Bookquote.net Bookquote.net – Books Review and Quote site
Related Articles
| Categories | Thrillers & Suspense |
| Author | John Grisham |
| Publisher | Anchor; Reprint edition (March 27, 2012) |
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 448 pages |
| Item Weight | 8 ounces |
| Dimensions |
4.19 x 1.1 x 7.46 inches |
I. Book introduction
The Broker is a suspense novel written by American author John Grisham and published in the United States on January 11, 2005. The novel follows the story of Joel Backman, a newly pardoned prisoner who had tried to broker a deal to sell the world’s most powerful satellite surveillance system to the highest bidder.
Plot
Joel Backman is “the Broker,” considered to be one of the most powerful lobbyists in Washington, D.C. However, Backman’s life falls apart when a deal collapses involving a hacked spy satellite that nobody knows about, and he ends up in jail. Six years later, the political wheels have turned and other power-hungry men are eager for Backman’s blood. Bargains are made, and after an outgoing disgraced President grants him a full pardon at the behest of the CIA, Backman finds himself spirited out of the prison in the middle of the night, bundled onto a military plane, and flown to Italy to begin a new life. He has a new name and mysterious new “friends” who teach him to speak the language and to blend in with the people in Bologna.
However, Backman soon realizes that something is not quite kosher in this new setup, in that he is under constant surveillance. In reality, the CIA is setting him up for professional assassins from China, Israel, Russia, Saudi Arabia and other countries. They intend to sit back and wait to see who kills him in an effort to solve the biggest mystery to hit the US government in decades: the question of who built this seemingly impenetrable and most advanced satellite ever. It turns out to be China; despite having low satellite technology, they stole the information from the US.
Backman barely survives several assassination attempts and manages to establish communication with his son, Neal. He escapes surveillance and returns to his home to contract a new deal with the US government. The CIA is told about the satellite, along with the taking of the satellite’s program. In return, they agree to do what they can to get the countries targeting him to back off, though they caution him that some of them will not listen. Backman then covers his escape by pretending that he is resuming his old life, then quietly disappears and presumably returns to Italy.
Editorial Reviews
“Most and best of all, it’s Grisham living up to his reputation as a great storyteller.”—Entertainment Weekly
“A fast-paced, fun read with echoes of something deeper. The author’s command of pop fiction delivers crisp, sharp prose.”—The Boston Globe
“[Grisham] is exceptionally good at what he does. . . . Indeed, right now in this country, nobody does it better.”—The Washington Post
“Where Grisham leads, millions of readers follow.”—New York Daily News
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 Broker by John Grisham
| Here is a summary of the book Review “The Broker by John Grisham“. Helps you have the most overview of the book without searching through time. Please access “BookQuote.Net” regularly or save it to keep track and update the latest information. |
1. MARK PORTON review The Broker
When Joel Backman is pardoned by an outgoing US President (why is this even a thing?) he is given a new identity and is dropped into the beautiful Italian city of Bologna. Backman (now Marco) is a potential target for intelligence agencies around the world due to him possessing software able to disarm various satellite intelligence systems. The very thing that put him in prison in the first place. It is not clear exactly why he was pardoned, not initially anyway.
I must say it is a refreshing change to read a story with a plot. For some reason, my preferred stories are character based – this is the first time I’ve ever read Grisham, or any thriller/spy type story, with the possible exception of a Le Carre tale when I was in high school. I think I need to change this!
What made this super interesting for me was Marco’s life in Bologna, he had to learn Italian in quick time, so he had to fully immerse himself in Italian life – such as frequenting cafes, tourist sites, and various other places under the watchful eyes of his handlers. The fact, I have been to Bologna meant I recognised many of the wonderful sights – Grisham captured the mood of the city brilliantly.
Anyway, this plot is complicated and there are many players – FBI, CIA, Mossad, Saudi, China, and Russian secret services, Politicians and more. Marco is constantly looking over his shoulder. There is an ominous feeling throughout this story. Grisham can certainly spin an interesting tale, he had me totally invested to the point I would get that sinking feeling in my stomach if Marco was in danger, or even if he was answering his door or crossing a street.
