Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read and review this book. John Grisham does it again. I was really excited when I heard that this book brings back the main characters (Mitch and Abby McDeere) from The Firm, which was the first book I read by John Grisham and loved. The book is the usual fast-paced legal thriller that you come to know and expect (and love) from this author. The story moves at a great pace and keeps you guessing. It's a great "sequel"...too bad we had to wait so long. Another hit by Grisham. I'd recommend it for any Grisham fans, but also especially for any fans of The Firm!

The Exchange by John Grisham

I was quite excited to read this 'sequel' to The Firm, and I really wanted to like it, but from the very beginning the story and the writhing just fell flat. It felt like Grisham really didn't want to write this book. You hear very little about what happened to Mitch and Abby after they fled Tennessee, instead the story picks up 15 years after The Firm, where Mitch again is working for the biggest law firm in the world - what can go wrong with that? One of the young associates are kidnapped by terrorists for an outrageous ransom - and yet life goes on for Mitch, Abby and the new Firm. Dinners and meetings are held, Mitch is flying around the world several times (I'm still not quite sure why), and in the end the ransom is paid. The western hostage is freed (but all the locals are leaving empty spaces at their families' dinner tables), and Mitch is once again taking a stand by leaving the biggest law firm in New York for a smaller firm(?).

John Grisham's latest, set 15 years after Mitch and Abby McDeere's escape from Memphis, lands them in the heart of Manhattan's legal scene. Mitch, now a partner at Scully & Pershing, takes a job that whisks him off to Rome, and then into the risky terrains of Libya. The setup is classic Grisham: high stakes, international locales, and a taste for adventure. But let's be real, getting into this book was a bit of a slog. The first 100 pages felt like running a marathon in mud – tough to get through but with the promise of something better ahead.

Once the story picks up, we're thrown into a whirlwind of suspense and danger. Mitch's journey from Rome to Libya is packed with intrigue, but it's not all smooth sailing. The multiple point-of-view narration adds depth to the tale, giving us a panoramic view of the unfolding drama. The references to Mitch's past in Memphis are a nice touch, reminding us of his journey in 'The Firm'. However, the plot's initial promise of a thrilling ride somewhat fizzles as the story progresses.

The book had potential, especially with its gripping start and the setup of a legal thriller in exotic locales. But it misses the mark in maintaining that initial momentum. The lack of a solid climax or a satisfying resolution left me a bit underwhelmed. Despite this, Grisham's fans might still find it worth a read--just don't expect the same level of heart-racing excitement as some of his other works.

It's a 3,5 for me rounded up to a 4! Thank you to the publisher for the eARC!

This is an intense and fast-paced follow-up to the Firm. It wasn’t my favorite Grisham book in that the plot was much different with focus on an international kidnapping. There wasn’t a real “wow” moment but it was still a fun read with a lot of suspense.

What you remember about “The Firm,” John Grisham’s 1991 bestseller, and its 1993 movie adaptation may be the same thing I remember — Mitch and Abby McDeere (Tom Cruise and Jeanne Tripplehorn in Sidney Pollack’s film) running for their lives after he ratted out his mob-infested Memphis law firm.

What happened then? I had not once wondered, but Grisham clearly had. Thirty-odd years later, the popular and prolific author offers up “The Exchange: After the Firm," which picks up with Mitch and Abby in 2005 and embroils them in a desperate quest to raise $100 million to ransom a young lawyer kidnapped in Libya.

That sounds more exciting than “The Exchange” turns out to be. This is an extremely talky book, driven by exposition rather than action. Because it is so description-heavy, even an attack of food poisoning is an action highlight, and the climax is more of a shrug than a bang.

This is 2005, remember, and Gaddafi is still in power in Libya. Mitch’s law firm is suing to collect the $600 million owed to its clients over construction of a bridge in the desert — a bridge with no water in sight. (This really happened. You could look it up.)

After a young associate who happens to be the daughter of a dying Italian partner in the firm is abducted on a visit to the bridge, all stops are pulled out to ransom her. Abby is roped in. Mitch flies all over the world. On and off planes. In and out of countries. “The Exchange” can produce jet lag requiring a long nap.

The Exchange, the newest release from John Grisham, is the long-awaited, not expected follow-up to The Firm. The Firm was impactful for it’s revitalizing the legal thriller genre and maxing it’s popularity. The Exchange is an interesting follow-up with plenty of Firm references. It’s indeed satisfying to see what happened to Mitch and Abby years later after their trauma in Tennessee. However, for most people, it’s been so long since they’ve read compulsive thriller, that the the anticipation isn’t quite there and it’s a stretch to recall more than the general premise.

The Exchange starts off fairly well, but loses some momentum as the pages progress. Mitch is a New York lawyer for an international firm and travels far and wide for his career. On an impulsive, not wholly necessary trip to Libya, Mitch’s associate is taken hostage and from there the horrors and plot to ransom and return her begin.

