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| Categories | Thrillers & Suspense |
| Author | John Grisham |
| Publisher | Anchor; Reprint edition (May 24, 2011) |
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 384 pages |
| Item Weight | 9.6 ounces |
| Dimensions |
5.3 x 0.8 x 8 inches |
I. Book introduction
The Associate is a legal thriller by John Grisham. His 21st novel, it was published by Doubleday and released in the United States on January 26, 2009.
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • If you thought Mitch McDeere was in trouble in The Firm, wait until you meet Kyle McAvoy, The Associate
Kyle McAvoy possesses an outstanding legal mind. Good-looking and affable, he has a glittering future. He also has a dark secret that could destroy his dreams, his career, even his life. One night that secret catches up with him. The men who accost Kyle have a compromising video they’ll use to ruin him—unless he does exactly what they say.
What they offer Kyle is something any ambitious young lawyer would kill for: a job in Manhattan as an associate at the world’s largest law firm. If Kyle accepts, he’ll be on the fast track to partnership and a fortune. But there’s a catch. Kyle won’t be working for the firm but against it in a dispute between two powerful defense contractors worth billions.
Now Kyle is caught between the criminal forces manipulating him, the FBI, and his own law firm—in a malignant conspiracy not even Kyle, with all his intellect, cunning, and bravery, may be able to escape alive.
Plot
As an idealistic graduate of Yale Law School, where he was editor-in-chief of the Yale Law Journal, Kyle McAvoy has the promise of a highly successful career, although after graduation, he intends to devote three years to public service before applying for employment with a prestigious firm.
His plans are derailed when he is approached by two FBI agents (or such they seem) who interrogate him and then pass him on to a mysterious man known only as Bennie Wright. Bennie has a videotape of a party that took place in Kyle’s apartment five years earlier, when he was an undergraduate student at Duquesne University. In it, two of Kyle’s fraternity brothers, Joey Bernardo and Baxter Tate, are seen having sexual relations with Elaine Keenan, a co-ed who later claimed she was raped while unconscious, a charge seemingly supported by Joey’s asking Baxter, “Is she awake?” on the tape.
At the time, the incident was investigated by local police, who determined there had been no assault and declined to take further action. With the tape now in his possession, Bennie threatens to expose Kyle’s secret unless he cooperates with Bennie and his associates.
Bennie’s plan is to have Kyle accept a position at New York City-based Scully & Pershing, the world’s largest law firm, which is representing Trylon Aeronautics in its case against Bartin Dynamics. The two defense contractors had joined forces to design the B-10 HyperSonic Bomber for The Pentagon, and when they won the contract over Lockheed, the competitor sought support from senators and lobbyists. Legal battles ensued, and Trylon and Bartin, each laying claim to ownership of the design and technologies developed for the project, are now ready to wage battle against each other in court. Kyle will be required to infiltrate Scully & Pershing’s files and deliver to Bennie crucial information desired by the people he represents.
His first instinct is to ignore Bennie’s blackmail threats and deal with whatever consequences might arise, but the thought of the shame and embarrassment his family would suffer if he is indicted for the incident in his past, not to mention the negative impact on his own future, leads him to agree to Bennie’s demands.
Constantly under surveillance while outdoors and living in an apartment in which he knows bugs and cameras have been hidden, Kyle slowly learns how to trick those who are trailing him into believing he is unaware of their presence. He seeks help from Joey, who has more to lose than Kyle does if the videotape is made public, and with his old friend as a somewhat unwilling accomplice, plots to outwit his blackmailer. He creates an interest in different spy novels, and buys them at a used book store. He learns about all the different technical components and devices used for spying and learns about a shop nearby, whose owners claimed to be “Ex-CIA,” specializing in gadgets and devices specially used for surveillance.
What he doesn’t anticipate is the re-emergence of Elaine, who still maintains she was raped, and Baxter, who has completed a lengthy stint in rehab and, as part of his twelve-step program, wants to make amends to the girl he raped. His admission of guilt will give Elaine the proof she needs to file charges, and with Kyle drawn into the spotlight, his position at Scully & Pershing will be jeopardized, a risk Bennie must eliminate by any means. Baxter is found shot dead, with no evidence of the murderer’s identity, although Kyle is certain that Bennie ordered it.
