This was a good book that brought back the great Mitch McDeere. We catch up on what his life has been between books and get started. Not as much of a legal thriller as I expected. Mitch is sent to Libya to oversee litigation to force Libya to pay some outstanding bills totaling in the millions. Something terrible happens and Mitch has to use skills he doesn't really have to try to save the day. His wife is a central character here which is nice. It was a well written book but not a typical book when you see the Grisham name attached.

I have to admit I was absolutely thrilled to receive an ARC of The Exchange: After The Firm by John Grisham from Doubleday Books through NetGalley, although that in no way impacted my review. I am a fan of John Grisham's writing; I especially enjoyed The Firm, and was eagerly looking forward to discovering what Mitch McDeere had been doing since his disastrous relationship fifteen years earlier with the Bendini Law Firm. The first few years Mitch and Abby were on the run, moving from place to place and living off some funds Mitch had "borrowed" from the firm, always looking over their shoulders. The story opens with Mitch and Abby living a fairly affluent life in NYC with their eight year old twin sons, Carter and Clark. Mitch is happy in his position with Scully and Pershing, a large international law firm, and Abby , ikewise in hers as senior editor at Epicurean, a cookbook publisher.
Luca Sandroni, a partner in the firm's Rome branch, has requested that Mitch work a case involving Lannak, a Turkish contracting firm versus Gaddafi and Lybya. The Libyan government owes Lannak $400 million for a controversial bridge project. Mitch, always ready for a travel adventure and big case, was eager to assist Luca Sandroni, he also greatly respected the man.
Luca requested that his daughter daughter Giovanna, an up and coming lawyer at the firm's London's office, assist on the case, Mitch accepted her as a member of his team. The storyline revolves around this assignment, and takes the reader on quite a ride. I can't say I disliked the book; I also can't say I enjoyed as much as other Grisham novels. I found it to be a satisfying read, worth the time invested. 3.5 Stars

The Exchange is a very slow read, as there is not as much action as I would have preferred from a Grisham book. It was very hard to connect with any of the characters, and this was not my favorite of this author. It may be time to pack up the Grisham books for me and find new authors.

The Exchange: After The Firm by John Grisham is about what became of Mitch and Abby McDeere after they exposed the crimes of Memphis law firm Bendini, Lambert & Locke and fled the country.
It is now 15 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 far from home, Mitch finds himself at the center of a sinister plot that has worldwide implications. Mitch has become a master at staying one step ahead of his adversaries, but this time there’s nowhere to hide.

Thank you to Doubleday Books and NetGalley for the advance copy.

#TheExchange #NetGalley @doubledaybooks

It's always a good day when you have a new John Grisham book to read. THE EXCHANGE is as great as any of his previous books plus we get to see Mitch and Abby McDeere fifteen years after THE FIRM. After fleeing for their lives, they have settled in Manhattan with their twin sons. Mitch is a partner in the world's largest law firm while Abby is an editor of coffee table cookbooks. Life is good and sometimes boring, until one of the firm's lawyers is kidnapped and held for $100 million. The drama involved in the kidnapping, trying to raise the money and ultimately figuring out how the kidnapping will resolve.
While it may not have the action that THE FIRM had, this is definitely a John Grisham fan's good day read.

Have you ever thought about how much misery and evil bad people can do with millions and millions of dollar?
In The Exchange that question will be examined in detail by the best law partner, Mitch McDeere, of the of the international law firm Scully & Pershing.
This book starts off introducing you to McDeere, his family and his life. Bringing you into the intriguing evils he has to face and the challenges and dangers he braves to save to someone. (No spoilers!)
This isn’t the most heart pounding John Grisham book I’ve ever read, but it is still a good one and I still will read every John Grisham book I can get my hands on!

#TheExchange
#JohnGrisham
#Doubleday
#Netgalley

When I saw this book was coming out I got so excited. The Firm is still one of my favorite books because Mitch and Abby were so down to earth and easy to like but they got caught up in something that was so much bigger than they expected. It happens again in this book, but the terrorists were in another country this time, not in our back yard. Now the McDeer's are trying to live a normal life with their children and they feel like their own sons are part of the threat. This book is a race against time where Mitch is trying to raise 100 million dollars to save the life of someone he knows. The ending was fast paced and hard to put down. Thanks a bunch to #NetGalley for the ARC.

Danger, Suspense, Intrigue are all intertwined throughout The Exchange. John Grisham portrayed the events leading to the exchange and the exploits of Mitch and Abby McDeere to make the exchange possible. Their lives since running from Memphis and the mob make this an exciting book.

I received an early copy of this book and agreed to review it so here it is. . .
I was excited to learn that we were getting a sequel to The Firm. The Firm was my first Grisham read and my favorite so far. Unfortunately I will not be adding The Exchange to my favorites list.
While I enjoyed catching up with Mith and his family 15 years afterThe Firm, there was not the same type of intense legal thriller feeling in this second book for me. The Exchange is perhaps a fairly accurate picture of what corporate law is like bu I prefer the "action " from The Firm. The kidnapping did add some intensity to the story but I wish the book would have offered more negotiation or something to add to the story line. I would have preferred for less of the story be spent on the money issue with the bridge in Libya and more on the kidnapping. That is purely my preference and was not apparently Mr. Grisham's nor may it be another readers preference.
The book itself is readable enough and while it is not going on my favorites list I'm sure some Grisham fans will thoroughly enjoy this latest offering. I did finish the book and willread more of his offerings in the future.

