I enjoyed "The Exchange" and appreciate the advance copy. It was great to reunite with Mitch and Abby in the story. It was a tense legal thriller that kept me turning the pages as most of Grisham's books do. It was not as compelling as "The Firm" which left me a little disappointed. However, it would make a fantastic movie and I am recommending it to library patrons and book clubs.

This was a great follow up to its predecessor - it was interesting, unique, well paced, and picked up the characters in a way that was true to them. Definitely worth a read - hoping for a movie (without it's previous main actor).

My rating: 2.5 stars.

I was skeptical before even starting to read this book. In The Firm, they turned on the mob! How can they come back from that?!

The book is disappointing. It focuses on terrorists and not law. We never find out why or how the terrorists targeted them and we get no resolution on the bridge lawsuit. I admit to skimming the last half as I have no desire to read a book about terrorists but hoped for some kind of resolution or twist.

Thank you to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for the opportunity to read and review this book.

The Exchange is the sequel to The Firm. It’s 15 years later and Mitch McDeere and Abby have twin boys and live in a NYC apartment. Mitch is a partner at Scully and Pershing, the largest law firm in the world. S&P takes pro bono casework seriously and Mitch has been assigned to work a couple of death row pro bono cases; one of which leads him back to Memphis, Tenn, where he meets up with his old friend Lamar from Bendini, Lambert and Locke, the notorious law firm where he was previously employed. It’s an interesting meeting to say the least.

Meanwhile, one of S&P’s well respected partners in Rome, Luca Sandroni, asks Mitch to handle a lawsuit for him involving a well-established, lucrative client—a Turkish contractor, Lannak, that’s suing the Libyan government for withholding a four hundred million dollar payment on a massive completed project. Mitch agrees to handle the lawsuit and travels to Libya to gather information to better equip him for the case. Although Mitch is concerned about the safety of Libya, he’s assured that it’s for the most part, safe. At Luca’s request his daughter, Giovanna, who also works for S&P in their London office, accompanies Mitch as an Associate on the case.

A day is arranged for Mitch and Giovanna to travel to the dessert to gather information about the useless bridge project that Muammar Gaddafi ordered to have built to his outrageous specifications, but who now refuses to absorb the additional costs involved in its completion. Once in Tripoli, Libya, plans to visit the construction site go awry due to unforeseen circumstances, and dire consequences ensue. Before long, Mitch’s family, and others, are a target of vicious, ruthless attackers, and S&P must scramble to satisfy their greedy demands. But the law firm needs help securing what they want. Will they get it in time, or will another valuable life, or lives, be lost?

Since The Firm is one of my favorite movies I was eager to read a follow-up to the story. I was expecting characters from Mitch’s prior law firm, Bendini, Lambert and Locke, to appear in The Exchange, but that wasn’t the case. We do meet up briefly with Mitch’s friend Lamar from The Firm, but that was the extent of it. I was a little disappointed by that because I wanted to see retaliation tactics in this sequel 🤭. Nevertheless, Grisham still managed to keep me intrigued with this new plot line. I enjoyed learning how Mitch reestablished himself professionally, and how he and Abby achieved success after everything that transpired at BL&L. I did, however, expect a more sensational conclusion to the story. I felt let down by how it ended. Additionally, I was left with unanswered questions about some of the events that took place; and a few of the strategies and decisions made seemed a little far-fetched to me as well.

Even though I took issue with the ending I still enjoyed the majority of the story. Initially, I was reading the book, but halfway through I transitioned to listening to the audiobook version and that was more enjoyable for me. It actually made a big difference.

Thank you, Doubleday Books, for providing me with a free copy of The Exchange via Netgalley.

I loved The Firm and was very excited to read TheExchange. In this sequel, Mitch and Abby McDeer are now in New York and have kids. Abby is a chef and magazine editor. Mitch works for one of the largest law firms in the world. He is still good at his job! So good that he is requested to help with a lawsuit about a bridge in Lybia. Once there an associate is kidnapped and Mitch is once again running for the bad guys and trying to set the world to rights.

While it would seem that this book should be fast paced, it somehow dragged in places. As a John Grisham and Mitch McDeer fan, I am glad I read it, but It was not quite all the stars that I expected it to be.

I grew up reading John Grisham’s legal thrillers and I hope to always have one nearby! His legalese is not too hard core for those of us who are not diplomats. I love his characters and storylines.

I was so hyped to read this book. I have mostly loved all of Grisham's books that I have read. I even reread The Firm before I read this one.
While I mostly enjoyed this book, there felt like there was something missing from it to make me love it.
I enjoyed this story, and I was glad to be back in this "world" for a couple of days.
I am not opposed to another book coming out in the future.

I liked this book, but not as much as the first.

Positives:
- loved the characters again
- happy they have a family now
- the thrill that finally came in was good
- chapters were short (I love finishing a chapter, I’m no quitter lol)
- the main plot of the book
- the end!

It’s a backlist, and I wanted to make sure I read The Firm prior. I do feel like I could have read it as a standalone. Which was part of the fact I didn’t absolutely love it.