After working at the law firm’s ‘boot camp’ for some months, as do all new associates, Kyle eventually gets drawn into the Trylon case and is granted access to the highly secure computer room where the confidential information is stored. Bennie and Nigel, a computer expert, force him to use a thumbdrive to download the files, which he does. But by this time, realizing that Bennie is nearly always one step ahead of him, Kyle has spoken to Roy Benedict, a criminal lawyer and former FBI operative. He tells Roy the whole story.
Roy still has good connections within the FBI, and they set up an operation to catch Bennie while Roy transfers information that is not sensitive. But it misfires; Bennie and his associates vanish and remain unidentified and unapprehended, although Kyle thinks he’s working for some other branch of the government.
Kyle admits his actions to the firm’s partners, and agrees to leave their employ immediately and not practice law in New York. He also voices his belief that one of the firm’s partners has acted as a ‘mole,’ passing information to Bennie.
Refusing the FBI’s offer of witness protection, Kyle goes home to his father, also a lawyer, who knows the whole sorry saga and had already signed a deal with Elaine and her lawyer. Kyle plans to become a partner in his father’s law firm, namely McAvoy & McAvoy. Roy, himself a highly paid New York lawyer, is a bit surprised at Kyle’s decision: “The Editor of the Yale Law Journal – practicing law on Main Street in York, Pennsylvania?” to which Kyle answers exuberantly: “I have never been more serious! Real clients. Real people. Real cases. Deer hunting on Saturdays, Steelers on Sundays. A real life.”
Editorial Reviews
“GRISHAM HAS A FIELD DAY…The Associate grabs the reader quickly and becomes impossible to put down.” —Janet Maslin, The New York Times
“Grisham’s confident style hasn’t changed, and THERE’S SUSPENSE APLENTY.” —People
“Grisham makes it easy for us to keep flipping the pages…A DEVASTATING PORTRAIT OF THE BIG-TIME, BIG-BUCKS LEGAL WORLD.” —Patrick Anderson, The Washington Post
“Throughout, Grisham unwinds the spool of his narrative at a MASTERFUL, page-turning pace that pulls readers in and keeps them wanting more…The Associate is an absorbing thriller that’s A FITTING FOLLOW-UP TO THE FIRM.” —The Boston Globe
“COMPULSIVELY READABLE…You’re peering into a secret world of power and money. What more could you or any red-blooded American ask for?” —Time magazine
“A PAGE-TURNER…Kyle McAvoy recalls Mitch McDeere from Grisham’s breakout novel The Firm. He’s young, idealistic, handsome, a little too cocky for his own good, but a brilliant lawyer who gets pulled in over his head and given an education in how the world really works.” —The Los Angeles Times
About John Grisham
John Grisham (born February 8, 1955 in Jonesboro, Arkansas) is an American novelist, lawyer and former member of the 7th district of the Mississippi House of Representatives, known for his popular legal thrillers. According to the American Academy of Achievement, Grisham has written 28 consecutive number-one fiction bestsellers, and his books have sold 300 million copies worldwide. Along with Tom Clancy and J. K. Rowling, Grisham is one of only three authors to have sold two million copies on a first printing.
Grisham graduated from Mississippi State University and earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1981. He practised criminal law for about a decade and served in the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1983 to 1990.
Grisham’s first novel, A Time to Kill, was published in June 1989, four years after he began writing it. Grisham’s first bestseller, The Firm, sold more than seven million copies. The book was adapted into a 1993 feature film of the same name, starring Tom Cruise, and a 2012 TV series which continues the story ten years after the events of the film and novel. Seven of his other novels have also been adapted into films: The Chamber, The Client, A Painted House, The Pelican Brief, The Rainmaker, The Runaway Jury, and Skipping Christmas.
Grisham is a two-time winner of the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction and was honored with the Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for Fiction.
