Product Description

For a young lawyer on the make, it was an offer he couldn't refuse: a position at a law firm where the bucks, billable hours, and benefits are over the top. It's a dream job for an up-and-comer--if he can overlook the uneasy feeling he gets at the office. Then an FBI investigation plunges the straight and narrow attorney into a nightmare of terror and intrigue, with no choice but to pit his wits, ethics, and legal skills against the firm's deadly secrets--if he hopes to stay alive . . .

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #135625 in Books
• Published on: 1997-09-08
• Released on: 1997-09-08
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 7.99" h x .97" w x 5.25" l, .69 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 432 pages

Amazon.ca
D.W. Moffett uses his youthful voice to outstanding effect in this excellent abridgment of Grisham's bestselling thriller about a Harvard Law grad aggressively recruited by a curiously obscure firm. "We're small and very selective... we screened over two thousand third-year law students at the best schools. Only one letter was sent." They've decided he's their man and to get him they offer top dollar, dangle a BMW, and woo his wife with offers impossible to refuse. But as the wide-eyed youngsters soon discover, there's a catch. Moffett gives an excellent performance, bringing the story to life with vibrant and believable characterizations and a smooth, knowing narrative. (Running time: 3 hours, 2 cassettes) --George Laney

From Publishers Weekly
Grisham's gripping fiction debut describes the inner workings of a law firm set up by the Mafia to launder money and concoct tax evasions. Mitchell McDeere, third in his class at Harvard Law, is wooed relentlessly by the prestigious Memphis tax firm of Bendini, Lambert and Locke. Succumbing to the firm's high-powered salesmanship, he rejects some of the country's best-known firms to join the group, where he is awed by the opulent lifestyle pressed upon him. But the company has ruthless, underhanded methods of gathering information (they wire the homes of all associates) and ensuring loyalty (social situations are severely monitored). The firm's mania for security and secrecy, combined with the fact that the only lawyers who have ever left did so in coffins--five in 15 years--arouse Mitch and wife Abby's curiosity, and they rapidly find themselves in a labyrinth of intrigue and danger. Grisham, a criminal defense attorney, lucidly describes law office procedures at the highest levels, smoothly meshing them with the criminal events of the narrative. Mitch and Abby are appealing characters, though a suspension of disbelief may be required to accept their super-cool behavior while they are on the run from both the FBI and the Mafia. Nonetheless, readers will be totally hooked by this unusual and absorbing story. 50,000 first printing; Literary Guild main selection; movie rights to Paramount.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
The aphorism "between a rock and a hard place" aptly describes the dilemma of a young attorney pressed by the FBI to reveal crime-related secrets of his firm, while also hounded by his employers to simply take his huge salary and zip his lip. No aphorism, though, can convey the suspense, wit, and polished writing of this laser-sharp candidate for the best recent updating of the David and Goliath story. What's more, it is all accomplished with just a few whiffs of the heavy duty violence and sex that kick many cops-and-robbers stories along today. Set in Tennessee, the Cayman Islands, and other southerly points, the action moves briskly, relying on character types that are quickly made likable or repulsive. The author, a Mississippi-based criminal defense lawyer, has in this first novel set a daringly high standard, one that his readers will hope he can reach again and again. Literary Guild main selection.
- Barbara Con aty, Library of Congress
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.