I really, really enjoyed this and now I have a new author to enjoy.
2. NATALIE VELLACOTT review The Broker
I finally found a Grisham novel that I don’t remember reading before!
The Broker, Joel Backman is in prison serving twenty years for a crime that he may or may not have committed. With fourteen still to go he is unexpectedly pardoned by the outgoing President and smuggled to a secret location in Europe. Then, the authorities of various countries sit back and monitor him as they wait to see who will get to him first…..
This was a great read and kept me hooked until the end. The danger the main character was in felt real and exposed the potential power plays going on at the highest levels of American government and within the intelligence systems.
I wasn’t as interested in the well researched history of Italy and the various Italian words and phrases that are included in the narrative but this might be a bonus for some people.
As with most of Grisham’s books, there are a few swear words, some violence and some sexual innuendo. There is nothing grossly offensive or especially graphic.
An entertaining read. Recommended.
3. MARTY FRIED review The Broker
I thought this was a very entertaining book, fairly easy to read and with a bunch of interesting characters. Perhaps the most amazing thing was that it got me to cheer on a guy that was a total asshole before going to prison – a super rich lawyer/lobbyist who liked to show off how rich and powerful he was more than he liked to spend time with his family. One of the few people who even admitted to knowing him after he went to prison was his mother, who barely knew who she was herself, and perhaps one son who didn’t hate him too much. He was arrogant, and seemed only interested in power. Yet somehow, Grisham made him likable, and someone we wanted to see win.
I guess it helped that some of the “good guys” were just as bad or worse, if the CIA and other government officials can be called good guys. The outgoing president was so bad that he came very close to getting zero votes for his reelection. The incoming president was so bad he contested the one state (Alaska) that that gave 3 votes to the old president, because he wanted to completely whitewash his opponent. But the incumbent finally won Alaska – by 17 votes.
The outgoing president had nothing to lose really by giving pardons to a few lowlifes, including our unsuspecting hero, Joel Backman. The CIA initiated this, in order to use him as bait. Joel became a free man, but had to stay out of the US, because the CIA wanted him dead, but not in the US. So, they took him to Italy, even though he knew no Italian. A lot of the book was about Italy, and learning to be Italian, which Joel, now Marco, did pretty well for an old worn out American. I enjoyed this part of the book, which made me want to go to Italy. It seems like a great place except for the speaking Italian part, which although I’d love to be able to do this, I’d probably never be able to learn.
By the end of the book, I was wishing it wouldn’t end so soon. We have to use our imagination a bit to guess what happens afterwards, but I think everyone lives happily ever after. Don’t they always?
4. ERIC DUNN review The Broker
This is another novel in a long line of great books by John Grisham. You know it’s going to be a fun book when the CIA is leaking someones whereabouts just to see who kills him. When I read the jacket of the book I was afraid that they may have given too much of the plot away. I was wrong. There was still plenty of suspense and drama to be had. This book had me guessing how it was going to end until it was over. I must admit that I didn’t guess right at all.
The characters in this book are well rounded and well developed. It seems that Grisham takes great pride in developing the characters and the settings of his books and it shows. The chase in this book takes you into 3 or 4 different countries and crosses paths with many, many people.
If you are a mystery fan or a Grisham fan then this book is a good read for you. It’s not as good as “A Time to Kill” or “Runaway Jury” but it’s by far better than “The Brethren” (those references will make sense to the Grisham addicts out there).
Overall Rating: 4/5
5. FRED CAMFIELD review The Broker
The novel is a little change of pace for the author. It is not exactly satire, not extactly thriller, and just a little mystery. The beginning of the novel remind me a little of Senator Al Franken’s satire on the Franken presidency. We have a less then outstanding president in his last days of office making use of his lame duck powers to issue pardons, his chief of staff trying to figure out how to obtain some financial gain, and the CIA wanting in spring an unpopular former wheeler and dealer scumball from prison to use him for bait to pull in some other countries’ assassins. The former wheeler and dealer is quite happy to be out of prison living on the government’s dime to make up for some lost time, but he quickly figures out the situation. He did not get to the top in his former life without having some abilities, and he is willing to give people a run for their money. He is also not without resources, and quickly learns spycraft. He trusts almost nobody, but obtains some interesting allies.