When he’s not writing, Grisham serves on the board of directors of the Innocence Project and of Centurion Ministries, two national organizations dedicated to exonerating those who have been wrongfully convicted. Much of his fiction explores deep-seated problems in our criminal justice system.
John Girsham lives on a farm in central Virginia.
II. [Reviews] The Associate by John Grisham
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1. SHARON review The Associate
Kyle McAvoy might be a brilliant legal student with a bright future ahead of him, but he has a secret from his past that has the potential to destroy all of it. Kyle is on the verge of a deadly game of blackmail, but can Kyle protect his secret from the past or will his career be over.
It has been years since I’ve read a John Grisham novel, but I’m glad I picked up The Associate to read as I found it quite entertaining with a few twists and turns this book was well worth reading. I look forward to reading more by this author in the future. Recommended.
2. L.A.STARKS review The Associate
Despite its 2009 copyright date and thus some 12-year-old tech and dollar amounts, John Grisham’s THE ASSOCIATE is well worth reading.
While it is unbelievable that a YLS law journal editor-in-chief would have the time Kyle McAvoy does as he finishes law school or that he would be as combative as he is with people who could kill him, Grisham’s reader-accessible style remains attractive.
He opens with a less-than-heroic (and thus believable scene) in which McAvoy can’t wait for the last kids’ basketball game he is coaching to be finished.
The scene between Kyle’s father and another small-town lawyer who represents McAvoy’s accuser is also true-to-life.
Yes, Grisham has included a signature beach scene toward the end.
He especially gets right the still-valid excruciatingly stressful grind of NYC law firms (pressure to bill) and why protagonist Kyle McAvoy initially seeks to avoid that life, until he is blackmailed into doing so.
Grisham leaves some good unresolved twists at the end–we never know who antagonist Bennie was working for–and yet the hints about a foreign government or the U.S. government (including the FBI itself) ring presciently true. The author trusts the reader to appreciate that the mystery won’t be neatly tied up.
Highly recommended.
3. SULLY review The Associate
I’ll start this review by saying I LOVE KYLE MC AVOY. He’s an idealistic, brave, intelligent not to mention a good looking law student. I wish I can find someone like him at the law school I’m going to be accepted at. (HAHA. Sorry, the girly side of my brain started to speak up. lol)
Some people say that this is a suffice to John Grisham’s highly acclaimed novel, ‘The Firm’. And after reading this, I found out that it is real and adequate. For the reason that in both novels, young lawyers are on the run chased by fraud FBI agents or blackmailers from pathetic law firms. At the end, when our heart is very thrilled about a young lawyer being chased and all. Both characters (Mitch The Firm and Kyle The Associate) change their mind and set about trapping the blackmailers. And that’s it. The ending is unbelievably unwrapped up.
However, despite the fact that I was thornly disappointed about the idea of how “The Associate” has been written. I have this feeling of LOVING IT. The novel has a very fast pacing because I was thoroughly caught up in this book from page one (1) until the very last page. Very exciting!
The idea of working at a big law firm started to bug me (in a good way). I feel like I want to work as a litigator or as an associate at a law firm after passing the bar exams (Always look forward and think positively! :p)
In the end, I gave this book an awesome verdict, 4 stars! 🙂
Oh! I forgot to mention: I found Kyle’s dad very similar with the street lawyer (also by J. Grisham). It’s kind of cool actually. 🙂
4. KAREN review The Associate
I was thoroughly caught up in this book from page 1 and could barely put it down until the last page. Very exciting even though at times I wanted to yell at Kyle, the main character, not to fall for the blackmail scheme laid out before him. For anyone who has been to a few too many drinking parties in college, this will bring back those memories of regrets and situations that could have gotten out of hand. Kyle was involved in the latter, and thought it was all behind him, until he is approached by strange men who threaten to expose everything and ruin his promising law career unless he helps them. He goes along with it, not because he’s guilty of anything, but because there are other lives that could be ruined along with his, should the story come out in full. This, along with his other relationships, makes him likeable and sympathetic.
