Rating: 
Summary: While not Margolin's best, still a fun & quick read...
Review: First off, if you want one of the ALL-TIME BEST legal-thrillers, pick up Margolin's absolutely stunning, 'Gone, But Not Forgotten'...unfortunately for this author, he hit his stride quite early in his career--that isn't to say that he doesn't continue to produce above-average thrillers that continuously entertain and chill at the same time. As with most authors, some are hit & miss, but generally pretty good. 'The Associate'
is one such book. Above average (in MY opinion) and VERY fast-paced.Some have described this book as convoluted...but I disagree. Does this book bounce from one area to another quickly? YES. Is it easy to get confused? YES--b-u-u-u-t ONLY if you aren't
paying attention. Reading this novel quickly is almost essential to appreciating its complexity. On several instances over a 3-day period (which is how long it took me to read) I had
to re-read a few passages in order to catch up with the blistering pace and change of scenery. This in NO WAY diminished my enjoyment of the plot. It didn't take long before I realized WHO was responsible for the murders and horrific acts described in 'The Associate' but it was the accomplice that was
the REAL surprise, as I'm sure Margolin meant it to be. Some have been critical of the lack of court-room scenes in the story, and while yes, most of the book takes place OUTSIDE of the a justice building, that also in NO WAY takes away from this story. All in all I have to say that I have enjoyed Mr. Margolin's last couple of books quite a bit more than 'The Undertakers Widow' &
'The Burning Man' combined. For MY dollar, this is still one of MY personal favorite legal-thriller authors working today, and
many light years ahead of the best that Grisham has produced. If you are even remotely interested in 'The Associate' and you have yet to pick up one of Margolin's earlier novels, do yourself a HUGE favor and check out 'The Last Innocent Man', 'After Dark', 'Wild Justice' or easily the BEST hard-core thriller I have EVER read to date: 'Gone, But Not Forgotten'--all are exceptional examples of the best that the legal-thriller genre has to offer. Overall, I'd have to say I would recommend 'The Associate' as a fun and exciting read, and well worth the price.
Rating: 
Summary: The cover is the best part
Review: The intertwined stories were so complicated and convoluted that the main characters had to review the actors (whose names and locations frequently changed) and explain the plots in the last chapter of the book. None of the characters were well-developed or their motivation clear except for the lead, Daniel Ames, "the associate", who lost his job, got arrested frequently, and shot up by assorted villains. One poor snook arranged to meet Daniel at night in a graveyard in the rain only to be shot in the head and have his brains and blood spill on poor Daniel, who is very hard on clothing in this novel. I would not recommend this book to anyone.
Rating: 
Summary: 3 1/2 stars
Review: See storyline above. I think this time around Phillip Margolin slipped a bit. More a murder mystery than legal thriller. Margolin's story of a young associate will keep you reading at a steady pace, because if you don't read this in one or two sittings, you're apt to forget who certain characters are. I think Margolin's previous novels put this one to shame. This novel was just a little to short to accomodate this type of story line. It needed more depth to the story and the characters. Recommended for Margolin fans.
Rating: 
Summary: Another excellent Margolin mystery!
Review: I've read all of Mr. Margolin's books and enjoyed every one. "The Associate" was certainly no exception, and THIS particular associate takes us on a wild ride indeed. We all learn by experience, but apparently Daniel Ames should have gone to summer school. Before we even get to know him, he's already in big trouble. We know he's been made the fall guy, but we can't be sure by whom. Things go from bad to worse, and, okay, while there isn't much "legal" in this thriller, the trip is exciting. Many of the details are unrealistic in terms of what happens in a real law firm, but reality is sometimes boring in the extreme. Who would want to read a medical thriller that detailed every little clamp and sponge?
Rating:
Summary: Short, and Disappointing
Review: I've read and thoroughly enjoyed Margolin's seven other novels. This one -- to me, short at 292 pages less the equivalent of about 45 blank pages -- simply has an overcomplicated plot and underdeveloped characters. Sounds like a book forced out to meet a deadline. The fact that it's organized into 54 chapters -- so like 5 pages each -- gives you an idea of how choppy this story is. Plus real lawyers just don't do stuff like this. The one tactic I liked was the mini-novel of an much earlier murder (that more or less gets solved right along with our fresh one) as it diverted one from the story at hand while bringing you back to real time from out in left field. Tighten up the plot, get us better acquainted with the characters, hopefully fewer in number, and add some flesh to the story and we might have something here.
Rating:
Summary: "UNREALISTIC" IS THE WORD THAT KEEPS COMING TO MIND
Review: I found the first chapter or two interesting, although very unrealistic. I am an attorney with a large law firm and that scene with the big document review was not at all told "like it is". No large law firm would leave boxes and boxes of documents to be reviewed by one person overnight before being produced to the adversary the next morning. There are also things to be done to the documents, like Bates-stamping - well, I won't bore the non-lawyers reading this - but trust me when I say it was unrealistic. (Also, just by the way, if one document out of many thousands was produced by accident when it was legitimately attorney/client privileged, then the party who produced the document could move to have it "unproduced." Well, I said I would say no more, so ....) After reading about 3/4s of the book, I could take it no longer and just skimmed the end. I think if I were not a lawyer I probably would have given the book 3 stars. But that still is a pretty poor review, huh?
Rating:
Summary: The Associate
Review: Phillip Margolin is one of my favorite writers. This novels keeps his winning streak alive. Katie Ross and Amanda Jaffe are great characters. Ok! Daniel Ames could not have made more mistakes if he had tried. But the novel is filled with interesting characters such as: Flynn, Dr. Fairweather, Billie, Susan, Briggs etc......This guy is good!
Rating:
Summary: Roller Coaster of a Ride to Nowhere.....
Review: Reed, Briggs, Stephens, Stottlemeyer and Compton is the largest and most prestigious law firm in Portland, Oregon and Daniel Ames, young, up and coming associate, still can't quite believe his good fortune of working there. But when Reed Briggs' biggest client, Geller Pharmaceuticals, is sued for manufacturing a pregnancy drug that causes horrible birth defects and opposing attorney, Aaron Flynn, finds evidence, during discovery, that Geller is hiding studies that prove it was aware of the problem, Daniel finds himself to be the company scapegoat, blamed for incompetence and fired. Within hours, senior partner, Arthur Briggs, is murdered and Daniel is arrested. Now, as murder and mayhem ensue, Daniel is determined to sort out this mess and get to the truth and he finds that his life may depend upon it..... Phillip Margolin is back with a readable, fast paced thriller, but this is also a book with problems. The plot, though compelling at times, is more complicated than intricate and the convoluted storyline jumps around so much, it's confusing. I found myself constantly flipping back and forth to keep track of who's who and what's what. His characters have little depth and less motivation and you never really get inside their heads. Add to that, an ending that leaves too many loose ends and unanswered questions and you have the makings of an unsatisfying novel that leaves the reader feeling cheated. Phillip Margolin has written some great thrillers, Gone But Not Forgotten and Wild Justice, being among his best, but not this time out. Do yourself a favor and skip The Associate.
Rating:
Summary: the associate
Review: phillip margolin didn't disappoint me it kept me reading as fast as I could to find out what was going to happen next keep writing I love your books I can never figure out how they are going to end.
Rating:
Summary: Recommended!
Review: A real page turner. Read it in less than 24 hours.
|
