Rating: 
Summary: Grisham Beware
Review: As a mystery writer with my debut novel in its initial release, I want to warn the much-admired John Grisham. Phillip Margolin is moving onto your turf, and Margolin's THE ASSOCIATE is a magnificent legal thriller. This novel centers on Daniel Ames, an associate at a preppy law firm. Dan has working class roots, and he's assigned to sort through reams of legal documents before his firm's client turns them over to the other side. Dan's firm is representing a drug company, and the lawsuit implicates one of the company's drugs as the cause of horrible birth defects. While a letter surfaces that seems to indicate his client's guilt, Dan isn't quite so sure. As in any good legal thriller, motive,opportunity, and means become key questions, and other crimes, including homicide, occur. Margolin has a winner here. I recommend it heartily.
Rating: 
Summary: Never Develops....
Review: Philip Margolin is one of my favorite writers, but he must have been fulfilling a contract with a time requirement on this one. The plot is interesting though overly convoluted and the characters are basically one dimensional. We have the non-ivy league associate in a major big city law firm, the attractive former cop/investigator for the firm who first befriends and then falls for our "hero", the highly succesful plainiff's lawyer who has filed suit against a pharmacutical company represented by the firm, a venal top litigator for the firm who sets out to make our hero's life a living hell for failing to spot a damaging document during a review of their response to a document request, we have the hero's best male friend in the law firm who never loses faith in him, we have the good cop/bad cop investigating team for the local police force and we have a whole other story within a story that takes place earlier in time and which provides an improbable link the the main tale. You do keep turning the pages because the writing is straight forward and you kind of wonder who all of the bad guys are. With several chapters to go you have it figured out and the book finally just ends. That was the best part.
Rating:
Summary: A convoluted legal thriller that goes nowhere.
Review: Daniel Ames is "The Associate" in the latest novel by Philip Margolin. Daniel is a somewhat naive young man whose impoverished background has not prevented him from getting a good job at a prestigious law firm in Portland, Oregon.Unfortunately, Daniel gets caught up in a series of complex events involving a drug that may cause birth defects, a scientist on the run, and a bunch of dead bodies that keep cropping up. The police are suspicious of Daniel, since not only was Daniel overheard arguing with one of the victims before he was killed, but an eyewitness saw Daniel fleeing the scene of the crime. Daniel gets help from a beautiful and brainy woman named Kate Ross. Daniel and Kate look into the circumstances surrounding the various crimes that have occurred and their investigation unearths a plot that is both convoluted and sinister. "The Associate" is weak in many areas. The characters are completely undeveloped. The plot is so filled with dead bodies and intrigue that it collapses under its own weight. It is impossible to keep track of what is happening without a score card. Who killed whom and why become very tricky questions by the time you reach the end of this confusing and pointless book. Needless to say, I do not recommend "The Associate." If you want to read a terrific legal thriller, do yourself a favor and pick up Barbara Parker's excellent new novel, "Suspicion of Vengeance."
Rating: 
Summary: A Good Read For An Airplane Ride
Review: The Associate is Daniel Ames, a young ex-toughguy who grew up fending for himself. He worked his way through law school and discoverd he was as bright as the best of them. Or so it seemed when he was hired by Reed, Briggs, a top notch law firm in Portland, Oregon. As the story begins Daniel is a struggling associate working too many hours and trying to please everyone. He allows himself to be conned into reviewing the discovery papers in a case involved in a possible product liability case. Arron Flynn, a plantiff attorney is suing Geller Pharmaceuticals for manufacturing a drug that allegedly causes birth defects. At the conference following Daniel's review of the papers a document surfaces that Daniel had missed entirely revealing that the company's research doctor had discovered that the drug did indeed cause severe defects. Daniel was quickly fired, and out of work, humilated, and scared about his financial future, he begins to investigate the drug company. People begin to die around him, and a several year old case of unsolved kidnappings surface. When the partner who fired him is killed, Daniel is accused of murdering him. Amanda Jaffe from "Wild Justice" is now a more seasoned criminal defense attorney who takes on his defense pro bono and works with Daniel's friend Kate to solve the case. The two women seem to do all the work while Daniel blunders along from murder to murder. I will continue to wait for another blockbuster from Margolin, whose books I have enjoyed in the past. This one seemed to be a lot of loose ends that needed to be connected, but it was an ok read.