5. AMANDA N.CHICOINE review The Associate
There are few books by Grisham I have not read and although naturally some were not what I would rate 5 star, this is the type that has made him one of the top writers of fiction I have found. This is one I won’t forget (and for those who read one book after another will know that alone sets it apart!
It’s got the rookie attorney (just graduating from Harvard top of his class but he did his share of partying) – I mention that because one particular party that he had all but forgotten becomes a main part of the book and brings with it all the intrigue and bad guys that keep the reader turning page after page wanting to find out what will happen and yet hating when it is the last page and wishing it would just keep going! THAT is what sets John Grisham apart.
6. JC review The Associate
I have to confess that I haven’t read any books by John Grisham in a while, but when “The Associate” hit the bookstores, I felt compelled to read this book. I was taken back by the great difference in opinion with current reviews, but quickly put them aside as I enjoyed the book with only a couple of objections.
It is true that this story is somewhat reminiscent of “The Firm”, but with a distinction of the outside sources blackmailing the main character into stealing secrets from the biggest law firm in the world. Young Yale graduate, Kyle McAvoy, is being blackmailed by an unknown secret source and by a handler known only as “Bennie Wright” for his participation in a possible frat house rape years before. McAvoy must secretly steal documents from a large and controversial lawsuit or fear the consequences of a damaging video going public.
This book is an easy read in Grisham’s typical storytelling style. It begins with an interesting angle, but keeps a somewhat monotonous pace until page 104. Then the story picks up with interesting angles and begins to unfold in the usual entertaining fashion. At times, I did feel that the book read more like a field report from a private investigator than a thriller novel. My main complaint would be that the character of “Bennie Wright” should have been more of an integral part of the storyline. We needed to see this crafty and secret character conducting business so that it would really pull the reader into a more suspenseful mode for McAvoy. I think the reader would have felt more distress and not feel cheated with the ending. As far as the ending goes, it has an ending but maybe not as satisfying as most would like.
If you want a nice easy weekend read in the standard Grisham style, I would recommend this book. However, if you’re expecting a giant climatic scene with an aggressive confrontation, you will not find that with this book.
7. SEAN PATRICK review The Associate
Ii am not a plot teller. I hate to reveal a wonderful work. I have read 21 of John’s novels all fiction and all thrillers. I know all about being a lawyer and never could stand the pressure of being one. I am in awe of John’s talent or imagination as to how he cooks up these winners. I hope he doesn’t burn out and keeps writing them.
Each story is different but similar in that they all involve lawyers who probably hate their profession but are drawn to it like the fly to the flame.
Some start slowly then pick up speed to different endings.
The ASSOCIATE I s whiz bang with little violence but lots of smarts. I hope john writes a sequel but maybe I’ve had all I deserve. I WANT MORE HERE.
I read it in two days. The hero, Kyle McAvoy, wears a white hat and has no vices. H e gets caught in a trap and (whoops no plots remember) probably gets out.
The fun is the tale and the knowledge that none of will never want to be lawyers.
I Hope you like it as we’ll a I Did. God bless you John Grisham. You ALWAYS enrich my life.
Thanks for reading my hint at the Grisham mind as if I could. Sincerely Sean Patrick (a nom de plume
8. SUSANNA review The Associate
I found this book of John Grisham’s more to my liking than his The Pelican Brief. (I reviewed that, too, just now, and it, too was good.) The main character, Kyle McAvoy (THE ASSOCIATE), is a clean-cut, intelligent guy, initially dedicated to his law studies at Yale, then finds himself in an imbroglio beyond belief as he is coerced into joining a gigantic law firm upon graduation! Kyle has clear-cut views of what is ethical, and what is not. Kyle doesn’t wear a halo, though, which makes him human, as most of us surely are. Many of us have found ourselves in a situation, though, where we don’t really belong and wonder how in the world we got there–not that many of us have been in such a DIRE situation as Kyle finds himself, though! I found myself gripping the covers of this book as I read far into the wee hours of the morning.
