 the partner (1997) is a legal/thriller novel by noted american author john grisham. it was grisham's eighth novel. ==plot== patrick lanigan, a junior partner in a law firm in biloxi, mississippi, gets wind of a plan masterminded by shipbuilding magnate benny aricia to defraud the u.s. government through an overcharging scheme. his firm is deeply involved in the scam and stands to gain $30 million, yet plans to keep patrick from sharing the profits. he bides his time, secretly collecting evidence. he knows that simply stealing the money and running won't work, so he feigns his own death in an automobile accident. when the body is found, it is identified as patrick, though it is badly burned, and subsequently cremated. patrick watches his own funeral from a safe distance. his wife trudy received $2.5 million in life insurance. although he pretended not to know, trudy had been cheating on him throughout their marriage, and his daughter was the result of that relationship. six weeks later, $90 million vanishes from the law firm's off-shore bank account. the associates know that only an insider had the knowledge to pull it off and eventually they start wondering if patrick is really dead after all. without the money, the associates and benny aricia are in deep financial trouble. benny hires specialist jack stephano to track down patrick. over four years later, patrick is finally discovered living a new life in ponta porÃ£, brazil, a small town on the border of paraguay under the name danilo silva. his girlfriend is brazilian lawyer eva miranda. patrick is kidnapped and tortured by thugs hired by jack stephano. they try to get him to reveal the location of the money, which, conveniently, lanigan doesn't know. before he is tortured more or even killed, the fbi intervenes(tipped off by eva). the fbi leans on jack stephano to hand over the fugitive and patrick is repatriated. after arriving back in biloxi in custody of the fbi, a series of legal battles ensue. the insurance companies monarch-sierra and northern case mutual that paid $2.5 million to trudy, who has subsequently been a complete spendthrift as well as openly resuming her once-adulterous relationship, immediately sue and block access to the insurance money. trudy is now in a difficult position, as she can no longer afford even the most basic trappings of her extravagant lifestyle. she sues pa
1997_novels Biloxi,_Mississippi Mato_Grosso_do_Sul Novels_by_John_Grisham Novels_set_in_Brazil Novels_set_in_Mississippi