The reviews of the novel are surprising. You usually obtain a bell shaped curve with review ratings, but in this case they flatline with an almost even number of one star, two star, three star, four star, adn five star. I have reviewed hundreds of novels and have developed a few standards. The novel is well written and, by stanards of a somewhat satirical novel, is definitely well above a one star rating. It is not an award winning novel, and I would not give it five stars, but it is an interesting plot with a little spy vs. spy. So, I give it four stars, and some people might give it three.
6. YZPAT review The Broker
As a longtime Grisham fan, I do not know how I missed reading this earlier; but, I totally enjoyed this book. The plot was absolutely believable meaning that it was timely for the lives we are living now. The workings of our government espionage agencies are always a wonder to me and this novel gave me another view of their work as it unfolds. The idea of a presidential pardon for a prisoner who has settled into his sentence for the long run was the first contemporary idea; but, the way he was smuggled out of the prison and set up with another identity along with new residences, name, experience, and the life was beyond puzzling. The complexity of the undertaking was amazing. Grisham develops his characters to the point that the reader feels that this could be a neighbor is demonstrated again. The human side of the characters demonstrated in their choices of food and drink as well as clothing is most interesting. The fact that our government would undertake such an exhausting endeavor with the intention of having another government take over just blew me away. I came to hate the director of the agency and his having to be bundled in blankets, drinking tea all of the time! He knew his business alright. But, he was not a favorite of mine. The ending was one I would never have predicted as the plot wore on, but it was most satisfying. Once again, Grisham comes through with a unique story and an issue that deserves our attention.
7. STEPHEN M.MARSON review The Broker
I have read the following works of John Grisham: THE FIRM, THE PELICAN BRIEF, THE CLIENT, A TIME TO KILL, THE CHAMBER, THE RAINMAKER, THE RUNAWAY JURY, THE PARTNER, THE STREET LAWYER, THE TESTAMENT, THE BRETHREN, A PAINTED HOUSE, SKIPPING CHRISTMAS, THE SUMMONS, THE KING OF TORTS, THE LAST JUROR, BLEACHERS and finally THE BROKER. Most of these books are exceptionally well written enabling the reader to be pulled into the world of the novel.
In examining Grisham’s work, one finds a “redemption” theme in most of them. On an NPR radio interview, Grisham discusses his joy of writing about redemption and how his wife has been encouraging him to find an alternative theme. In my untrained literary eye, I feel that his novels that lack this theme are visually limited. That is, these novels lack the capacity to induce rich pictures in my mind. In addition, redemption, in and of itself, does not necessarily mean that the main character is going to triumph or be enriched. THE PARTNER and THE KING OF TORTS are excellent examples. Thus, the history of how Grisham handles redemption does not mean that the central sympathetic character is going to emerge prevailing or even surviving.
While reading toward the end, those who are most familiar with Grisham’s plot style will be acutely aware that there will be a variety of alternative endings to this novel. I suspect that readers new to Grisham’s style will be able to accurately predict the outcome. Regardless of one’s experience with Grisham, virtually all readers will find themselves sitting on the edge of their chairs as Joel Backman evades his diverse pursuers.
There are two personal key points about the locations within THE BROKER. First, my family’s origin is Northern Italy. THE BROKER is the only piece of fiction that notes this geographic area. In addition, the novel includes one of my favorite towns in the world — Culpeper, Virginia. How can I not like a book that includes these locations?
8. DEACON TOM F review The Broker
If you know me, you know that I am a Grisham fan through and through. So I loved this book!!!
