The McDeeres after 15 years

The Exchange: After the Firm (Doubleday 2023) is the highly anticipated sequel to John Grisham’s blockbuster 1991 novel, The Firm. Although The Exchange has spent weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, hopeful Grisham fans should be aware it falls short of the original.

The story begins 15 years after hot-shot lawyer Mitch McDeere and his wife Abby miraculously escape Memphis by outsmarting both the Mafia and the FBI. They are now living in Manhattan (with their 8-year-old twins), and Mitch is a partner in the international law firm Scully & Pershing.

When Mitch takes a pro bono case to defend a death row inmate, his return to Memphis seems the perfect setup for a cat-and-mouse rematch with the mob. Sadly, it’s not. Ensuing chapters merely rehash the demise of The Firm of yore without advancing the plot. The death row case adds nothing—except to give Grisham space to take personal potshots at the ills of the justice system.

Forty pages in, we get to the real story: Mitch’s new firm assigns him as lead counsel for a Turkish company suing the Libyan government for nonpayment on a construction project ordered by despot Muammar Qaddafi.

Things go sideways when an unnamed attacker kidnaps a Scully associate in the desert. The motive is unclear at first. Abby McDeere becomes the reluctant negotiator when she’s approached by a mysterious woman conveniently covered head to toe in Muslim garb. At last, we have the the makings of a gripping political thriller, right?

Not so much. Aside from the actual kidnapping, the rest of the story drags. Mitch’s role is reduced to flying all over the world to attend boring meetings. Scenes where officials and businessmen eat, drink, and incessantly yack are punctuated with beheadings, shootings, and hangings. (Which break the monotony, but not in a good way.)

The Exchange elicits none of the concern or admiration we felt for the naïve but quick-witted McDeeres just trying to survive in The Firm. Even the hostage garners little sympathy, suffering more from her underdeveloped character arc than any plot twist.

Grisham can be commended for producing stories free from profanity and unnecessarily titillating material. But he should leave the international intrigue to authors like Brad Thor or Joel Rosenberg, and stick to the courtroom dramas that made him famous.