The Broker

The Broker by John Grisham

This story is that of a man who was once a powerful lawyer/solicitor in Washington D.C. but then got caught up with power and greed and consequently got in some major trouble with both the US government as well as those of several other countries. He went to jail for many years then as a president was going out of office, received an unexpected pardon. The CIA sent him to Italy to find out who would try to kill him to help them know more information about what he was originally involved in. (He of course does not know this part)

He then proceeds to become immersed in the Italian culture and begins learning Italian. The CIA leaks his whereabouts and it is a race to escape. Through a series of spy like maneuvers, he eventually makes his way back to the US using someone else's passport. The book proceeds in thriller fashion with a decent amount of Italian culture incorporated. I read it just before going to Italy so it provided a nice primer to the culture. A blog entry on Rome and Florence will be forthcoming.