Kyle HAS to get out of this situation; and the romance with Dale (that name belongs to a female in this book–I had a male cousin
by that name) is sweet and tasteful. Furthermore, the insight which John Grisham gives the reader into big litigation/law firms is eye opening!!! Unbelievable! Incredible! Work hours are abominable . . .
9. DAVID review The Associate
There are two schools of thought, broadly speaking, on Goodreads’ star ratings. Some readers put more of an emphasis on a book’s ending. Others, such as your truly, assign a rating based on how much they enjoyed the book up to and including the ending, accounting for journey and destination but putting more weight on one than the other. The story of John Grisham’s THE ASSOCIATE gets four stars from me, but the resolution over the last four to five chapters put a dent in that enthusiasm and lower it to a 3.5.
THE ASSOCIATE follows Kyle, a bright graduate from Yale’s law school who’s blackmailed into stealing associates from his new employer, the world’s largest firm. Kyle did nothing wrong, but some of his fraternity brothers did, and Kyle’s blackmailer has the nasty business on video. Unless Kyle breaks the law and turns over his firm’s secrets, his blackmailer will run Kyle’s life and the life of his friends.
There’s quite a bit of THE FIRM in THE ASSOCIATE. Kyle is a bright law school grad working for a mega firm, and so was Mitch McDeere (aka Tom Cruise). Both grads-turned-associates work a ridiculous number of hours and bill their clients for as many of those hours as possible. Both are innocent of wrongdoing, and both are blackmailed, tacitly or explicitly, to follow through on carrying out crimes they do not want to commit.
Kyle’s character, both himself and his motivations, are colored in shades of gray. We meet two of his frat brothers, Baxter and Joey, who are guilty of the things for which Kyle is being blackmailed. Grisham explores more of their journeys than I expected, and I grew to sympathize with them almost as much as I did Kyle, but to different degrees.
Joey and Baxter come from different backgrounds and have their own motivations reasons for wanting to get out from under Kyle’s blackmail, which could easily extend to them. Those backgrounds and motivations made me weigh my sympathy and support for them. One of the boys is easier to support than the other, but both exist seemingly to balance out Kyle, who’s easy to like and root for because he did nothing wrong. Joey and Baxter are guiltier; the question Grisham seems to ask is, can you forgive what they did? This question is at the forefront, and often had me wondering whether they were the central characters instead of Kyle, who has the law degree to help him navigate the legalities of their guilt or innocence, while Joey and Baxter are two average guys without legal savvy to help them struggle with their consciences. That makes their story more compelling at a base level.
Kyle’s story arc is compelling in another way. Compared to Joey and Baxter, his hands are almost too clean; remember, he’s innocent. His story is compelling because he’s a graduate who is inexperienced in practicing law despite his intellect, and who gets caught up in big-firm machinations unique to that setting as well as his position: befriending or competing with other first-year associates, finding love in a forbidden relationship, hoping he passes the bar exam so he doesn’t get booted from the job he needs in order to give his blackmailers what they want.
In other words, Kyle’s narrative puts the “legal thriller” in “legal thriller.” It’s exciting, but the climax and resolution happen so quickly that some may be left unsatisfied. I did like that the ending left the right questions unanswered. Did Kyle make the right decision? Will he stay safe? THE ASSOCIATE was a fun ride that still has me thinking the morning after finishing it, while at the same time wishing it wouldn’t have stumbled at the finish line.
10. CLARE review The Associate
Listened to in audio format.
John Grisham is an excellent storyteller, I accept he writes to a formula often involving big law firms and pharmaceutical companies. I have read a lot of his novels and I still have some in my TBR list.
Although you cannot compare The Associate to A Time to Kill or Sycamore Row it was still a good read.
Kyle Mcavoy is a law student at Yale, he will be graduating soon and hopes to work in an office dealing with minorities. All this changes when he is taken by the FBI to a hotel room. He is shown a video from when Kyle was at college showing 2 of his room mates raping a young woman. The case was investigated but dismissed because the girl was drunk and asked to go back to their flat. Benny who will becomes Kyle’s ‘handler’ admit they are not FBI. This shadowy group want to him to accept a position as an associate at the law firm that is dealing with a big lawsuit. If Kyle does not steal information from the firm they will go to the FBI with the evidence. Although Kyle did not rape the girl himself he does not want to get involved in a rape case and destroy his career.
