Rocketgirl's Full Review: Phillip Margolin - The Associate
Phillip Margolin has written some good books and some bad ones. This one is somewhere in the middle. The premise is interesting, but the momentum slows down, and the ending is weak.
Daniel Ames is a lawyer for Reed, Briggs, a prestigious law firm in Portland, Oregon. He feels lucky to have the job since most of the firm's attorneys are Ivy league school graduates born with silver spoons in their mouths. Ames has had to work his way through school. So he feels especially threatened when a legal error gets him fired from the firm. He overlooked an important memo in several boxes full of background information for a lawsuit.
The lawsuit involves Geller Pharmaceuticals. There is a class action lawsuit in which Geller is being sued for its drug Insufort, which the appellants feel causes birth defects in babies. Geller has claimed it has had no findings in its studies to suggest that it causes problems. But the overlooked memo suggested otherwise. It suggested there were problems. But the doctor who wrote it has disappeared and Daniel needs him to confirm or deny what he wrote.
In the meantime, Ames finds himself defending himself from being convicted of murder when his former boss turns up dead and he is at the scene. A local attorney and investigator take on his case pro bono, to try to find out who wants to shut Ames up. The case leads to Arizona, where a decade old murder has gone unsolved and its perpetrator is now in Oregon.
The best part of this book is its premise. I love it when greedy lawyers and corporate jerks get their comeuppance so this type of story appeals to me. If you can believe there are any honest lawyers. Ames is one. He finds himself wrongly accused and a crooked lawyer is at fault. Finding out why he got framed and what the sleazy lawyer is trying to cover up is half the fun.
The story is set in Portland, Oregon, when I do have some familiarity with, since I live in the Northwest. That appeals to me as well. Writers usually don't put enough rain in though, and Margolin lives in Portland and ought to know.
There is more character development in this book vs. some others of similar style. There is much more background on Ames and on the main female lead, Ross. They inevitably hook up, but there is no mushy romance here. Just the way I like it.
On the other hand, there was quite a bit of verbiage that didn't really add anything. And the trip that Ross takes to Arizona to follow up on a lead goes on far too long. There are several chapters dedicated to discussing the ten year old murder. This could have been summarized and been better. This section goes on far too long, deadening the momentum of the story. And it also required some plot twists that just weren't done very smoothly and were actually a bit confusing.
The ending was also very rushed and unsatisfying. The bad guy still gets caught, but the loose ends aren't really tied up. There are no scenes with the bad guy, really, so you don't get the satisfaction of the character getting upset at being caught. And you don't know what the punishment is.
Other than those diversions and the jaunt to Arizona, the book is fairly fast-paced and doesn't take long to read. The author does do a good job at making sympathetic characters so the reader wants to cheer them on and get out of trouble. There is very little violence and little to no sexual innuendo. There is very little profanity. Overall, a safe book for teens to read, to get an idea what lengths greedy lawyers will go to keep a secret. Though not as good as some of Margolin's other books, it was still worth my time.
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