Customer Reviews

The Brethren

5 star:		(123)
4 star:		(211)
3 star:		(198)
2 star:		(214)
1 star:		(236)

 

 

Political scandals, judicial controversies and an extortion plan that will make three disgraced former judges very rich and powerful men make up this fast-paced thriller.

The Brethren have waited for just the right time--the right moment. And that moment has come. While the country is distracted by a presidential election with its own ulterior motives, the three judges have targeted their next victim.

I found this novel to be very entertaining and pure Grisham at his best. His characters are multi-dimensional, human and evil, and exploit the adage of "how far are you willing to go to get what you want?'

Still, my favorites remain The Client and The Pelican Brief.

Overall, John Grisham packs a punch and hits his target every time. Kudos!

~Cheryl Kaye Tardif,

Author of Whale Song (978-1-897339-02-2)

January 2007 Kunati Books

www.kunati.com or www.cherylktardif.com

If John Grisham had stopped this book after the opening scene, in essence writing just a short story, he would have done his best work. It's breathtaking.

Unfortunately for Grisham, he decided to make a novel to follow that brilliance. The novel falls far short of the promise of that beginning.

I won't tell you about the beginning because that would spoil your pleasure, but do consider stopping there.

These are the plot premises in the book:

1. Two judges and a justice of the peace are incarcerated in a minimum security Federal prison. What would life be like for these former "law upholders?"

2. Felons need money when they get out. How can they earn some while in prison?

3. Felons and wardens need non-violent ways to resolve disputes in prison. How might this be done?

4. How can a presidential election be manipulated to determine the country's foreign policy?

5. How could a bunch of crooks threaten a presidential candidacy?

A lot of the answers depend on the presumption that the world is full of stupid older men with lots of money who want to have hot, young boy friends.

This book will appeal most to those who enjoy conspiracy theories about government action and inaction.

As a crime story, I've read a lot better.

But do enjoy that opening scene.

I got stuck on a couple of Grisham's books and was unable to finish them (the rainmaker and one other i can't remember the name of), but this one was good. not really like the other recent books, i liked how many people were tied into the plot who seemingly had nothing to do with one another. there was no love interest, but that was okay.

John Grisham leads us into some political fiction about a presidential election in the US that is entirely rigged by the CIA. This is a very banal idea that many authors have worked upon over several decades now. Everything that happens in the US and in the world comes from the CIA. The CIA is the real and only ruler of the world. Note the boss of this plotting organization is an old man in a wheel chair. Physically impotent, yet he is the brain of all plots, events, and violence in the world. The first idea here is that finally that clandestine king that rules the CIA wants to have a President that would be their real toy, a man that they would have done, made, produced, crowned, through popular vote manipulated by some guided violence in the world. The second idea is that the only winning motto in the US is war, violence, security, the desire to be safe at home, and to control the world in order to be safe at home. The world is dangerous and the US, Americans are the prime target of all those in the world who want a share of power. Hence the only policy can be to double the budget of the Pentagon to have the best defense and weapons in the world. That is a little simple, even simple-minded. But that was acceptable in 2000 when the book came out. Today we would have our doubts because we have found out that the best weapons are nothing against the will of masses of people to counteract and to resist, if these people are ready not to count casualties on their side : they are numerous enough to cause damage, to create havoc, and yet to find more volunteers to go on with the sea of such a popular, massive guerrilla warfare. The last idea, and the thrilling plot of this novel is a scam against gay people organized by three judges (from all levels of justice) operating from a prison. It is easy. It is effective. It can bring in a lot of money, especially when they manage to trap the CIA-made candidate in their net. The whole book is about how they negociate the obstacle that becomes at once a great asset in their scam. And they do that very effectively. An entertaining book in a not so entertaining world. But also a frightening book in a very frightening world.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

Suprisingly entertaining book. Book talks about terroism and presidential primaries, reflective of today's 2004. Multiple plots come together throughout the book. Good read!