Like I said Grisham weaved a wonderful storyline but with a massive hole in the plot. If Kyle did not want to join the firm why didn’t he just fail his Bar exam. If he did that the firm would sack him and Kyle would not be able to steal any informative.
III. [Quote] The Associate by John Grisham
The best book quotes from The Associate by John Grisham
“I needed forgiveness, because there were lots of sins in my past. I needed peace, because I’d been at war my entire life. I needed love, because I hated everybody. I needed strength, because deep inside I knew how weak I was. I needed happiness, because I’d been miserable for so long.”
“You’re not ready. You’re not ready, because you’re not angry, Baxter. You must reach a point where you’re angry at your old self, your old life, your addictions. You have to hate the way you were, and when this hatred and anger consumes you, then you’ll have the determination not to go back there.”
“I needed peace, because I’d been at war my entire life. (…) I needed strength, because deep inside I knew how weak I was. I needed happiness, because I’d been miserable for so long”
“Her shoes were short heels, open toe, no straps, red leather, high-class-tart stuff.”
“and told his father he would arrive in York late”
Excerpted from The Associate by John Grisham
Chapter One – The Associate
The rules of the New Haven Youth League required that each kid play at least ten minutes in each game. Exceptions were allowed for players who had upset their coaches by skipping practice or violating other rules. In such cases, a coach could file a report before the game and inform the scorekeeper that so-and-so wouldn’t play much, if at all, because of some infraction. This was frowned on by the league; it was, after all, much more recreational than competitive.
With four minutes left in the game, Coach Kyle looked down the bench, nodded at a somber and pouting little boy named Marquis, and said, “Do you want to play?” Without responding, Marquis walked to the scorers’ table and waited for a whistle. His violations were numerous–skipping practice, skipping school, bad grades, losing his uniform, foul language. In fact, after ten weeks and fifteen games, Marquis had broken every one of the few rules his coach tried to enforce. Coach Kyle had long since realized that any new rule would be immediately violated by his star, and for that reason he trimmed his list and fought the temptation to add new regulations. It wasn’t working. Trying to control ten inner- city kids with a soft touch had put the Red Knights in last place in the 12 and Under division of the winter league.
Marquis was only eleven, but clearly the best player on the court. He preferred shooting and scoring over passing and defending, and within two minutes he’d slashed through the lane, around and through and over much larger players, and scored six points. His average was fourteen, and if allowed to play more than half a game, he could probably score thirty. In his own young opinion, he really didn’t need to practice.
In spite of the one-man show, the game was out of reach. Kyle McAvoy sat quietly on the bench, watching the game and waiting for the clock to wind down. One game to go and the season would be over, his last as a basketball coach. In two years he’d won a dozen, lost two dozen, and asked himself how any person in his right mind would willingly coach at any level. He was doing it for the kids, he’d said to himself a thousand times, kids with no fathers, kids from bad homes, kids in need of a positive male influence. And he still believed it, but after two years of babysitting, and arguing with parents when they bothered to show up, and hassling with other coaches who were not above cheating, and trying to ignore teenage referees who didn’t know a block from a charge, he was fed up. He’d done his community service, in this town anyway.
He watched the game and waited, yelling occasionally because that’s what coaches are supposed to do. He looked around the empty gym, an old brick building in downtown New Haven, home to the youth league for fifty years. A handful of parents were scattered through the bleachers, all waiting for the final horn. Marquis scored again. No one applauded. The Red Knights were down by twelve with two minutes to go.
At the far end of the court, just under the ancient scoreboard, a man in a dark suit walked through the door and leaned against the retractable bleachers. He was noticeable because he was white. There were no white players on either team. He stood out because he wore a suit that was either black or navy, with a white shirt and a burgundy tie, all under a trench coat that announced the presence of an agent or a cop of some variety.
