Partners

A Rogue Lawyer Short Story

By: John Grisham

Narrated by: Mark Deakins

AN ORIGINAL E-SHORT • This standalone prequel to John Grisham’s #1 New York Times bestseller Rogue Lawyer tells the story of how Sebastian Rudd finally found someone he could trust to be his driver, bodyguard, law clerk, and partner.

Sebastian Rudd, rogue lawyer, defends people other lawyers won't go near. It's controversial and dangerous work, which is why Sebastian needs his bodyguard/assistant/sidekick: Partner. So if Sebastian is just about the most unpopular lawyer in town, why is Partner so loyal to him? How did they meet? And what's the real story of this man of few words who's as good with a gun as he is with the law? The surprising answers are all in Partners, John Grisham's first exclusively digital short story.

Critic reviews

Praise for John Grisham’s #1 New York Times bestseller Rogue Lawyer

“Terrific . . . inventive . . . John Grisham still makes it look easy [with] distinctive characters, tricky legal predicaments and rogueishly cheating ways to worm out of them.”—Maureen Corrigan, The Washington Post

“With a blunt, rude, gravelly poetic wiseguy voice . . . Rudd comes across as a kind of twenty-first-century Philip Marlowe.”—Benjamin Percy, The New York Times Book Review

“Deeply engaging and entertaining . . . [Grisham finds] intense drama in the little skirmishes that play out across our legal system every day.”—Charles Finch, USA Today

“Grisham has taken a step in an intriguing new direction.”—Janet Maslin, The New York Times

I wrote a 2 star review to Rogue Lawyer...

...so it should not be surprising that I did particularly not like its prequel either. That's correct, John Grisham released a prequel novella to Rogue Lawyer 5 months after releasing the novel. I was a fan of Grisham from his earliest days and I have hard cover copies of most of his books released from 1989 through 2005. For 20 years Grisham set the standard for legal thrillers. His last several novels indicate he has either lost interest or lost his touch. There are now several legal thriller writers who are consistently better than Grisham including Robert Dugoni, Scott Pratt, Sheldon Siegel, Teresa Burrell, Joel Goldman, Anthony Franze, Michael Connelly, Greg Iles, Steve Martini, Marty Green, and H Terrell Griffin. I'll stop at 11, but there are more.

Partners is not a bad novella. Neither is it an excellent one.

good short story

Enjoyed learning Partner's history. Hope to have more stories about the Rogue Lawyer and explore Partner more.

A very nice prequel to Rogue Lawyer

I thought Rouge Lawyer was one of Grisham's better books. If you thought so, too, you'll enjoy this short story at a very modest price. "Partner" was the Rogue Lawyer's sidekick and this story tells how they came to be work buddies. It's story is "dated" properly in that it is set at the time the Rogue Lawyer was just becoming rogue. So it amplifies the kinds of cases in RL as it tells the story of Partner's case in particular. The plot is believable, the storyline is tight and involving, and Deakins narration top rate. Just one thing, though: Read Rogue Lawyer first if you haven't done so already.

Great short story ...

A good short story that was both disturbing and entertaining. Very thought provoking and scary ...

5-Stars***** Exciting Legal Thriller

Partners (prequel to Rogue Lawyer) is a great listen on it’s own, but also does an outstanding job creating excitement for Rogue Lawyer. I’m thrilled narration for both books is done by Mark Deakins, he is absolutely perfect for these characters!!! I recommend Partners to all who enjoys legal thrillers.