Rating:
Summary: OK, BUT I'VE READ MUCH BETTER ...
Review: ... is it just me or is Margolin getting too predictable in his plots? Saw everything coming like way off. Doesn't compare with the best legal thriller I've read this year, POWER OF ATTORNEY by (UK author) Dexter Dias. If you really want to stay up all night, I wouldn't bother with The Associate, I'd read POWER OF ATTORNEY instead (tho', like me, you'll have to wait to have it shipped from England!)
Laura
Rating: 
Summary: ONE OF MARGOLIN'S BEST!
Review: I was lucky enough to get an Advanced Readers Copy of this novel, even though I paid a little more money. I just couldn't wait till it was released. Phillip Margolin is one of my favorite courtroom thriller authors. "The Associate" was very interesting. It dealt with Daniel Ames, a lawyer working for a firm in Oregon. He is defending a pharmaceutical company aganist allegations that one of their drugs is the cause to many disfunctions and problems with newborn children. The case picks up steam when a scientist who works for the company gets burned to death. The novel gets more complex from then on, going deeper into the studies of the company and more research. The conclusion is shocking and exciting. This is a must read for courtroom and Margolin fans. Margolin is ten times better than Grisham & Turow!
Brad Stonecipher
Rating:
Summary: A Major Disappointment by Margolin!
Review: Daniel Ames, "the Associate," keeps making the same mistakes throughout the book. His character becomes maddingly annoying simply for his stupidity. Since he supposedly was bright enough to put himself through law school and be hired by one of the top-notch firms in Portland, this premise alone lacks credibility. Actually, Daniel Ames is not especially likable nor the majority of the company he keeps. While the plot has some possibilities, there are no real surprises. Hopefully, Mr. Margolin will get back to basics and his next offering will be more entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: Great
Review: A twisty tale that kept me guessing and kept surprising me all the way til the end. Did NOT see it coming!
Rating:
Summary: One of Margolin's Best
Review: The story kept you guessing all the way till the end. The book had very engaging characters which made it easy to follow them. I personally thought this ranked among Margolin's best work. I thought his "gone but not forgotten' was the best of all his works. I am glad he finally came out with what I think will be a blockbuster of a novel.
Rating:
Summary: A MUST read!
Review: Daniel Ames has a great job at Reed, Briggs-one of Portland's most prestigious firms, making more money than he ever could have imagined, but all that is about to change. Aaron Flynn enters Daniel's office and presents him with a suit being filed against Reed's biggest client, Geller Pharmaceuticals. The suit is naming Geller as the sole party responsible for manufacturing a drug that is causing birth defects in newborn babies. Daniel doesn't believe their is any merit to the allegation, so he begins an investigation, what he finds will shock him! Shortly after Daniel stumbles upon evidence of murder, and a cover-up involving Geller, he is fired from his job, and blacklisted from the law community. Several hours after being fired, Arthur Briggs, the man that did the firing, is dead, and Daniel ends up arrested. With the help of Kate Ross, and Amanda Jaffe (the star of 'Wild Justice'), Daniel races to clear his name, and in the process will uncover a trail of secrets that lead to a series of unsolved killings from seven years earlier, a trail that someone is willing to kill, again, to keep from being found. 'The Associate' is another UP-ALL-NIGHT-READ from suspense master Phillip Margolin. From page one, the carefully constructed plot grabs the reader by the throat and doesn't let go. Combining explosive legal thrills, cutting edge medical science, and heart stopping suspense 'The Associate' achieves it's goal of being a scary, pulse quickening, entertaining read that will fly up the bestseller list's. After seven blockbuster bestsellers, Phillip Margolin has done it again, another blockbuster. This reviewer lost a night's sleep turning the pages to reach the shocking conclusion, a shocker I never saw coming. A MUST read! Nick Gonnella
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