Editorial Product Review:Item Description:Trumble, a minimum security federal prison, is home to an assortment of criminals, including three former judges. One of their scams goes awry, it ensnares the wrong victim, an innocent on the outside, a man with dangerous friends.
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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JOHN GRISHAM'S "THE BRETHREN"
GREAT BOOK - AS YOU CAN TELL BY MY ORDERS, I AM A BIG JOHN GRISHAM FAN.
THE SERVICE WAS EXCELLENT - I RECOMMEND THE SELLER HIGHLY.
Customer Rating: -
Predictable
The Brethren actually makes you feel that Grisham wrote this over a lazy weekend. There is no real climax to the novel - it kind of peters to a tame and predicable ending, without any big surprises or twists at the end. The three judges (the brethren), in jail, have a nice racket in place to trap and blackmail people, specifically gay people, extort money from them, stash it away in an offshore account, and hope to have a tidy sum by the time they are free. They walk away free, with a couple of million dollars in the bag. Another subplot concerning a poor kid facing a lifetime in prison despite being innocent walks out free. And then there is Aaron Lake (the politician), who is being 'handled' by the CIA to make a bid for the presidential election, and who seems to have escaped with his skeletons in his cupboard.
The tone of the book, especially when it covers the political scene and the seeming ease with which public perceptions and even elections can be manipulated, is very much biting and satirical.
Customer Rating: -
Good Book
John Grisham is a great writer and I enjoy reading his stuff. Its so easy to read!
Customer Rating: 
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Eerie parallels to the 2008 election
"The Bretheren" (published in 2000) depicts in part a presidential run where a smooth talking unknown candidate is propelled into contention by a behind-the-scene powerful force. Unprecedented 10's of millions of dollars are funneled to his campaign through somewhat nefarious means. Various events and an "October surprise" are planned to help the candidate gain office. The candidate looks and sounds great on TV. You can't help but think 2008 election when reading this book. The specifics are very different (e.g. motives) but just the same its eerie.
The book was written in a cynical way as if the corruption, cheating, etc. portrayed was expected and natural. It was kind of refreshing.
I give 4 stars for being cynical and prescient.