The Broker was intense, fast-paced and well written. I missed sleep because I couldn’t put this novel down. From the presidential pardon to the tour of Italy, this book moved quickly
Of note,his characters were complex and evolved at the right pace. Joel’s struggle to learn Italian is a struggle that I can relate with. I have struggled with German my whole life.
The ending caught me by surprise. I loved it. Grisham stiles again!!
I highly recommended.
9. WANDERER review The Broker
I read every book Grisham writes but seldom read one twice. The Broker is by far my favorite, thanks to the Italian setting. (Yes, I know it’s becoming cliche to set books in Italy but I am shamelessly in love with that country and believe you can’t have too much of a good thing in this case.)
Caution: do not read while hungry and especially not while in need of coffee with no way of getting any. I considered counting how often the main character drank espresso or some other delectable Italian coffee drink but decided not to, as I was trapped on an endless toll road with days of indifferent McDonalds lattes behind and before me.
The plot is perhaps improbable but kept my interest all the same. I liked the main character and most of the secondaries and this was one of those books you really want to end all tied with a bow.
10. MACY WANAMAKER review The Broker
I really enjoyed this book. This book was published in 2005 and has the style of a suspense thriller that deals with the law, just like many of his other books. The book is a realistic fiction about a lawyer that was put in prison for having possession of an encryption of secret Chinese satellites. The CIA then got President Morgan to give him an eleventh hour pardon so a foreign government would find and kill him. Throughout the book, the reader watches how the lawyer learns to cover his trails and protect his life. Grisham created the characters perfectly for this storyline. He gives each one of them a distinct personality that the reader can understand and relate to rather quickly, adding to the effect of the book. The plot of the book does a good job of keeping the reader on their toes, and it is hard to put the book down. Throughout the entire book it is impossible to predict what happens next and is completely original. Geography plays a part in the book because the lawyer is constantly running from all of the world superpowers, and travels all through Europe trying to save himself. No other book comes close to this one in terms of plot. Grisham did an extraordinary job of developing this story to be new, exciting, and different from everything else. Although Grisham stays consistent with his books in that they are all realistic fiction stories about the law, he makes sure each one is unique and different from all the others. He does this by focusing on a different aspect of the law in each book and creating new characters every time with all new personalities. This time, he decided to explore the life of a pardoned convict that was given an all new life by the CIA, who then leaked his location. The reader should be aware that there are a couple of rather graphic descriptions when talking about some of the lawyer’s associates that had already been killed. Someone that is sensitive to this type of material would not enjoy the book. The theme of the book is centered around family, since the lawyer’s son stood by his father, regardless of the danger. There is not much of an aspect in this book that really sticks with a person, it is just an entertaining read. This book could easily be enjoyed by people of all ages and genders. The people that would enjoy it most, however, is anyone that takes an interest in the law, and more specifically, corruption of the law.
III. [Quote] The Broker by John Grisham
The best book quotes from The Broker by John Grisham
“The truth was that neither the Pentagon nor the CIA knew about Neptune.”
“The last friend was Critz, an old fraternity pal from their days at Cornell when Morgan ran the student government while Critz stuffed the ballot boxes.”
“LUIGI WAS IN HIS EARLY THIRTIES, WITH DARK SAD EYES and dark hair half covering his ears, and at least four days’ worth of stubble on his face.”
“The president had shifted to the ‘we’ mode now, something he invariably did when a potentially unpopular decision was at hand. For the easy ones, it was always ‘I.’ When he needed a crutch, and especially when he would need someone to blame, he opened up the decisionmaking process and included Critz.”
“He tried to smile at President Morgan, but he wanted to say something like: You are without a doubt the most limited politician I have ever encountered. Only in America could a moron like you make it to the top.”
