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Not among Grisham's best When Washington power broker Joel Backman gets a presidential pardon after serving six years of his twenty-year sentence in federal prison for compromising national security, he is given a new identity and sent to Italy. He undergoes an intensive language and culture training program to integrate him into Italian life and hide him from danger... at least that's what he's told. What he doesn't know is that he has been set up by the CIA as a target for assassination in order to determine which foreign agency he tried to sell secrets to. Joel Backman might be a former lawyer, but this is no legal thriller. There are no courtroom scenes, crime investigations, or legal maneuvers. It borders more on an espionage thriller, although the cloak-and-dagger action is minimal. The book consists mostly of Backman's struggles to keep a low profile in a foreign country and outfox his nameless pursuers. There is some amusing humor at the start of the book as the completely inept president, in his last hours in office, is bullied by the CIA into pardoning Backman. But that rapidly falls by the wayside as Backman goes into hiding. I found that the best part of the book was its delightful travel narrative, with Backman playing tourist and absorbing the local color of Treviso, Bologna, and other Italian cities. I imagined myself sitting with Backman in the cafes, drinking espresso and dining on fantastic local cuisine, learning Italian, and wandering the arched portico-covered sidewalks while absorbing the scenic panoramas of Bologna. Although the first half of the book was fairly suspenseful, the ending was very disappointing. It seems that Grisham grew weary of Backman's predicament and decided to tie up the loose ends far too tidily. He brought the story abruptly to an unrealistic and naive conclusion. This is not one of Grisham's best efforts, but if you enjoy travelogues and want to practice your Italian 101, you might consider that the book's redeeming quality. Eileen Rieback