The bulk of this story is about gathering money, making meetings, taking trips and negotiating to free the kidnapped associate. It’s mired in politics between various governments and entities, is quite complex keeping track of who is who and why we care, and is sadly, rather dull. The Exchange is a mildly entertaining story, but the conclusion is predictable, the writing is a bit stilted, and though it is nice to see these characters again, it wasn’t quite what I hoped it would be.

Thank you NetGalley and Doubleday Books, Doubleday for accepting my request to read and review The Exchange (After The Firm).

Stars 2.5. The key was in the title, after the firm. There have been too many years since The Firm. As I read I visualized, without trying, the actors from the movie. They don't age. In addition, as I read I heard the movie voices. And, again they didn't age.

The story itself was farfetched and I was bored. Afterwards I chided myself. What did I expect? Actually, I expected what I got. The problem was I didn't think before requesting about the number of years that have passed and how time has changed, but the gangster Mitch went up against have not.

It's not horrible; however, I could have used my time better.

While it’s not quite as unputdownable as The Firm was for me, I enjoyed a look at what happened to Mitch and Abby after we left them last. It’s always fun for me to enter a Grisham world. Something about his storytelling that I find comfortable.

I admit the ending was anti-climactic and overall this wasn’t my favorite, but I’ll still tune in for his next book.

So thankful to @NetGalley for the ARC and to @doubledaybooks for the finished copy. ❤️

Thank you Netgalley and Doubleday for the chance to read The exchange by John Grisham. I was excited to read this because it was touted as the sequel to The Firm which was my 2nd favourite book by the author (behind A time to kill). I have always wanted to know what happened to Mitch and Abby McDeere, whether Mitch was able to continue being a lawyer, or whether the mob caught up with them. From this perspective, this book was a huge disappointment. It was not the sequel I was expecting, and the main characters could have been anyone. The book devoted a few pages to the previous book, when Mitch is persuaded to go down to Memphis to work on a pro-bono death row case. What a red herring...it had nothing to do with the main story...I spent 65% of the book, thinking the plot will go one way, or another...and to be not only totally disappointed, Grisham did the one thing I absolutely hate...a quick finish, and a unsatisfying ending. If you are looking for a book about a kidnapping in Libya and ransom book, read on...but if you are looking for a taut legal thriller, don't bother.

This is not a good book. It is boring and nothing happens. Fun revisiting these characters but what was the point? very disappointing. Thanks to NetGalley ad the publisher for the free copy in exchange for my honest review.

Well, I finished it,,,finally. I think that I was kind of disappointed. It has been a very long time since I read The Firm, but I seem to remember Mitch as someone willing to take a lot more chances than the currrent Mitch does. The first maybe 20% of the book was kind of bringing us up to date on what has been going on in the lives of the McDeere's since they fled for their lives fifteen years ago. Then we learned of the current kidnapping of a female associate by a terrorist group while both she and Mitch were in North Africa, From there it was just a constant back and forth across continents while the law firm tried to raise the ransom money. Every time they approached a new source of funding, we had to read the whole story all over again. Seemed like a bunch of filler to me. And the end was pretty abrupt. All in all, not even close to being a favorite.

When I saw I was approved for this arc, I slightly freaked out! I read a few of John Grisham’s books when I was in highs cool so this was exciting for me. I have not read The Firm, but was able to catch ip quickly with the explanation in the beginning. This picks up in the lives of Mitch and Abby McDeere after they exposed the corruptness of the law firm that Mitch worked at. It has been 15 years and the McDeere’s are now living in Manhattan and Mitch is a partner at the largest law firm in the world. His mentor in Rome asks him to take over an important case and his daughter will be a younger lawyer on the case. When she is kidnapped, Mitch finds himself at the center of the whole situation trying to negotiate something that seems impossible. Abby is also picked as the chosen one to communicate with the captors, but will she make the right decisions and will they be able to keep their kids safe?

I can not believe that I waited as long as I did to get to this arc. I ended up listening to the audiobook and it pulled me in from the get go. I was very shocked to see that Abby had a main role, but it shows how connected your family can be to situations like this. I am not always the biggest fan of kidnapping stories because I am a baby when it comes to scary things, but this story kept me wanting to figure out how they would save her. I also loved the kidnappers connections knowing that Mitch and Abby had been in the Caribbean and had money at an off shore bank account. It just all connected and was so cool to me.

Big thanks to @johngrisham @netgalley and @doubledaybooks for this advanced copy!