“He put her on secret probation. She had seven days to become nice,”
“saw his hotel, he also saw Luigi pacing nervously along the sidewalk,”
“certainly luxurious for any student—1,800 euros”
Excerpted from The Broker by John Grisham
Chapter One – The Broker
In the waning hours of a presidency that was destined to arouse less interest from historians than any since perhaps that of William Henry Harrison (thirty-one days from inauguration to death), Arthur Morgan huddled in the Oval Office with his last remaining friend and pondered his final decisions. At that moment he felt as though he’d botched every decision in the previous four years, and he was not overly confident that he could, somehow, so late in the game, get things right. His friend wasn’t so sure either, though, as always, he said little and whatever he did say was what the President wanted to hear.
They were about pardons—desperate pleas from thieves and embezzlers and liars, some still in jail and some who’d never served time but who nonetheless wanted their good names cleared and their beloved rights restored. All claimed to be friends, or friends of friends, or die-hard supporters, though only a few had ever gotten the chance to proclaim their support before that eleventh hour. How sad that after four tumultuous years of leading the free world it would all fizzle into one miserable pile of requests from a bunch of crooks. Which thieves should be allowed to steal again? That was the momentous question facing the President as the hours crept by.
The last friend was Critz, an old fraternity pal from their days at Cornell when Morgan ran the student government while Critz stuffed the ballot boxes. In the past four years, Critz had served as press secretary, chief of staff, national security advisor, and even secretary of state, though that appointment lasted for only three months and was hastily rescinded when Critz’s unique style of diplomacy nearly ignited World War III. Critz’s last appointment had taken place the previous October, in the final frantic weeks of the reelection onslaught. With the polls showing President Morgan trailing badly in at least forty states, Critz seized control of the campaign and managed to alienate the rest of the country, except, arguably, Alaska.
It had been a historic election; never before had an incumbent president received so few electoral votes. Three to be exact, all from Alaska, the only state Morgan had not visited, at Critz’s advice. Five hundred and thirty-five for the challenger, three for President Morgan. The word “landslide” did not even begin to capture the enormity of the shellacking.
Once the votes were counted, the challenger, following bad advice, decided to contest the results in Alaska. Why not go for all 538 electoral votes? he reasoned. Never again would a candidate for the presidency have the opportunity to completely whitewash his opponent, to throw the mother of all shutouts. For six weeks the President suffered even more while lawsuits raged in Alaska. When the supreme court there eventually awarded him the state’s three electoral votes, he and Critz had a very quiet bottle of champagne.
President Morgan had become enamored of Alaska, even though the certified results gave him a scant seventeen-vote margin.
He should have avoided more states.
He even lost Delaware, his home, where the once-enlightened electorate had allowed him to serve eight wonderful years as governor. Just as he had never found the time to visit Alaska, his opponent had totally ignored Delaware—no organization to speak of, no television ads, not a single campaign stop. And his opponent still took 52 percent of the vote!
Critz sat in a thick leather chair and held a notepad with a list of a hundred things that needed to be done immediately. He watched his President move slowly from one window to the next, peering into the darkness, dreaming of what might have been. The man was depressed and humiliated. At fifty-eight his life was over, his career a wreck, his marriage crumbling. Mrs. Morgan had already moved back to Wilmington and was openly laughing at the idea of living in a cabin in Alaska. Critz had secret doubts about his friend’s ability to hunt and fish for the rest of his life, but the prospect of living two thousand miles from Mrs. Morgan was very appealing. They might have carried Nebraska if the rather blue-blooded First Lady had not referred to the football team as the “Sooners.”
The Nebraska Sooners!
Overnight, Morgan fell so far in the polls in both Nebraska and Oklahoma that he never recovered.
And in Texas she took a bite of prizewinning chili and began vomiting. As she was rushed to the hospital a microphone captured her still-famous words: “How can you backward people eat such a putrid mess?”
Nebraska has five electoral votes. Texas has thirty-four. Insulting the local football team was a mistake they could have survived. But no candidate could overcome such a belittling description of Texas chili.
What a campaign! Critz was tempted to write a book. Someone needed to record the disaster.
Their partnership of almost forty years was ending. Critz had lined up a job with a defense contractor for $200,000 a year, and he would hit the lecture circuit at $50,000 a speech if anybody was desperate enough to pay it. After dedicating his life to public service, he was broke and aging quickly and anxious to make a buck.