About 58% in. There were so many questions and I was hoping by then I would have a link to the drama and people (no spoilers) of the first book. I really wanted it to start faster. That’s a personal opinion/want though. I liked the thrill and mystery that really came in after chapter 26. But wish that it happened sooner. It seemed to trudge and be very slow to pick up.

Overall, it’s a good book! If you enjoy a slower to start thriller and mystery, murder, and crime.

I would still recommend this series to others!

Although I finished this book, it really didn’t appeal to me. Too many characters, I had a hard time remembering who was who. Also, it seemed unbelievable at times. I usually love a Grisham book but not this time.

It has been a while since I have read a John Grisham novel, but I do remember reading The Firm and watching the movie. I have always loved and enjoyed his books. The Exchange did not disappoint. While it takes place 15 years after The Firm, it still happens in the past 2005. So I had to wrap my head around the fact that some elements of the story will probably be limited due to the timeframe, but nothing stood out to me. I have to admit that every time I heard Mitch speaking, I did imagine Tom Cruise in my mind. LOL! The storyline was fast-paced and kept my attention throughout. I was anxious to find out who was behind all the criminal activity and how the story would end. The suspense does take you all the way to the end of the book. But unfortunately, I found the ending was a bit predictable and disappointing.

Would I read another Grisham novel, definitely “YES!” And I hope he plans to bring back Mitch as a main character, curious to see where he lands next.

……and 15 years later. No this is not a sequel. And you don’t have to have read The Firm to read this book. In fact, better if you didn’t because you would be disappointed with this one. Mitch and Abby are back but this time they are living in Manhattan and Mitch is working for a law firm with offices around the world. I generally love John Grisham’s books - especially his legal thrillers. I actually put this one down for quite a while because instead of finding all the dashing around the world and deadlines intriguing, I became a little bored. Sorry, but this was a miss for me.
Thanks to Netflix for this ARC.

Thank you @netgalley, @prhaudio, and @johngrisham for the free audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

@johngrisham is my original #autobuyauthor and I couldn’t wait to catch up with Jake and Abby McDeere. This book was awesome, it kept me on the edge of my seat.

I loved the international travel combined with a lot of back door negotiations building suspense until the very end. In this installment Mitch is caught in the middle of one very sinister situation with worldwide implications. This book is classic John Grisham and the reason he’s one of my favorites!

I love a good John Grisham book and this did not disappoint. Very excited to see what else he writes!

A compelling read of a kidnap by Libyan terrorists. Mitch, a lawyer working for a very high ranking law firm was asked to go to Libya as their government owed a client $400,000,000 from a contract to build a useless bridge in the desert. Mitch agreed and was asked to take a friend’s daughter, Giovanni, who worked for the same company in London.

The day Mitch and colleague were due to inspect the bridge Mitch became ill, so Giovanni went with the security team. No issues were expected, everything would be safe. Or so they thought. Giovanni was kidnapped, several guards killed and the others taken hostage to be brutally murdered later, with a video to prove it.

Mitch was horrified. His firm hurried him home and they waited for news. Unexpectedly it came to Abby, Mitch’s wife. The kidnappers wanted $100,000,000 in 10 days! How on earth were they going to raise that amount of money? A fast pace read, full of twists and turns. A must read if you like a good mystery.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of The Exchange by Josh Grisham. What can I say?! This book was incredible - I didn't want it to end. I read it all in one day. Very good plot, character development, and pacing. Highly recommend.

Love being able to read John Grisham. His novels never disappoint and this one was no exception. I could imagine this novel being turned into a movie!

This book was very generic to me. I wanted to read it because I read The Firm, and enjoyed the movie, and wanted to follow the characters through their next adventure. However, I felt like the plot was boring and formulaic.

Mitch was one of my favorite characters, and I loved seeing him in another story. This was another great story told by Grisham.

Fifteen years after Mitch and Abby McDeere exposed the corruption at Bendini, Lambert & Locke law firm in Memphis and ran for their lives, what has become of them? Well, they have twin boys, Abby is a cookbook editor and Mitch is practising law in Manhattan. In fact, he’s a partner in the world’s largest law firm, with all the perks that go along with that.

When a friend asks for a favour, Mitch finds himself drawn into a dangerous conspiracy that crosses international borders and challenges he and Abby to protect their lives and those of their family. While Mitch’s involvement, worldwide travel and negotiations and danger seemed to flow from the plot, dragging Abby into the action did feel a bit contrived. Maybe writing for the inevitable movie spinoff and a solid female lead story?

I did enjoy this novel. I appreciated the refresher on what Mitch and Abby had been through, since it’s a long time since the original The Firm for me. There was a little side trip to visit a former colleague when Mitch was in Tennessee that I expected to tie in to the later action and never did, so that seemed unconnected in the end.

John Grisham definitely knows how to tell a suspenseful story, with great pacing and well developed characters. An enjoyable read.

I really enjoyed the follow-up to The Firm. We follow one lawyer as he tries to solve a kidnapping. They have taken the daughter of his friend, and founder of the law firm. Is she still alive? What is she going through?