I was kind of young when The Firm came out with Tom Cruise as the main character but I vaguely remember a secret organization of high powered men pulling strings and using their influence to get what they wanted and uses blackmail as a tactic when members aren’t behaving in the ways they should. Please Join Us has pretty much the exact same plot.
When our main character Nicole finds out that she hasn’t had enough billable hours and that her firm seems to be moving away from her as being on track to make partner she receives an invitation from an all women’s ground called Panthera Leo. She thinks this group might help her network with high powered women and help her get back on track. She goes on a retreat that her husband Dan feels is very “culty” and there she does meet very strong, creative, powerful women that she quickly becomes friends with. Almost instantly, things are “fixed” for Nicole. She gets a huge case that’s going to have tons of billable hours, she is basically given a huge apartment to live in when she was ousted from her previous place. But when Nicole begins to ask questions, things start to fall apart around her, leaving her up against some really fierce women.
The book was pretty good. I thought the first half was arguably better than the back half of the novel but it’s an interesting premise and had a pretty solid resolution. I do think it feels very much like Grisham’s The Firm so it doesn’t quite read as original (particularly with the blackmailing portions) but it’s a book that you can plow through in a few enjoyable hours.
