The Broker: A gripping crime thriller from the Sunday Times bestselling author of mystery and suspense

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Six years later, the political wheels in Washington have turned and other power-hungry men are eager for his blood. Bargains are made, and after an outgoing disgraced president grants him a full pardon at the behest of the CIA, he 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 will teach him to speak the language and to blend in with the people in Bologna. The case is unfolding in Bologna, Italy, Where the author – narrator describes the entire city with tremendous accuracy. From the city monuments to the shops! The description of the town of Bologna, Italy, in the novel is quite accurate; however, it contains a few mistakes. For instance:

At this point the book becomes a travelogue for Bologna, a crash course in learning Italian and also a good food guide to the best restaurants in Bologna. This would have been interesting had I been interested in going to Bologna. Enough said. Meanwhile, the United States is in the midst of a presidential campaign and CIA Dirctor Teddy Maynard - who's worried about Russian aggression - plans to get his candidate elected. 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. Het boek wordt langzaam opgebouwd, een groot deel gaat over de tijd van Joel (dan Marco) in Bologna. Zijn lessen Italiaans, zijn bezoekjes aan verschillende bezienswaardigheden, aan restaurants waar hij algauw zelf zijn menu moet bestellen in het Italiaans en dergelijke. The book has been hailed by some critics as a return to form for Grisham, while others lament it as a superficial "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. [2]The Bretheren was published in 2000, one year before 9/11, which makes it a remarkable read, and for those who read it at the time, must have been flabbergasted at the horrific event of that day, September 11, 2001 in New York. There wasn’t really a main character so uh, I guess I really was conflicted with myself because I truly had no idea if I had to support someone on the book- and if I had to support someone, then did I have to support the “bad guys”? I was so confused by that but eh, it was still a decent narrative.

In the summer of his seventeenth year, Sam­uel Sooleymon gets the chance of a lifetime: a trip to the United States with his South Sudanese teammates to play in a showcase basket­ball tournament. He has never been away from home, nor has he ever been on an airplane. The opportunity to be scouted by dozens of college coaches is a dream come true. One of the cool parts of this book is how much of the story happens in a prison. If you are not in the prison with the brethren you are probably traveling with Aaron Lake around the United States on the campaign trail or with Trevor, the brethren’s lawyer, in Neptune Beach.Teddy has chosen Congressman Aaron Lake, a quiet widower whose one campaign issue (dictated by Teddy) is to double defense spending. 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. In my review of Dan Brown’s novels ( Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code) I likened his style to a mix of Dorothy Dunnett and Michael Crichton insofar as his skill at setting the historic and geographic scene for his novels is similar to theirs. Indeed, these three are real pros. I hesitate to name the author of this book in the paragraph for fear online searchers will think I’m putting them in the same category.

All Joel could see were dollar signs in front of his eyes and so he tried to sell it to the highest bidder. When the CIA became aware of this Joel was arrested and convicted for treason and to spend the next twenty years of his life behind a prison door. When the current Presidents term was just about over he gave, much to Joel’s delight and surprise, a pardon for past wrong doings. The reality was that this was a CIA ruse to see who would kill Joel first. 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. Na twee maanden in Italïe, onder het toeziend oog van de CIA, beseft Joel dat hij hier ook niet veilig is. Men is hem toch op het spoor. In feite zit het zo, dat de CIA hem een tijd in leven wilde houden, en dan informatie over zijn verblijf zou lekken, om te zien wie zou trachten hem te vermoorden. 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?"In the marketing world an expression is used which rings true for everything in life: You can fool all the people all the time if the advertising is right and the budget is big enough - Joseph E. Levine. Another concept is to first create a need(if there isn't an existing one) for a product, otherwise it won't sell. At first glance the statement appears too simple to really grasp the impact it has on politics, industry, even conservation, but it is the most powerful concept in use today.