Thanks to Doubleday Books through Netgalley for an advance copy. This book will be published on October 17, 2023. Grisham is one of my favorite authors for legal thrillers. This novel brings back the McDeere's of The Firm. They are no longer running for their lives, living and thriving in New York City, or so they think. Good story, Beach read, not too deep.

Book review of this early copy I received from @netgalley and @doubledaybooks
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I jumped for joy when I got this early copy. I'm a huge fan of The Firm and was so excited to pick up again with Mitch and Abby McDeere.

Mitch is now in Manhattan, still married to Abby and has two sons. Mitch is asked to help with a special project in Rome, and this drags him into an international kidnapping plot.
I liked it, and loved the pace of the book.
If you love John Grisham, you will want to read it.
Out on October 17, 2023, grab this one.
#netgalley
#crazybooknerd
#theexchange
#bookstagram

John Grisham is truly a master at legal thrillers, and The Exchange is one of his best. It catches the reader up with Mitch and Abby McDeere and takes you on one helluva an adventure. The tension in The Exchange builds page by page. I could barely put it down to sleep. I have already preordered 2 copies for Christmas gifts!

I've read somewhere in the neighborhood of 16 or 17 Grisham books and have had a good experience with each book. Unfortunately, that streak ended with The Exchange, a roughly-based sequel to The Firm. In many cases sequels are mistakes and can't improve on the original (think Jaws 2). That's the issue with this book.
We find Mitch and Abby McDeere living in New York some 15 years after the Bendini, Lambert, and Locke nightmare that Mitch and Abby were lucky to escape from with their lives. Mitch is now an associate at one of the largest law firms in the country, Scully & Pershing, along with being happy, successful, wealthy, and the father of twin boys.
When Mitch is assigned to help one of Scully's oldest and most successful foreign associates, Luca Sandroni, resolve a legal issue between one of the firm's best clients and the government of Libya over the failure to pay for the building of a bridge. Luca asks Mitch to travel to Libya to work his magic to help end the dispute over the bridge. Accompanying Mitch is another Scully associate (and Luca's daughter), Giovanna. Once in Libya, Mitch and Giovanna meet their contact, Samir Jamblad, and preparations are made to travel to the bridge for an inspection and assessment of the situation. Unfortunately, Mitch contracts food poisoning the night before the trip is to take place and is unable to accompany Giovanna. Samir also stays back to help Mitch find medical care for his issue. Giovanna and her escorts never make it to the bridge. Soon, Mitch, Luca, and personnel at Scully & Pershing are contacted via video displaying the gruesome murders of Giovanna's guard along with a message about the ransom needed for the release of Giovanna.
That, in a nutshell is the scope of this book. Unfortunately, there's little action, but detail upon detail of way too many meetings to talk about resolving the situation, plus a lot of overseas flights. To compare this book to The Firm is a disservice to that fine novel. The Exchange does not have any plot twists, nor does it carry the amount of interest that The Firm did. Mitch McDeere is just one of many characters in this novel and does not stand out in any way. I'm sorry that this book didn't work for me because I really enjoyed The Firm.

Thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for sending me an ARC of The Exchange in exchange for an honest review.

I was thrilled when I received an ARC of John Grisham’s new book, The Exchange. This is described as a follow-up to his book, The Firm and we do meet up again with Mitch and Abby. However, Grisham’s signature tight twists and turns are missing and it felt like a slow read which didn’t really capture my attention. Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

All through this book I kept hearing Michael J. Fox's voice in "Back to the Future" yelling "Libyans!" This, of course, was in 1985, when Muammar Gadaffi was the villain du jour, and when we thought of terrorists, we thought of Libyans. Which makes it somewhat of a mystery why they are the villains in this book. It took several chapters to realize the book was set in 2005 (why? 15 years after The Firm doesn't seem to be a compelling enough reason). There are a lot of "why's" in this book.

The Exchange begins when Mitch McDeere, now a successful New York lawyer confident that few people remember him as the person who brought down Bendini, Lambert and Locke, is called by a friend to take on a pro bono case in Memphis. He arrives in Memphis to learn that the client in question has died by suicide, so he immediately goes home, after having dinner and drinks in a few of his favorite places. This incident, which covers the first four chapters, is never referred to again.

Shortly thereafter, McDeere heads to Rome to meet with his mentor and gets embroiled in an international situation which I really can't describe without spoilers. But suffice it to say, there are plenty more "why's" throughout this incident. Why is McDeere suddenly capable of negotiating with terrorists? Who exactly are they? Why does Mitch get food poisoning and nobody else does, and once again the incident is never referred to again? Why is it more important to describe the food and drink at every meal than to give us background on the many characters?

