An Eventful Journey. Review on Broker, The - John Grisham

Two Successive US Presidents, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), Mossad (Israel’s intelligence agency), KGB (Russian Intelligence Agency), Ministry of State Security (MSS – China’s principal intelligence agency), Saudi Intelligence Agency, notorious Pakistani programmers, The Washington Post, The New York Times and Washington’s all ‘influential’ lobby of Power Brokers. Phew!! All these in one novel!

They say ‘too many cooks spoil the food’ – as in the case with John Grisham’s latest – ‘The Broker’.

Just in time, a day before my trip to Memphis via Orlando and Atlanta, I managed to get the book from a local Library. So, I was reading a story of an eventful journey on my own eventful journey – alas an unwanted coincidence. I was supposed to come back to Fort Lauderdale on Friday with a stopover in Atlanta. Mother Nature decided to shower wrath on Atlanta and poor me was stuck in Memphis for three days, with this feeble book.

Plot

An outgoing U.S. President, humiliated by a reprehensible loss in a recent election has some important decisions to make during his last 24 hours in the White House. Some of such decisions include granting pardon to some vile criminals. The basis on which the pardons are granted are as malevolent as the crimes committed by these crooks.

One such pardon is granted to Joel Backman, a scandalous Washington power broker who has spent the last six years hidden away in a federal prison. What no one knows is that the President issues the pardon after receiving enormous pressure from the CIA. The reason – Backamn obtained secrets that compromised the world’s most sophisticated satellite surveillance system created by intelligent Pakistani programmers.

Backman is quietly smuggled out of the country in a military cargo plane, given a new name, a new identity and a new home in Italy. Eventually, after he has settled into his new life, the CIA leaks his whereabouts to the Israelis, the Russians, the Chinese and the Saudis. Then the CIA will do what it does the best; sit back and watch to witness who nabs Backman. Will Backman be able to hoodwink five lethal intelligent agencies or he will meet an unfortunate end?

Narrative

Grisham does a commendable work building an interesting plot. The first seven chapters of the book form the most interesting part of the book. From the colossal defeat of a sitting president to the CIA’s planning of Backman case to the dilemma of an indecisive president and his eventual surrender to CIA to CIA’s plan implementation – everything is gripping and keeps you glued to the pages in the anticipation of what happens next. Characteristics of a good thriller, huh! The story firms up neatly up to the point when Backman reaches Italy. From here, Grisham’s downslide starts.

Grisham literally wastes about a third of the pages on Backman’s stay in Italy – his visiting different places and his attempts to learn Italian as directed by CIA. Why in the hell would I want to learn the Italian history from Grisham!? Why would Grisham squander several pages to teach us Italian!? Why would he work as a tourist guide taking us on the trip of Italy in a book, which is supposed to be a political thriller!? Why in the hell would I want to know about personal life of a language teacher, which has nothing to do with the main plot!? All these work as severe roadblocks.

The Climax breathes some oxygen in to a dying storyline. Once all different spy agencies come into the picture and their attempts to capture Backman meet eventual results and Backman’s wily efforts to escape kick in, the read becomes riveting again.

Grisham’s writing is lucid and provides for an easy read. He has avoided being verbose and focused more on narrative than choosing fancy words; however, he fails miserably at character buildup. None of the characters grow on you. Backman, the protagonist, fails to create any impact whatsoever on reader’s mind. You don’t feel pity for him, nor do you have that feeling of vengeance. Similarly, characters of CIA directors, the CIA operatives and Backman family are weakly knitted in the storyline.

But an afterthought suggests that Grisham has always been weak at character development. None of his novel, with the exception of Pelican Brief, is strong in this aspect. However, I must say that a political thriller, where games are played by different personalities and characters are themselves objects and targets, inadequate focus on characters can prove harmful and that is exactly what is lacking here.

Recommendation

Grisham’s take on dirty Washington politics appears convincing and it provides an insight into the murky power corridors. One is surprised to know as to who calls the shots in Washington, how powerful the CIA is, how the media is constantly manipulated by the people sitting in the high offices to undermine their opponents, how media publishes stories without proper research and thorough fact checks due to sheer madness of being first and survive the circulation war.

In short, if you are really interested to get some insight into the mucky Washington politics and influence of media and lobbyists, it may prove to be a worth read. Also for those who want to understand some Italian words and Italian history and Italian tourist spots, the book may help you. But other than that, avoid it.