Rating: 
Summary: One of his worst
Review: This book was really disappointing. Grisham deviated quite a bit from his other books to write The Brethren. Three judges are serving time in prison for various offenses. While in prison they a lot of devious things, such as blackmailing wealthy gay men through a magazine ad. By accident, the Brethren snag the wrong person in their scheme and become the CIA's worse nightmare. Suddenly their get rich quick idea has tossed them into deeper waters than they ever counted on. If you're looking for Grisham's typical lawyer/greed books, you won't find it here.
Rating: 
Summary: Grisham's best so far
Review: I'm not sure what it is about this book that some people don't like. Even though Grisham has deviated from his "usual", this is definately the best book he has written- okay it might be far-fetched, but isn't reading about escapism? I have read it a minimum of seven times now! I have read all of his books, and while they are all stellar, the only one the comes close to this one is The Partner.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, just not Grisham's best
Review: This book is somewhat disappointing for the reasons given in the other reviews here. It's not quite up to the high standard that we expect of John Grisham.However, it definitely deserves more than the three-star average that it has at the time I write this. (For comparison, Jackie Collins' "LA Connections: Power, Obsession, Murder, Revenge" has a 3 1/2 rating. I've read it; Collins is simply not in the same league as Grisham.) If you like Grisham's other works, you'll enjoy The Brethren. Just don't expect it to be your favorite Grisham book.
Rating:
Summary: Lacked Focus
Review: The biggest problem I had with this book was there was no protagonist. The book was about too many characters and at the same time was not about them enough. I felt there was a lack of focus brought on by the lack of any character that you could follow and empathize with. The Bretheran were all in jail for good reason and I have difficulty empathizing with criminals. Lake was a one-dimensional character who was little more than a plot device and offered no personality or substance. Teddy was little more than a stereotypical military/spy buerocrat convinced the sky is falling. None of the people in the story had defined characters, they were all merely paper dolls to fill certain roles. I found that made the book lack any feeling or emotion whatsoever. The story is interesting, trying to figure out how the different strings come together and where they will end up, but the utter lack of character development and no central protagonist really made this a poor novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Not his best...
Review: I've managed to read all of Grisham's books--and have enjoyed most of them. The Brethren is much like family relatives who come to visit--you are delighted to see them, but after some time, you wish they would leave. The Brethren starts out with the same Grisham formula: lively characters and rich, deep-seeded plotting. As you finger each page, waiting for more, wanting to be entertained by this gifted storyteller, you will find yourself waiting until you finish the book. The problem: the payoff is not there, and when you finish the last page, you will not be overly satisfied, but somewhat disapointed that a promising plot unraveled with each approaching page. The plot is simple: The Brethren are some old judges who've been caught for various white-collar-crimes, and are now spending their afternoons playing court with the local prisoners and scamming people out of money placing ads in gay magazines. Everything is peachy until the Brethren hook a fish too big for their line...and with this the plot takes off. The writing is not great, but it manages to move the story along. Now, for the record, I'm a huge Grisham fan and I have read most of his books more than once, and would give this one another read if I had the time and energy; but I don't, and I can tell you, it was an arduous process completing that book. Not one of his best, and better to be forgotten quickly...
Rating:
Summary: Oh my gosh, what a book!
Review: oh my! this was an awesome book! It's somewhat controversial at times, but the story is so detailed and perfected! This book may be inappropriate for some ages, but it's a Grisham book, so-who cares if it's a little controversial, or inappropriate. It's John Grisham, baby! (only the best author!)
Rating:
Summary: My Mistake
Review: I hated this book when I read it a few years ago. The absense of the classic form hero, the lack of even moderate moral ideals and principles generated a rather juvinile review. The reality of life lies in the pages of this book. There are no heros. There are only the made, the undone, and the shot callers. The so called undeveloped charactors was just that, dispensable pawns. Better yet, pawns that can suddenly become a knight, bishop or even queen if the shot caller's say,"Make it so." It is my considered opinion that this author, John Grisham may well be better regarded a prophet than a writer. Recent history would support this opinion.
Rating:
Summary: Great plots but sloppy details = less than great stories.
Review: Grisham took a great idea for a plot but failed to research key specifics. Further, he regrettably chose not to flesh out his characters and breathe life into them. This results in a fair, entertaining, story, but better research with greater sensitivity to the individuality of many characters would have helped me better suspend my disbelief. Okay, just what do I mean? Well, if one supposes that CIA or some shadow government is really in charge of American politics and policy, then it is not difficult to imagine such a group would assassinate a president (read John F. Kennedy) or would create sufficient chaos to destroy a sitting president's re-election chances (read Jimmy Carter). That seems to be Grisham's premise and it is worthy of a great novel. HOWEVER, when you place a key scene in a locale as well known as Cairo, don't make Grisham's error of claiming you have a key character in a room at a lower floor of a hotel that is a significant distance from the American embassy and that he can see the top as the building suffers a catastrophic detonation. Further, don't depend on simplistic stereotyping of major characters. Breathe some life into them - make them human!
Rating:
Summary: A Good Read
Review: I find it really hard to believe that so many people are just tearing apart Grisham over this book. "The Brethren" is a good book -- it may not be another Firm, but it was enjoyable to read just the same. I have to agree that there was no clear protagonist and that I had trouble deciding who to like in the book, but I don't think that this fact makes the book terrible and boring, as so many of the other reviewers have said. I sat reading many times into the night reading on, wondering how the plot would unfold. If you're looking for an enjoyable book to read, I recommend "The Brethren." If you're going in with a negative mindset about the book, then don't read it -- but that goes without saying for most any book.
Rating:
Summary: Grisham strikes again!
Review: I am a huge fun of John Grisham, having read The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Brethren, and am now reading A Time To Kill. The Brethren is a new masterpiece, with details and intricate storytelling perfectly bound within the pages. The story follows three imprisoned judges, who earn money by blackmailing gay men. Another subplot follows presidental candidate Aaron Lake. Eventually, the two stories collide. Perfect storytelling by one of the masters of the genre. Recommended to anyone.
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