The Associate, pt. 2

Last month, I posted my rant about the beginning of a Grisham book, The Associate, regarding how stupid the plot set up was made. How some guy is somehow convinced that he was going to be charged and convicted of rape when he, as a drunk fratboy, was passed out asleep and couldn't even be seen on a video recording of the alleged rape committed by two other drunk fratboys of a drunk frat groupie, who had previously slept with pretty much everyone in the frat. This guy, a supposedly very bright law student, whose own father is a 'scrappy-type' lawyer, would be convinced of this, and not tell anyone who could conceivably give him proper legal advice, was incredulous.

I had hoped that the resolution of the plot line would improve. My hopes were in vain. The rest of the book sucked as much as the beginning. Definitely Grisham's worst piece of fiction. The remaining characters had no development or background, they are just made as "filler" to the story. A significant amount of time is devoted to one of the alleged frat boy rapists, and then that character is disposed of "off-screen." We aren't even provided with the opportunity to read the details of his pivotal conversation and last day.

The protagonist engages in a relationship with another woman, who is merely a cardboard cutout for all the character development she is given. She too is disposed of rather "off-screen" such that we have no interest or reason to care why she left the "big law" firm.

Resolution of the rapist plot line is ridiculous. We're led to believe that the victim involved, who supposedly is all concerned with justice and having her name cleared, was naturally, only interested in the money settlement. When the failed blackmail is all over and the protagonist leaves the firm, there's no repercussions (although he technically did nothing actually wrong to the firm). We are not told if the video is ever released, if the other alleged rapist ever has issues about it with his family. All we're told that now all of a sudden, the protagonist doesn't care if the video is released on youtube, because it would only show him as a drunk fratboy, like millions of other drunk fratboys. Why would blackmail work in the first place if the protagonist was only worried about the victim seeing the video to cry rape again, and she was clearly willing to settle for money? Just call the blackmailer's bluff, let him post the video, then settle with the victim. Pretty much the same result, just no book for Grisham.

And the end is completely unresolved. Once the bluff is called and the protagonist tries to capture the blackmailer to charge him, the guy escapes with no explanation as to how he does so, or how he learned of the capture attempt. There's a vague suggestion that someone else in the firm is also a spy for the blackmailer, but no development is given to this suggestion, no attempts made to find him/her, no investigation. We are never told who the blackmailer was, or for whom he was working. In that respect, it almost seems like this book was the first half of a story and the second half will be in another book. I'm not sure I'll read it.