John Grisham’s sequel to ‘The Firm’ coming out this fall

The king of the legal thriller is coming back — and he’s bringing a fan favorite with him.

John Grisham has written a sequel to his smash-hit novel “The Firm,” which will also see character Mitch McDeere return as the protagonist.

“The Exchange: After The Firm” is scheduled to be released by Doubleday on Oct. 17.

Published in 1991, “The Firm” was Grisham’s second novel and quickly became a bestseller. It kicked off a series of legal thrillers, mostly set in the American South, including “A Time to Kill,” “Runaway Jury” and others, many of which were later turned into movies.

The first novel was adapted by Sydney Pollack in 1993 and starred Tom Cruise as Mitch, among other A-listers including Gene Hackman and Ed Harris. A TV series sequel aired in 2012.

“When last seen in ‘The Firm,’ Mitch McDeere and his wife Abby were fleeing Memphis with the bad guys in hot pursuit,” Grisham said in a statement. “Now they’re back, 15 years later, and living in New York, where Mitch is an international lawyer and a partner in a mega-firm.”

“His work takes him across the globe, and not always to safe places,” Grisham continued. “During a trip to Libya, his trusted associate is kidnapped, and an execution is threatened unless an enormous ransom is paid. Only Mitch can facilitate the exchange and I hope readers have as much fun with the novel as I am writing it.”

Grisham, a former criminal attorney and member of the Mississippi House of Representatives, has written 50 books in a number of genres, including young adult and nonfiction true crime. He most recently published the novel “The Boys from Biloxi” and the short story collection “Sparring Partners” in 2022.

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