The President had sold his handsome home in Georgetown for a huge profit. He’d bought a small ranch in Alaska, where the people evidently admired him. He planned to spend the rest of his days there, hunting, fishing, perhaps writing his memoirs. Whatever he did in Alaska, it would have nothing to do with politics and Washington. He would not be the senior statesman, the grand old man of anybody’s party, the sage voice of experience. No farewell tours, convention speeches, endowed chairs of political science. No presidential library. The people had spoken with a clear and thunderous voice. If they didn’t want him, then he could certainly live without them.
“We need to make a decision about Cuccinello,” Critz said. The President was still standing at a window, looking at nothing in the darkness, still pondering Delaware. “Who?”
“Figgy Cuccinello, that movie director who was indicted for having sex with a young starlet.”
“How young?”
“Fifteen, I think.”
“That’s pretty young.”
“Yes, it is. He fled to Argentina, where he’s been for ten years. Now he’s homesick, wants to come back and start making dreadful movies again. He says his art is calling him home.”
“Perhaps the young girls are calling him home.”
“That too.”
“Seventeen wouldn’t bother me. Fifteen’s too young.”
“His offer is up to five million.”
The President turned and looked at Critz. “He’s offering five million for a pardon?”
“Yes, and he needs to move quickly. The money has to be wired out of Switzerland. It’s three in the morning over there.”
“Where would it go?”
“We have accounts offshore. It’s easy.”
“What would the press do?”
“It would be ugly.”
“It’s always ugly.”
“This would be especially ugly.”
“I really don’t care about the press,” Morgan said.
Then why did you ask? Critz wanted to say.
“Can the money be traced?” the President asked and turned back to the window.
“No.”
With his right hand, the President began scratching the back of his neck, something he always did when wrestling with a difficult decision. Ten minutes before he almost nuked North Korea, he’d scratched until the skin broke and blood oozed onto the collar of his white shirt. “The answer is no,” he said. “Fifteen is too young.”
Without a knock, the door opened and Artie Morgan, the President’s son, barged in holding a Heineken in one hand and some papers in the other. “Just talked to the CIA,” he said casually. He wore faded jeans and no socks. “Maynard’s on the way over.” He dumped the papers on the desk and left the room, slamming the door behind him.
Artie would take the $5 million without hesitation, Critz thought to himself, regardless of the girl’s age. Fifteen was certainly not too young for Artie. They might have carried Kansas if Artie hadn’t been caught in a Topeka motel room with three cheerleaders, the oldest of whom was seventeen. A grandstanding prosecutor had finally dropped the charges—two days after the election—when all three girls signed affidavits claiming they had not had sex with Artie. They were about to, in fact had been just seconds away from all manner of frolicking, when one of their mothers knocked on the motel room door and prevented an orgy.
The President sat in his leather rocker and pretended to flip through some useless papers. “What’s the latest on Backman?” he asked.
In his eighteen years as director of the CIA, Teddy Maynard had been to the White House less than ten times. And never for dinner (he always declined for health reasons), and never to say howdy to a foreign hotshot (he couldn’t have cared less). Back when he could walk, he had occasionally stopped by to confer with whoever happened to be president, and perhaps one or two of his policy makers. Now, since he was in a wheelchair, his conversations with the White House were by phone. Twice, a vice president had actually been driven out to Langley to meet with Mr. Maynard.
The only advantage of being in a wheelchair was that it provided a wonderful excuse to go or stay or do whatever he damn well pleased. No one wanted to push around an old crippled man.
A spy for almost fifty years, he now preferred the luxury of looking directly behind himself when he moved about. He traveled in an unmarked white van—bulletproof glass, lead walls, two heavily armed boys perched behind the heavily armed driver—with his wheelchair clamped to the floor in the rear and facing back, so that Teddy could see the traffic that could not see him. Two other vans followed at a distance, and any misguided attempt to get near the director would be instantly terminated. None was expected. Most of the world thought Teddy Maynard was either dead or idling away his final days in some secret nursing home where old spies were sent to die.
