I was waiting in the doctor's office. People came and went. But I sat. Lawrence Durrell's onetime best seller, JUSTINE, sat on my lap with me. But it was failing me. Justine and all the characters around her were unnecessarily complex.
Bored and restless, I drifted out to the hospital gift shop. A page turner was what I needed. Or wanted. What could be better than John Grisham's THE ASSOCIATE. Grisham was always reliable for sitting on the tarmac or waiting in hospitals. Or so I thought.
But even Grisham can let you down. The machinations of a large law firm, the temptations of a young lawyer, all are Grisham's stock in trade. But for once, they don't click. Kyle McAvoy doesn't choose temptation so much as he is chosen. The characters are all flat. Grisham is a moralist but even the associate can't fight the unfightables of big-time legal beagles.
The book is well-named. It's only qualifies as an associate of such spectacular Grisham offerings as THE FIRM and THE RUNAWAY JURY.