After reading the reviews here, as I always do before I pick up a book, I was worried. The Brethren did not get many good reviews. I gave it a chance anyway and I'm glad I did.

While this is not Grisham's best story, I thought this was an over-all good book. I enjoyed the story of the 3 judges in prison, running their scam. I also enjoyed the story of the man running for President and the crooked people involved. They came together in a predictable way, but still, I was enjoying the story. I enjoyed it up until the end, and that's what I did not enjoy. The ending. It did lack excitement or any type of climax. And other than seeing a few characters that could have been edited out, I liked this book.

I guess I'd leave it up to the reader- I think this was worth the read. But maybe you won't if you're a big "ending person". I'll leave that decision up to you.

Grisham has to be one of the most cynical authors writing legal fiction today. Everyone is corrupt, thinking only of himself, and money rules.

The "Brethren" are three ex-judges who have been incarcerated in a minimum security federal prison for a variety of avaricious crimes. While in prison, they procure the services of Trevor, a greedy little lawyer who agrees to act as the go-between in a dirty scheme to extort money from gay men who are fearful of being outed. Trevor bribes the prison guards to look the other way while he "smuggles" in forbidden documents and deposits their ill-begotten proceeds in an off-shore bank account. It's all very sordid.

A subplot, that becomes mixed with the affairs of the Brethren concerns Teddy Maynard, director of the CIA, who, appalled by the fall of communism and the concomitant reduction in military spending, conspires to find a candidate of suitable malleability, whom he can groom to be the next president. Aaron Lake, handsome, widowed, a light drinker, with no political baggage, seems the perfect choice. Just to be on the safe side, though, Maynard has Lake followed everywhere. By instigating terrorist actions at the appropriate time, and collecting huge amounts of money from weapons manufacturers who stand to reap huge profits from Lake's sole campaign promise: to double the defense budget; Maynard assures that Lake soon has a commanding lead over the vice-president, the previous front runner. Maynard will stop at nothing, including orchestrating a murder, to realize his dream of controlling the president.

While following Lake, Maynard's agents discover he has a PO Box hidden away. They "borrow" the mail - notice the CIA has already been involved in several gross violations of the law, all in the name of national security - and discover to their horror that their "perfect" candidate is conducting a surreptitious correspondence with a young man looking for a wealthy male gigolo. We know that the young man, Ricky" is really the creation of the Brethren. The Brethren, always careful, learn who "AL" really is, and see a huge windfall in the making. What better extortion candidate than someone running for president. Soon they realize that there is a third party involved, a very powerful group of men, but they are determined to make the most of the situation. The ending, which I won't reveal, is less a blockbuster than a revelation of Grisham's sordid view of the world.

This was a fun John Grisham novel. Sure, the characters are sleazy, people are killed, etc, but behind the whole thing the author was clearly enjoying himself. I enjoyed it more than most Grishman novels. In fact, one could argue that the entire book is a meditation, a condemnation, a spoof of national politics--but I doubt that the intention...maybe it was. Anyway, it is a fun ride that is not typical Grisham--which is a good thing. One thing that is very spooky, is that book was written in 2000...Grisham had the threat of terrorism to the United States nailed perfectly. I wonder if he thought of this book on 9/11. Oh well. Good read.

While there's not much suspense here, it isn't the worst thing I've ever read. The story isn't very hard to figure out and before you are a quarter of the way through it, most of the twists are pretty easy to see coming. That being said, I kept turing pages to see where it would end up. I can't say this is a bad book, but it's not a great one either. It's not a bad way to kill a few hours but you certainly won't be thinking about it a week after reading it.

Grisham's latest legal thriller is set in a minimum security federal prison, Trumble, which houses the expected assortment of crooks - drug dealers, bank robbers, embezzlers - plus three former judges who have dubbed themselves The Brethren.

In addition to meeting daily to handle cases for other inmates, this ingenious trio also comes up with what appears to be a successful mail scam. It works well until the wrong victim is caught in their net.

Michael Beck's superb first person narration injects greed into a syllable and projects cell blocks of true-to-life voices.