On the plus side, The Exchange, like all of John Grisham's books, goes down easily and reads quickly. I finished it in a day, staying up to read because I expected there to be an exciting ending, which sadly never happened.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Worthy follow up to the Firm. I really enjoy this author and his story telling. I get totally immersed in his stories. I highly recommend this book.

Interesting read. Mitch and Abby McDeere are living a busy, interesting life in New York with their twin 8 year old sons. He is a busy attorney at one of the world’s largest firms and Abby is a cookbook editor and dealing with lots of chefs who cook all sorts of food for their family. Mitch is asked to take part in a pending case in Libya where things take a terrible turn when he becomes ill and the other attorney decides to go to the job site without him and is kidnapped. Her captors demand $100,000,000.00 and involve Abby in the negotiations. Things finally work out and are resolved but not without a great deal of trouble which convinces Mitch that he must leave his current job.

I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Really good sequel to the firm. So many little nuances in the story, and it made me wonder which might be relevant or a clue to what would happen later on and which were just part of the timeline. I couldn't put the book down. 4.5 stars.

The Exchange brings back two of John Grisham's favorite characters, Mitch and Abby McDeere, who have settled down after years of being on the run from Mitch's previous employer, featured in "The Firm." In The Exchange, Mitch is contracted to represent collection of $400 million in fees owed a contractor who, after building a bridge in the Middle East, never received payment. A routine trip to that country goes incredibly badly, resulting in the kidnapping of Mitch's partner, the daughter of a very wealthy, long-time associate of Mitch's current law firm. With Mitch's associate being held as a hostage with an exorbitant ransom demand, Abby becomes the contact for the ruthless negotiators, forced to navigate a maze with an uncertain outcome. This thriller pits international governments in a race against time and against cold-blooded killers. This book definitely holds the reader's attention as the story races to its conclusion. Unputdownable and highly recommended!

I never thought I'd say this about a John Grisham novel., but this was boring and unfulfilling. Set fifteen years after The Firm, Mitch McDeere is no longer hiding from the Chicago mob and is a partner in one of the world's largest international law firms. After an unrelated trip to a death row inmate's lawyer, because the author doesn't want us to forget that cause (it's a good cause, just out of place in this book), Mitch finds himself trying to rescue a fellow partner, an Italian daughter of a senior partner who is working out of the London office and finds herself in Libya. The negotiations are slow, and often "off-screen," there's no real courtroom drama, and not much intrigue or drama.
Thank you to NetGalley and Doubleday books for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

THE EXCHANGE (THE FIRM #2)
BY: JOHN GRISHAM

I was so excited to receive my ARC of John Grishams sequel to "The Firm," which is called, "The Exchange." I remembered the movie of the original "The Firm," that I enjoyed watching in the 1990's. It was memorable so I was expecting this sequel to be a continuation of that. At least that's what the synopsis stated therefore my reason for requesting this. It was disappointing but very suspenseful, just not what I had imagined it was going to be. This can be read as a standalone as it references the background details regarding how the main characters Mitch and Abby McDeere
barely escaped with their lives fifteen years ago from Memphis.

The year is 2005, and Mitch having graduated fourth in his class at Harvard Law school is now practicing law in New York City. His education was integral in getting hired in the largest (fictional) law firm in the world. It has 31 offices located internationally and its name is Scully & Pershing that is known to practice what the author refers to as "Big Law." My interpretation was that it was a prestigious firm specializing mostly in Corporate law all over the world. Mitch is 41 years old and he has risen in the ranks from associate to partner in his eleven year tenure at Scully.

Abby Mitch's wife is a senior editor at a publisher that specializes in cookbooks. Mitch and Abby have a large kitchen that she hosts owners of restaurants to create recipes. They have two eight year old boys that are twins who eat the gourmet food prepared in their kitchen. If the twins like the food then it qualifies to be a recipe that will be included in the cookbook Abby is creating.

Mitch has been approached by Jack Ruch, the managing partner at Scully, and has been informed that Luca, has requested Mitch to visit him in Rome. When he arrives Luca who built a law firm that Scully merged with tells him that he is dying of pancreatic cancer. He wants Mitch to step in on his behalf to handle litigation involving hundreds of millions of dollars owed to a Turkish corporation. The Turkish construction company built a bridge in Libya and the Libyans are refusing to pay. Luca has a request that Mitch include Luca's daughter Giovanna as one of the associate lawyers to work on the case.

There was enough suspense to keep me invested in this tautly written internationally woven plot that was intriguing. The reader has to pay close attention to remember the multitude of characters that are involved. I thought that this was complex and interesting, but I liked, "The Firm," much better. In my humble opinion I would say that this novel is superficial and lacks any real depth in character development. I had high expectations and am grateful for the chance to have read an early ARC. This sequel seemed to rely solely on the plot driven narrative. It was pure escapism reading, but not something memorable that I would want to read again. My rating is 3.5 stars rounded up because I did enjoy it and it held my attention from start to finish.

Publication Date: October 17, 2023

Thank you to Net Galley, John Grisham and Doubleday Books for generously providing me with my eARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

#TheExchange #JohnGrisham #DoubledayBooks #NetGalley