This thriller from the master storyteller, John Grisham, did not disappoint. Set in lovely Italian towns and cities -- as well as Washington DC -- it tells the story of a lobbyist known as The Broker who gets a little greedy and ends up running for his life.
After six years in a Federal penitentiary, Joel Backman is suddenly pardoned by a lame-duck president. The CIA relocates him to Bologna, Italy, gives him an apartment (bugged, of course), a wardrobe, a little money, and an Italian tutor, then sits back to see who will kill him. Candidates include the Israelis, the Chinese, the Russians, and the Iranians. This will tell the CIA which of them bought a very sophisticated surveillance program that uses existing satellites in a new way, the brainchild of three Pakistanis who are all now dead.
But Joel isn't stupid, and despite the fact that he's not a trained spy, he not only eludes them all, but escapes back to the U.S. to turn over the software to a former U.S. Senator with connections that will keep the software in American hands, buying his own freedom (of sorts) and eluding even the CIA.
In the vein of The Firm, this book presents an impossible situation to a smart, resourceful main character, who refuses to play the deadly part assigned to him, but thinks his way out from under all the parties involved. It's a marvelous good time, with realistic characters that make mistakes, have loyalties and biases, and get lucky from time to time.
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