Coach Kyle happened to see the man when he entered the gym, and he thought to himself that the guy was out of place. Probably a detective of some sort, maybe a narc looking for a dealer. It would not be the first arrest in or around the gym.
After the agent/cop leaned against the bleachers, he cast a long suspicious look at the Red Knights’ bench, and his eyes seemed to settle on Coach Kyle, who returned the stare for a second before it became uncomfortable. Marquis let one fly from near mid- court, air ball, and Coach Kyle jumped to his feet, spread his hands wide, shook his head as if to ask, “Why?” Marquis ignored him as he loafed back on defense. A dumb foul stopped the clock and prolonged the misery. While looking at the free-throw shooter, Kyle glanced beyond him, and in the background was the agent/cop, still staring, not at the action but at the coach.
For a twenty-five-year-old law student with no criminal record and no illegal habits or proclivities, the presence and the attention of a man who gave all indications of being employed by some branch of law enforcement should have caused no concern whatsoever. But it never worked that way with Kyle McAvoy. Street cops and state troopers didn’t particularly bother him. They were paid to simply react. But the guys in dark suits, the investigators and agents, the ones trained to dig deep and discover secrets–those types still unnerved him.
Thirty seconds to go and Marquis was arguing with a referee. He’d thrown an F-bomb at a ref two weeks earlier and was suspended for a game. Coach Kyle yelled at his star, who never listened. He quickly scanned the gym to see if agent/cop No. 1 was alone or was now accompanied by agent/cop No. 2. No, he was not.
Another dumb foul, and Kyle yelled at the referee to just let it slide. He sat down and ran his finger over the side of his neck, then flicked off the perspiration. It was early February, and the gym was, as always, quite chilly.
Why was he sweating?
The agent/cop hadn’t moved an inch; in fact he seemed to enjoy staring at Kyle.
The decrepit old horn finally squawked. The game was mercifully over. One team cheered, and one team really didn’t care. Both lined up for the obligatory high fives and “Good game, good game,” as meaningless to twelve- year- olds as it is to college players. As Kyle congratulated the opposing coach, he glanced down the court. The white man was gone.
What were the odds he was waiting outside? Of course it was paranoia, but paranoia had settled into Kyle’s life so long ago that he now simply acknowledged it, coped with it, and moved on.
The Red Knights regrouped in the visitors’ locker room, a cramped little space under the sagging and permanent stands on the home side. There Coach Kyle said all the right things–nice effort, good hustle, our game is improving in certain areas, let’s finish on a high note this Saturday. The boys were changing clothes and hardly listening. They were tired of basketball because they were tired of losing, and of course all blame was heaped upon the coach. He was too young, too white, too much of an Ivy Leaguer.
The few parents who were there waited outside the locker room, and it was those tense moments when the team came out that Kyle hated most about his community service. There would be the usual complaints about playing time. Marquis had an uncle, a twenty-two year-old former all-state player with a big mouth and a fondness for bitching about Coach Kyle’s unfair treatment of the “best player in the league.”
From the locker room, there was another door that led to a dark narrow hallway that ran behind the home stands and finally gave way to an outside door that opened into an alley. Kyle was not the first coach to discover this escape route, and on this night he wanted to avoid not only the families and their complaints but also the agent/ cop. He said a quick goodbye to his boys, and as they fled the locker room, he made his escape. In a matter of seconds he was outside, in the alley, then walking quickly along a frozen sidewalk. Heavy snow had been plowed, and the sidewalk was icy and barely passable. The temperature was somewhere far below freezing. It was 8:30 on a Wednesday, and he was headed for the law journal offices at the Yale Law School, where he would work until midnight at least.
He didn’t make it.
The agent was leaning against the fender of a red Jeep Cherokee that was parked parallel on the street. The vehicle was titled to one John McAvoy of York, Pennsylvania, but for the past six years it had been the reliable companion of his son, Kyle, the true owner.
Though his feet suddenly felt like bricks and his knees were weak, Kyle managed to trudge on as if nothing were wrong. Not only did they find me, he said to himself as he tried to think clearly, but they’ve done their homework and found my Jeep. Not exactly high-level research. I have done nothing wrong, he said again and again.