I went into this book relatively cold, meaning I really had no idea what the story was or how it would play out. I re-read The Firm in anticipation and enjoyed it as much as I did the first time I read it. I was interested to see how the author was going to move forward and was excited when almost immediately Mitch was thrust back into the Memphis area and a meeting with his old friend, Lamar. What followed was a bait and switch, with everything that brought Mitch to the south dropped without another mention and the plot turned to an international kidnapping case. For the record, I would have been much more interested in the original plot.

While I really enjoyed the plot of The Firm, I didn’t really care for Mitch and, to a lesser extent, Abby. Without the same interest in the plot in The Exchange, and still not caring for Mitch or Abby, this book fell a little flat for me. It seems to me that, for a couple who still seemed to be traumatized by their experiences in The Firm, Mitch could have picked a less famous law firm (and how did his involvement in this international news-making kidnapping not be made public, which would out him to all the people from The Firm he had tried to avoid for 15 years?) Additionally, the role Abby played in the story seemed incredibly far-fetched.

It was a middle of the road read, don’t get me wrong, just not a great read and was let down by my higher expectations.

I do not enjoy giving less than 5 stars, especially to John Grisham! However, I did not “feel” this one. I’m generously giving it 3 stars. I am not seeing how it is a connected to The Firm. The characters were poorly developed as were the settings. There was not a solid plot in the pages of this book. I’m not sure I will leave a review for this book anywhere but right here. I was disappointed to say the least

The Exchange by John Grisham was a novel that certainly is relevant during this time of unrest in the world. A lawyer is kidnapped and held for ransom. There is suspense and intrigue in this novel but I was left wanting more. I wanted to know more about all of the characters involved. What was the kidnapped lawyer’s experience before being kidnapped? How many other lawyers knew and respected her? I guess I am hoping for another sequel that will answer my questions and allow me to understand the various lawyers’ motives more clearly. I did not dislike this novel, I was just hoping for more. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for allowing me to read this novel.

So I haven't read the Firm in over 20 years, so any character references to it that were in The Exchange I mostly missed. In fact, though I remember Abby McDeere as well as I remembered Mitch, I had no recollection of her having anything to do with food editing, which was talked about quite a bit in The Exchange. In fact, I think Abby definitely had a more central role to the story in The Exchange than she did in The Firm, again, if my memory is accurate.

Anyway, Mitch McDeere might have been the character that put John Grisham on the map, but he doesn't hold a candle to Jake Brigance to this reader. A Time To Kill is one of my favorite novels of all time and the plot of The Firm was just trite in comparison, so I wasn't waiting with baited breath for a new novel with these characters. So, with that low anticipation level, it probably helped my enjoyment of the novel. I had stopped reading John Grisham for many years after so many of his books seemed exactly like the others. It has only been in recent years that I started building a nostalgic enthusiasm for his upcoming novels again, likely to do with the quality of many of his recent novels having been elevated.

This thrilling story involving a terrorist kidnapping of a young woman who was supposed to be traveling as a co-worker with Mitch, thus leaving him feeling very responsible for her safe return, gripped me from the start of that part of the story....which wasn't the very beginning, mind you. Overall, I think this book worked well as a standalone and didn't need Mitch specifically. I think Grisham is tying himself down with too many series right now when what he has done best in recent years is write moving stand-alone novels and even non-fiction.

The Exchange is a good Grisham novel that was not the formula that Grisham fell into after the successes of his first 4 legal thrillers. As has been the case after most of his novels in recent years, I am looking forward to his next!

The Firm is one of my favorite novels, and Mitch one of my favorite characters. Tore through this in two sessions - overall 4 stars. I wish the follow up to The Firm had been a little longer. Many thanks to John Grisham for bringing us back into this world!

I don't think a sequel was necessary. I did not want to know what Mitch and Abby were up to or if they found peace. The Firm was great. It left us with questions but those were the questions we needed to ask, keep us wonder, and preserve the air of mystery.

What happened to Mitch and Abby were once in a lifetime event. You don't expect them to find themselves in a similar situation again. At least, you hope that they were smarter than that. But when you come back with another whirlwind of an international drama, I would raise my eyebrow and never put it back down until I put the book down.

So whoever forced Grisham to write The Exchange did not do any service to him. He could spend that time piecing together another story. What happened next to Mitch and Abby could be a nice fireside chat question. Anyways... Storytelling was great, I was going through pages like a breeze. But I rather kept Mitch and Abby in my memory.

John Grishman IS BACK!!!.
I think that this book shows the original John Grishman. I feel like John lost his way and was just trying to write as many books as possible. This hurt his writing but he is BACK with this book.
Back to the intrigue with twist and turns. Showing all sides of a situation the good the bad and the ugly of the corporate world.

I loved this story so much! Being back in the world if "The Gurk" with Mitch Mcdeer was amazing. I loved the story and the pure adrenaline rush while reading!! This is the John Grisham we all know and love! 5 amazing Stars!