THE BROKER by John Grisham

No courtroom drama or trial lawyers populate this 2005 novel from John Grisham.  Here Grisham dips his toe in the espionage genre, sort of.  Joel Backman finds himself suddenly pardoned, after six years securely behind bars, by an outgoing one-term President who doesn’t read his daily intelligence briefing.  Sound familiar?  It’s uncanny how so many authors have a knack for predicting the future.  Anyway, the CIA, who secured Backman’s pardon, hides him for a while in Italy until they are ready to release him to the wolves for slaughter.  The problem is that they have to keep an eye on him, because they want to find out who wants Backman dead.  Then the CIA will know who launched some very sophisticated surveillance satellites whose software Backman’s Pakistani contacts hacked.  Backman, true to his nickname, had brokered a deal with the Saudis for the software that takes control of the satellites, but pleaded guilty when his scheme was discovered, and all of his fellow schemers wound up dead. The storyline becomes a little tedious while Backman, in his witness protection of sorts, is studying Italian with a CIA-supplied tutor, eating scrumptious food, and exploring centuries-old cathedrals.  However, the frenetic finale more than makes up for this short pause in the action.  Obviously, Backman’s deeds brand him as an opportunist without a moral compass, but Grisham lures us into rooting for him nonetheless.  Maybe we are willing dupes because Backman’s handlers are so much more despicable.  Given Backman’s reputation and history, it’s hard to fathom why his son, whose own legal career Backman virtually destroyed, would willingly help him.  The son and the reader can only hope that Backman has realized the error of his ways and that he will somehow right the many wrongs that he has left in his wake.