Mitch McDeere, John Grisham’s protagonist for the 1991 legal thriller, The Firm (1991), is back in Memphis to check on a possible pro-bono death penalty case. This novel, The Exchange, is # 2 in the series, and takes place in 2005 with Mitch employed by an upscale law firm in New York and living a good life there with his small family. The pro bono case fell though and his past seems behind him so he goes to see an old friend who was also involved and is living nearby. The reader gets a bit of a refresher. 

The Exchange 
By John Grisham 
11/2023  
Read by Edoardo Ballerini; 9h 1m
Rating: B+  / International thriller  

Now, in 2005 (book’s time frame), Muammar Gaddafi is the military dictator of Libya with more than one group of terrorists doing his bidding whether it’s a beheading or a kidnapping or robbery – and yes, he and the country need money. Gaddafi likes the fame and wants to be seen in the newspapers. His people kidnap the adult daughter of a prominent partner in Mitch’s firm and hold her for ransom.  Things get tense when the demand is for a LOT of money and Mitch’s wife has to help bring the matter to a close.

This book was okay, but I loved the legal thrillers Grisham used to write. Now he seems different  This might have been written by a much lesser author.