The Broker
Price: $15.00
Editorial Reviews
Product Description
In his final hours in the Oval Office, the outgoing President grants a controversial last-minute pardon to Joel Backman, a notorious Washington power broker who has spent the last six years hidden away in a federal prison. What no one knows is that the President issues the pardon only after receiving enormous pressure from the CIA. It seems Backman, in his power broker heyday, may have obtained secrets that compromise the world’s most sophisticated satellite surveillance system.
Backman is quietly smuggled out of the country in a military cargo plane, given a new name, a new identity, and a new home in Italy. Eventually, after he has settled into his new life, the CIA will leak his whereabouts to the Israelis, the Russians, the Chinese, and the Saudis. Then the CIA will do what it does best: sit back and watch. The question is not whether Backman will survive—there is no chance of that. The question the CIA needs answered is, who will kill him?
From the Hardcover edition.
Amazon.com Review
Before he was sent to federal prison for treason (among other things), Joel Backman was an extremely powerful man. Known as "the broker," Backman was a high roller--a lawyer making $10 million a year who could "open any door in Washington." That is, until he tried to broker a deal selling access to the world's most powerful satellite surveillance system to the highest bidder. When caught, Backman accepted prison as the one option that would keep him safe and alive, since the interested parties (the Israelis, the Saudis, the Russians, and the Chinese) were all itching to get their hands on his secrets at any cost. Little does he know that his own government has designs on accessing that information--or at least letting it die with him. Now, six years after his incarceration, the director of the CIA convinces a lame duck president to pardon Backman, and the broker becomes a free man--and an open target.
The Broker marries the best of John Grisham's many talents--his ability to immerse himself in the culture of small town life (in this case, Bologna, Italy), and his uncanny mastery of the chase. The first half of the book focuses on Backman's transformation from infamous power broker to helpless victim in his own game. Upon his release from prison, Backman is taken into "protective custody" and whisked off to Italy where he is assigned a new identity, and a tutor to help him blend in. Sure he is on the run, but some readers may feel that Backman's time spent in Bologna is a bit too leisurely--readers join him on an almost cinematic tour through the Italian town, complete with language and history lessons. Impatient readers will be happy to know that the final half of the novel is classic Grisham--a fast-paced, thrilling cat and mouse chase pitting Backman against the numerous agencies that want him dead--as the broker makes a move to take back his life. --Daphne Durham
Exclusive Video Interview with John Grisham
Grisham: The Books
- A Time to Kill, 1989
- The Firm, 1991
- The Pelican Brief, 1992
- The Client, 1993
- The Chamber, 1994
- The Rainmaker, 1995
- The Runaway Jury, 1996
- The Partner, 1997
- The Street Lawyer, 1998
- The Testament, 1999
- The Brethren, 2000
- A Painted House, 2001
- Skipping Christmas, 2001
- The Summons, 2002
- The King of Torts, 2003
- Bleachers, 2003
- The Last Juror, 2004
- The Broker, 2005
Essential Grisham
Amazon Editor Favorites
A Time to Kill
The Firm
A Painted House
The Client
The Rainmaker
The Pelican Brief
Bestselling Grisham
Amazon Customer Favorites
The Last Juror
Skipping Christmas
Bleachers
The Testament
The Partner
The King of Torts
If You Like Grisham, You'll Love...
- John Lescroart
- Richard North Patterson
- David Baldacci
- Lisa Scottoline
- Robert Crais
- Michael Crichton
- Harlan Coben
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Best Grisham Books on DVD
A Time to Kill
The Pelican Brief
The Client
The Firm
The Rainmaker
The Chamber
Customer Reviews
Lance Mitchell Said: A classic Grisham ( Aug. 30th 2010 )
This was another fast-paced story. Easy to read in less than a day if you have the time.
A high-powered lobbyists with plenty of secrets is given a conditional pardon by the outgoing President of the US of A. He is then on the run, with plenty of people out to kill him or, at the very least, double-cross him. He is isolated and can trust nobody.
In northern Italy, he lives a precarious life for a couple of months. After that? Well, you'll just have to read the book.
I can promise you heaps of excitement and tension in abundance.
Very much recommended to all of my friends.
danello Said: Grisham's Formula is Old and Tired ( Jul. 11th 2010 )
Except for the descriptions of the places in Italy inhabited briefly by his main character in this tiresome novel, John Grisham's The Broker has very little of interest to offer even the most undemanding reader.
The characters are so poorly defined the reader has no interest in the outcome of the story. The plot has possibilities but they are not explored leaving the reader completely disinterested in the story.
It seems Grisham has devised a formula for spewing out commercially feasible work and has been resting on past success far too long. I will not spend money or time in future on anything from this author.
thepak92 Said: Quick start- slow finish ( Jul. 9th 2010 )
Overall good read- great explosive start that made me read the first 120 pages in a single reading (normally I'm a very slow reader). Enjoyed getting to know the characters, enjoyed the various plots developing and the continued change of pace, scenery, etc., but slightly disappointed at the cut-off ending- made me wonder about the fate of a couple of the other characters, so unless they're in one of Grisham's other novels- we'll never know what happened to them.
Daniel P. Smith Said: An OK page-turner, but unsatisfying in every way ( Jul. 6th 2010 )
Alas, Grisham just isn't even trying here. I found it pleasant enough to keep me turning pages until the end, but, even though I wasn't expecting much, I felt cheated.
It is one of those irritating books where it is all too evident that the author wanted to take an expensive vacation and justified it by saying "I'll get a book out of it."
EVERY thread of the plot is left dangling. At one point, the Bad Guys need to steal a "blue Silvio bag" that the protagonist never lets out of his sight. One of the bad guys goes "shopping for an identical blue Silvio bag." We never hear any more about it. The bad guys steal his bag, but the theft is managed without benefit of any mistaken bag identity.
Grisham gives us an unreasonable amount of detail on the protagonist's struggle to learn Italian. The length of the book is extended by page after page of dialog consisting of una frase italiana e la relativa traduzione in inglese, an Italian phrase and its English translation. There is a fair amount of dull Bologna tourist-guide stuff. One of his cicerones makes a big deal of saying that he must never order cappuccino after ten-thirty in the morning, or it will mark him as a tourist; but later on, one of his presumed native Italian tutors orders one at two p.m. We never learn the significance; has his tutor revealed herself as a phony? I don't expect to learn much useful information from a book like this, but now I don't even know when it's OK to order cappuccino.
At the end of the book, we are left unsure how many national intelligence agencies and hired killers are still pursuing him; why he believes that the seemingly shallow attachment between him and his female Italian tutor is strong enough to warrant his returning to Bologna; or why we should even care.
NYM Said: Ho Hum ( Jun. 21st 2010 )
Didn't draw me in like Grisham's novels normally do. I thought it was well written, I just didn't get attached to the characters and the plot didn't excite me.