Teddy wanted it that way.
He was wrapped in a heavy gray quilt, and tended to by Hoby, his faithful aide. As the van moved along the Beltway at a constant sixty miles an hour, Teddy sipped green tea poured from a thermos by Hoby, and watched the cars behind them. Hoby sat next to the wheelchair on a leather stool made especially for him.
A sip of tea and Teddy said, “Where’s Backman right now?”
“In his cell,” Hoby answered.
“And our people are with the warden?”
“They’re sitting in his office, waiting.”
Another sip from a paper cup, one carefully guarded with both hands. The hands were frail, veiny, the color of skim milk, as if they had already died and were patiently waiting for the rest of the body. “How long will it take to get him out of the country?”
“About four hours.”
“And the plan is in place?”
“Everything is ready. We’re waiting on the green light.”
“I hope this moron can see it my way.”
Critz and the moron were staring at the walls of the Oval Office, their heavy silence broken occasionally by a comment about Joel Backman. They had to talk about something, because neither would mention what was really on his mind.
Can this be happening?
Is this finally the end?
Forty years. From Cornell to the Oval Office. The end was so abrupt that they had not had enough time to properly prepare for it. They had been counting on four more years. Four years of glory as they carefully crafted a legacy, then rode gallantly into the sunset.
Though it was late, it seemed to grow even darker outside. The windows that overlooked the Rose Garden were black. A clock above the fireplace could almost be heard as it ticked nonstop in its final countdown.
“What will the press do if I pardon Backman?” the President asked, not for the first time.
“Go berserk.”
“That might be fun.”
“You won’t be around.”
“No, I won’t.” After the transfer of power at noon the next day, his escape from Washington would begin with a private jet (owned by an oil company) to an old friend’s villa on the island of Barbados. At Morgan’s instructions, the televisions had been removed from the villa, no newspapers or magazines would be delivered, and all phones had been unplugged. He would have no contact with anyone, not even Critz, and especially not Mrs. Morgan, for at least a month. He wouldn’t care if Washington burned. In fact, he secretly hoped that it would.
After Barbados, he would sneak up to his cabin in Alaska, and there he would continue to ignore the world as the winter passed and he waited on spring.
“Should we pardon him?” the President asked.
“Probably,” Critz said.
The President had shifted to the “we” mode now, something he invariably did when a potentially unpopular decision was at hand. For the easy ones, it was always “I.” When he needed a crutch, and especially when he would need someone to blame, he opened up the decision-making process and included Critz.
Critz had been taking the blame for forty years, and though he was certainly used to it, he was nonetheless tired of it. He said, “There’s a very good chance we wouldn’t be here had it not been for Joel Backman.”
“You may be right about that,” the President said. He had always maintained that he had been elected because of his brilliant campaigning, charismatic personality, uncanny grasp of the issues, and clear vision for America. To finally admit that he owed anything to Joel Backman was almost shocking.
But Critz was too calloused, and too tired, to be shocked.
Six years ago, the Backman scandal had engulfed much of Washington and eventually tainted the White House. A cloud appeared over a popular president, paving the way for Arthur Morgan to stumble his way into the White House.
Now that he was stumbling out, he relished the idea of one last arbitrary slap in the face to the Washington establishment that had shunned him for four years. A reprieve for Joel Backman would rattle the walls of every office building in D.C. and shock the press into a blathering frenzy. Morgan liked the idea. While he sunned away on Barbados, the city would gridlock once again as congressmen demanded hearings and prosecutors performed for the cameras and the insufferable talking heads prattled nonstop on cable news.
The President smiled into the darkness.
….
Note: Above are quotes and excerpts from the book “The Broker by John Grisham”. If you find it interesting and useful, don’t forget to buy paper books to support the Author and Publisher!
| The above content has been collected from various sources on the internet. Click the Share button to recommend the book to your friends! |
BookQuote.Net Sincerely Introduced!
