Grisham's gripping fiction debut describes the inner workings of a law firm set up by the Mafia to launder money and concoct tax evasions. Mitchell McDeere, third in his class at Harvard Law, is wooed relentlessly by the prestigious Memphis tax firm of Bendini, Lambert and Locke. Succumbing to the firm's high-powered salesmanship, he rejects some of the country's best-known firms to join the group, where he is awed by the opulent lifestyle pressed upon him.

EXCERPT: Nate didn't care. He was not at Walnut Hill by court order. Josh had put him there, and if Josh asked him to play hide-and-seek in the jungles, so be it. Sergio could ***** and moan all he wanted. PreRelease turned into a week from hell. The diet changed from no-fat to low-fat, with such inevitable ingredients as salt, pepper, cheese, and a little butter added to prepare his system for the evils out there. Nate's stomach rebelled, and he lost three more... .

Read by William Dufris

It is a suspense novel written by American author John Grisham 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 give the world's most powerful satellite surveillance system to the highest bidder.

The book has been hailed by some critics as a return to form for Grisham, while others lament it as a mere "trip to Italy" put into fiction form. A New York Times book review claimed that the description of an outgoing president who was "an idiot...but a clean one" seemed to be referring to President Bush, or perhaps to Bill Clinton's infamous last-minute presidential pardons in 2001. Nevertheless, The Broker made number one on the New York Times Best Seller list.

In the waning days of his failed four-year term as President of the United States, Arthur Morgan is performing those final duties associated with leaving office. Among those chores are reviewing requests for presidential pardons. The Director of the CIA makes a rare visit to the White House to suggest that Joel Backman, a former powerful Washington Beltway lobbyist who has spent six years in prison, be released. The President accedes to the wishes of the Director, and Backman finds himself hurriedly whisked from the prison and relocated in Italy (first in Treviso, then in Bologna) under an assumed name.