 20

Return and refund policies

Product origin: United States

Electrical items shipped from the US are by default considered to be 120v, unless stated otherwise in the product description. Contact Bolo support for voltage information of specific products. A step-up transformer is required to convert from 120v to 240v. All heating electrical items of 120v will be automatically cancelled.

All product information listed on the site are from 3rd party sources, including images and reviews. bolo.bh is not liable for any claims or promotions mentioned on the product description or images with textual content. For detailed product information, please contact the manufacturer or Bolo support by logging into your account. Unless stated otherwise during checkout, all import taxes and duty are included in the price mentioned on the product page. bolo.bh follows the rules and regulations of sale in Bahrain and will cancel items in an order that are illegal for sale in Bahrain. We take all the necessary steps to ensure only products for sale in Bahrain are displayed. Product stock and delivery estimate may change with the seller even after placing the order. All items are shipped by air and items marked “Dangerous Goods (DG)” by the IATA will be cancelled from orders. We strive to process your order as soon as it is finalized.

Similar items from “Thrillers & Suspense”

Books

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Thrillers & Suspense

Description:

Editorial Reviews

Review

About the Author

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Review:

The Exchange: After The Firm (The Firm Series)

More from this brand

Similar items from “Thrillers & Suspense”

Description:

Editorial Reviews

Review

About the Author

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Review:

The Exchange: After The Firm (The Firm Series)

Shipping Policies

Voltage Disclaimer

Product Disclaimer

More from this brand

Similar items from “Thrillers & Suspense”