Editorial Product Review:Item Description:They call themselves
The Brethren: three disgraced former judges doing time in a Florida federal prison. One was sent up for tax evasion. Another, for skimming bingo profits. And the third, for a career-ending drunken joyride. Meeting daily in the prison law library, taking exercise walks in their boxer shorts, these judges-turned-felons can reminisce about old court cases, dispense a little jailhouse justice, and contemplate where their lives went wrong.
Or they can use their time in prison to get very rich--very fast. And so they sit, sprawled in the prison library, furiously writing letters, fine-tuning a wickedly brilliant extortion scam...while events outside their prison walls begin to erupt. A bizarre presidential election is holding the nation in its grips--and a powerful government figure is pulling some very hidden strings. For
The Brethren, the timing couldn't be better. Because they've just found the perfect victim...
Amazon.com Review:John Grisham's novels have all been so systematically successful that it is easy to forget he is just one man toiling away silently with a pen, experimenting and improving with each book. While not as gifted a prose stylist as Scott Turow, Grisham is among the best plotters in the thriller business, and he infuses his books with a moral valence and creative vision that set them apart from their peers.
The Brethren is in many respects his most daring book yet. The novel grows from two separate subplots. In the first, three imprisoned ex-judges (the 'brethren' in the title), frustrated by their loss of power and influence, concoct an elaborate blackmail scheme that preys on wealthy, closeted gay men. The second story traces the rise of presidential candidate Aaron Lake, a puppet essentially created by CIA director Teddy Maynard to fulfill Maynard's plans for restoring the power of his beleaguered agency.
Grisham's tight control of the two meandering threads leaves the reader guessing through most of the opening chapters how and when these two worlds will collide. Also impressive is Grisham's careful portraiture. Justice Hatlee Beech in particular is a fascinating, tragic anti-hero: a millionaire judge with an appointment for life who was rendered divorced, bankrupt, and friendless after his conviction for a drunk-driving homicide.
The book's cynical view of presidential politics and criminal justice casts a somewhat gloomy shadow over the tale. CIA director Teddy Maynard is an all-powerful demon with absolute knowledge and control of the public will and public funds. Even his candidate, Congressman Lake, is a pawn in Maynard's egomaniacal game of ad campaigns, illicit contributions, and international intrigue. In the end,
The Brethren marks a transition in Grisham's career toward a more thoughtful narrative style with less interest in the big-payoff blockbuster ending. But that's not to say that the last 50 pages won't keep your reading light turned on late.
--Patrick O'Kelley
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Buyer Reviews
Average Buyer Rating:
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Fans of Grisham Will Enjoy This Most...
Read enough Grisham and you'll be able to spot one of his paragraphs from a 50 paces.
The Brethren doesn't bring anything to the table to challenge that statement. But, don't assume that's a bad thing.
The beauty of Grisham is that he writes very tight and compelling thrillers populated by moderately believable characters and situations that only just stretch the bounds of reality. It's not Pulitzer Prize stuff, but good and entertaining nevertheless.
The Brethren pits three bad guys against a small yet determined collection of less-bad good guys. You know who is going to win in the end. Your job is to figure out how the good guys will triumph and how they are going to address the baggage that comes with using questionable tactics to defeat the bad guys.
There are enough slow twists, ½ turns, head fakes and jukes to keep the story moving forward and to keep the reader guessing to satisfy any Grisham fan or any fan of the genre.
It's not the kind of book that merits a lot of discussion from book clubs or around the water cooler, but it is entertaining, it is interesting and it is fun to read. Can't ask for much more for your hard earned $25.
Vintage Grisham that won't disappoint Grisham fans.
Customer Rating: 
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Have Not Yet Received Book
After a month, I have yet to receive this book from seller? So I do not really have much to base a review on at this point....
Customer Rating: -
Pretty good
The Brethren was a pretty good and interesting read however I've seen much better by Grisham. It was nothing like The Firm, The Client or Innocent Man, which are some of my favorites by Grisham to todays date. I just bought the Partner and I hope it's a good read.
Customer Rating: -
not one of his best
Here's another guilty pleasure from John Grisham. Three judges in prison, known as, you guessed it, "the Brethren," have come up with a seemingly perfect extortion scheme, and they're the most likeable characters in the book. What's wrong with this picture? At some level, I guess I admired their resourcefulness. The book is all about money and power, and the character development is nil. The Brethren's biggest vulnerability is their alcoholic attorney who shuffles their correspondence. Will he betray them and make off with their loot? Who's going to win out---the Brethren or their high-profile victim whose ethics are really no better than theirs, and he lacks their charisma. And, best of all, was Grisham prescient in foreseeing events that occurred after his book came out in 2000?
