THE EXCHANGE

4 stars out of 5

Well, the ending wasn't a direction I'd have foreseen (nor chosen, for that matter), but getting there was quite a trip in this, the follow-up to the author's super-popular 2010 book The Firm. It was good to see what Mitch McDeere and his wife, Abby, have been up to since they narrowly escaped with their lives after he turned informant against his old law firm and its ties to organized crime.

And that, I suppose, is the biggest issue I have with this book. Somehow, I just can't see powers-that-are looking the other way when they know a man stole, and is hiding, a huge amount of money - even if it once belonged to the mob and the guy who stole it is a hero of sorts. But apparently, $10 million somehow got lost in the shuffle (we all know one hand of the government rarely knows what the other is doing, but still...) I, on the other hand, am not quite so forgiving; the money wasn't Mitch's to keep.

But mine is also not to reason why, and besides, the rest of the story is interesting, timely and held my attention throughout. And this is now, not then; Mitch is a successful and valued partner at the auspicious law firm of Scully & Pershing at the ripe old age of 41. Abby is a senior editor who honchos cookbook creation and publishing, and together they have twin sons Clark and Carter. Smooth sailing, yes? Well, that's about to change; his boss asks (read: demands) that he go to Rome to see Luca Sandroni, the head of a partner firm. One of Luca's best clients, it seems, is being cheated out of payment for building an ill-fated bridge in Libya and  needs a hot-shot attorney like Mitch to argue the case in front of an arbitration board in Geneva. Mitch was actually looking forward to representing Luca's client, right down to personally visiting the bridge; that went south when Luca's daughter Giovanna - who accompanied Mitch to the bridge - is kidnapped. Subsequently, the kidnappers demand an ungodly sum for her safe return - choosing a reluctant Abby as the go-between.

And that's just the beginning; the rest of the story, of course, deals with trying to find Giovanna [alive] with help from sources who won't be discovered by the kidnappers and coming up with $100 million in a very short time, mostly from sources who outwardly, at least, refuse to pay ransom under any circumstances. While there's no courtroom drama, it's pretty heady stuff - all well laid out with a few potshots at some of the people, institutions and issues who (IMHO) well deserve them as well as intriguing groundwork for (I hope) another sequel. All told, well done - and I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review a pre-release copy.

The Exchange by John Grisham (Doubleday, October 2023); 352 pp.