The Broker - Book Review

When we intend to make a quick analysis of a book of fiction "light" the best known of the twenty-first century, moreover, written by one of the most famous authors of recent decades, the magazine Publishers Weekly said "the writer of the most sold nineties, "I think the first question to be answered is:" The success of the book / author is really deserved? ".
I read "The Broker" by John Grisham that I knew without any other work of the author knew that his books are classified as "yellow legal," and little else.
The Broker is not a yellow legal, I think it is more properly a thriller, but in my opinion, is outside the classical connotation of this kind.
The plot, briefly said, is that a powerful Washington lobbyist lawyer was sentenced to twenty years in prison for espionage. Just six years later he is granted a presidential pardon, was released from jail and is being conducted in Italy, where she forges a new identity and try to rebuild their lives, while old enemies on his trail to bring him pay.
I will not say much for not abusing the curiosity of readers, but from these few lines it is clear that the kind of thriller that seems most appropriate to classify the novel. Espionage, moving enemies, Add to this, the CIA and the intelligence services of any nation, and here's the perfect recipe for a thriller.
The stroke of genius Grisham was to set most of the story in our beautiful country. He taught me a lot more on his habits and characteristics than many of us Italians stroll through the streets of downtown.
These people, who studied with Grisham eyes of foreigners, on the one hand highlights a number of aspects related to popular stereotypes, on the other hand, however, shows habits totally unexpected. And when it freezes, reading, and reflected for a moment, and is thought to himself, 'Wow, you're right, that's it! We are like that! ', Well, then it's appropriate to say that the author hit the mark.
To be sure, there are opposite cases (some of you have never heard that in Italy it's rude to order a cappuccino after half past ten in the morning?), But almost reviving the soul: in the end, if not commit any error, Grisham seems more "Italian" than many of us ...
This is why the plot, as full of ideas that, if handled by other authors, would bring excitement and rush to read, with winds calm, like a lazy river from the large bed, sneaking in here and there a description of the folk ways Bologna, elsewhere in a historic recall drenched with sarcasm. Often the passage of time seems to stand still: the characters sit in a restaurant to have lunch, without haste, and the protagonist is surprised by how many hours the Italians are willing to devote to food and good cooking, for him, that is the reality fast-food, this seems absurd.
With a frame entirely from our own, and charging a masterful irony even in the most delicate, the texture of the typical thriller finally gets the upper hand: the weather begins to tighten and the enemies are getting closer, in a final crescendo that accelerates the beating of heart and tickles the curiosity until the end. The reader can still enjoy a well-known author, extraordinarily self-deprecating: "It 's all fantasy, guys. I know very little about spies, electronic surveillance [...]. And if something in this novel is probably closer to reality must have been a mistake. "
And again, a tribute to our country (which apparently is more beloved by foreigners and by those who live there), "Bologna, however, is anything but fantasy. I allowed myself the luxury, having to choose a place to hide Mr. Backman, throw a dart at a map. A country was worth the other, more or less, but I adore Italy and all things Italian, and I must therefore confess that when I threw the dart had not blindfolded. "What can I say? Thanks, Grisham. Now I can not wait to buy your other book, and to visit Bologna.