The Firm

Having been a bestseller and a movie, Grisham's novel will be familiar to most. Mitch McDeere, fresh out of Harvard Law School, is wooed by a Memphis law firm, where he accepts a position at an unusually high salary. He quickly learns that all is not on the up-and-up when he's contacted by an FBI agent, thus beginning a fast-paced thriller filled with surprises that hook the reader from the outset. With his outstanding performance, Scott Brick gives even those who have read the book and seen the movie a fresh experience. His pleasant voice, deep and a little gravelly, has a slight sarcastic edge. Most of the characters' voices are well done, the English accent (a tiny part) being one exception. Nice pacing adds to the mix. Listeners will find that the hours go by all too quickly. S.S.R. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine

Starred review from March 26, 2012
This smart and smooth audio edition of Grisham’s 1991 novel—now a television series on NBC—about attorney Mitch McDeere and his wife, Abby, captures everything that made the book so popular. Narrator Scott Brick follows the author’s lead, reading in a steady pace during expository sections—the introduction of newly minted Harvard law graduate McDeere to the sinister members of the Memphis law firm of Bendini, Lambert & Locke and his gradual understanding that the death rate of the firm’s lawyers is off the charts—and picks up the pace during moments of action and suspense. For his rendition of Mitch, Brick initially captures the character’s youth and brash overconfidence and later shows his confusion, suspicion, and fear. Additionally, Brick is masterful in his portrayal of Tammy Hemphill, a friendly private eye’s blonde, buxom secretary, who is at first nervous and afraid, but blossoms as she helps McDeere. Her deep-fried Southern accent takes on a triumphant insouciance that may be this audio’s brightest moment. A Dell paperback.