“Tough game, Coach,” the agent said when Kyle was ten feet away and slowing down.
Kyle stopped and took in the thick young man with red cheeks and red bangs who’d been watching him in the gym. “Can I help you?” he said, and immediately saw the shadow of No. 2 dart across the street. They always worked in pairs.
No. 1 reached into a pocket, and as he said “That’s exactly what you can do,” he pulled out a leather wallet and flipped it open. “Bob Plant, FBI.”
“A real pleasure,” Kyle said as all the blood left his brain and he couldn’t help but flinch.
No. 2 wedged himself into the frame. He was much thinner and ten years older with gray around the temples. He, too, had a pocketful, and he performed the well- rehearsed badge presentation with ease. “Nelson Ginyard, FBI,” he said.
Bob and Nelson. Both Irish. Both northeastern.
“Anybody else?” Kyle asked.
“No. Got a minute to talk?”
“Not really.”
“You might want to,” Ginyard said. “It could be very productive.”
“I doubt that.”
“If you leave, we’ll just follow,” Plant said as he stood from his slouch position and took a step closer. “You don’t want us on campus, do you?”
“Are you threatening me?” Kyle asked. The sweat was back, now in the pits of his arms, and despite the arctic air a bead or two ran down his ribs.
“Not yet,” Plant said with a smirk.
“Look, let’s spend ten minutes together, over coffee,” Ginyard was saying. “There’s a sandwich shop just around the corner. I’m sure it’s warmer there.”
“Do I need a lawyer?”
“No.”
“That’s what you always say. My father is a lawyer and I grew up in his office. I know your tricks.”
“No tricks, Kyle, I swear,” Ginyard said, and he at least sounded genuine. “Just give us ten minutes. I promise you won’t regret it.”
“What’s on the agenda?”
“Ten minutes. That’s all we ask.”
“Give me a clue or the answer is no.”
Bob and Nelson looked at each other. Both shrugged. Why not? We’ll have to tell him sooner or later. Ginyard turned and looked down the street and spoke into the wind. “Duquesne University. Five years ago. Drunk frat boys and a girl.”
Kyle’s body and mind had different reactions. His body conceded– a quick slump of the shoulders, a slight gasp, a noticeable jerk in the legs. But his mind fought back instantly. “That’s bullshit!” he said, then spat on the sidewalk. “I’ve already been through this. Nothing happened and you know it.”
There was a long pause as Ginyard continued to stare down the street while Plant watched their subject’s every move. Kyle’s mind was spinning. Why was the FBI involved in an alleged state crime? In second-year Criminal Procedure they had studied the new laws regarding FBI interrogation. It was now an indictable offense to simply lie to an agent in this very situation. Should he shut up? Should he call his father? No, under no circumstances would he call his father.
Ginyard turned, took three steps closer, clenched his jaw like a bad actor, and tried to hiss his tough- guy words. “Let’s cut to the chase, Mr. McAvoy, because I’m freezing. There’s an indictment out of Pittsburgh, okay. Rape. If you want to play the hard-ass smart-ass brilliant law student and run get a lawyer, or even call your old man, then the indictment comes down tomorrow and the life you have planned is pretty much shot to shit. However, if you give us ten minutes of your valuable time, right now, in the sandwich shop around the corner, then the indictment will be put on hold, if not forgotten altogether.”
“You can walk away from it,” Plant said from the side. “Without a word.”
“Why should I trust you?” Kyle managed to say with a very dry mouth.
“Ten minutes.”
“You got a tape recorder?”
“Sure.”
“I want it on the table, okay? I want every word recorded because I don’t trust you.”
“Fair enough.”
They jammed their hands deep into the pockets of their matching trench coats and stomped away. Kyle unlocked his Jeep and got inside. He started the engine, turned the heat on high, and thought about driving away.
….
Note: Above are quotes and excerpts from the book “The Associate by John Grisham”. If you find it interesting and useful, don’t forget to buy paper books to support the Author and Publisher!
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