The Associate by John Grisham

I started reading John Grisham's novels when I was 11. Which, considering some of the content was probably a little young, but I always read above my reading level. The Client, The Firm, A Time to Kill and The Pelican Brief were among my favorite books. After reading The Associate, I think the John Grisham fad has worn off.

The Associate is your typical Grisham legal thriller, so much so in fact that it reminded me a little too much of The Firm. Don't get me wrong. It was a good read, entertaining and intriguing. It's the kind of book that you would take to read on a plane or on vacation; any time you would want an easy read that doesn't involve too much thinking. However, I have read a lot better books in the last 2 years.

I'm hesitant to say whether it's because my taste in literature has changed or whether Grisham's writing style has changed. I'd like to think it's the latter, because I'm pretty sure his earlier novels were a lot better than this. And this novel was actually a lot better than The Appeal, which I didn't like at all. It's a little hard to describe exactly what I thought of this book.

If you're a Grisham fan who has read every one of his books and still enjoys them then you'll probably enjoy this book. If you haven't read any Grisham but would like to, I recommend one of the four I mentioned in the first paragraph.