Rating: 
Summary: Grisham's weakest work so far
Review: Maybe I've just gotten too used to John Grisham's style - typically he gives you a heart-of-gold (if slightly flawed) hero to root for, and an ending with at least a bit of a twist to it. But "The Brethren" has neither, and I think it's my least favorite of all the books Grisham has written.Our "heroes" in "The Brethren" are supposed to be the three judges in federal prison who fill their time running a complicated mail scam on unsuspecting gay men. But I hope you'll pardon me if I find it hard to root for three guys who threaten to "out" their victims to the world unless they come up with some cash - they qualify as villains in my book. I guess they're the heroes here because they come off better than the scheming CIA director or the weak-minded, Dan-Quayle-ish puppet of a presidential candidate he's picked out, but the fact is, there's really nobody to root for in this book. And there's no surprise in the end, either. I can't really go too far into it without spoiling the ending, but the fact is, there's really not that much to spoil! The "deal" that's been struck goes down pretty much exactly the way the reader figures it would, and anyone who's expecting some sort of hook at the end to shake things up ends up sorely disappointed... Yes, I guess it's true that this book is a departure for Grisham, and it does add a bit of variety to his resume...but call me boring, I'll take the melodrama of a book like "A Time to Kill" or "Runaway Jury" over "The Brethren" any day.
Rating:
Summary: A Waste of Time
Review: I listened to this book on tape. There were 7 tapes in the unabridged set. By the forth tape, I was fed up. All Teddy had to do was tell Lake when he first found out about the correspondence with Ricky. Lake would have given up on it and the Brethren would never have known about him. Instead the CIA sends its own letters and ends up screwing everything up and spending millions of dollars. If Teddy's ideas of dealing with terrorists are anything like his ideas of dealing with the Brethren, Grisham's imaginary America is in big, big trouble. The characters in this book are so trashy and the plot so unbelievable, I couln't wait to bring the tape set back to the library. I was particularly sorry because, for the most part, I liked The Testament.
Rating: 
Summary: GOOD GRISHAM, BUT NOTHING SPECTACULAR
Review: I have read all of JG's books and am an attorney myself. The scam used by the 3 judges while incarcerated is a good one. It did take me awhile to see how he was going to connect the two parallel plots of Aaron Lake for President backed by the CIA and the scam by the judges. That part was good. Once again JG deals with staggeringly large numbers of dollars. Good read but not his best. Worth it.
Rating:
Summary: Brethren Revisited
Review: When this John Grisham book first came out--I panned it. As I was telling people about the plot, I kept hearing remarks, "well that sounds interesting to me". Hmmmm.....So, I re-read "The Brethren", pretending I did not know who the author was. And you know what? I liked it. Ok, it's not the best legal thriller. However, if one supposes that three irreverant Judges are in prison and from behind bars they scheme to blackmail affluent people vis a vis a gay boy pen pal scam by personal ads, they realize they have marked a guy that eventually is picked to BE the next President of the U.S. and you do get quite a unique plot. We get an inside look into minimum-security penitentiaries, holy rolling corrupt politics, shark infested attorney waters, and a fast fun read from John Grisham. Try it again, just cover the authors name, revisit some lively characters and at closer look--a flap jack flipping genius of a plot. I appreciate your interest & comments--CDS
Rating: 
Summary: If this review is a little sketchy . . .
Review: it's because I don't want to give the plot away. "The Brethren" is just medium good Grisham, nothing spectacular. It lacks the tension of "The Chamber" and the scope of "The Testament." It also lacks a clear hero, as the one truly innocent person in the book doesn't come on the scene for quite some time (in fact he can't, because that's how the plot works). Let's just say that "The Brethren" involves some typical Grisham elements--power, sleaze and large amounts of money--and puts them together in a new way. I've you've read a Grisham book before you probably won't be disappointed, but don't expect the best.
Rating: 
Summary: GRISHAM DOES IT AGAIN!
Review: This is far by the BEST Grisham novel I have EVER read. First, of all I have to say I LOVE the characters, 'specially Spicer, Beech, and Yarber (also known as the "Brethren"). I also loved the plot and storyline. If you love Grisham, buy this book. You won't be sorry you did!
Rating:
Summary: Good, but ending leaves it short of other Grisham work
Review: The story has a great build-up, terrific plot, and the ending leaves you saying, "huh?" I am not saying to avoid the book, on the contrary the plot and excitement are well worth the price of admission, just don't look for a lot of fulfillment at the end. I'm not one who needs to have a "happy ending" all the time, I was just hoping for more closure than I got.
Rating:
Summary: Slow Start, Weak Ending
Review: Not Grisham's best effort, co-existing plots are intertwined in a clumsy manner. The dialogue did not read true, and some of the twists were unbelievable--even for fiction. I'm still trying to figure out the message Grisham was trying to impart to the reader.
Rating:
Summary: John Grisham does it again.
Review: So, I am a big fan of John Grisham, and it took me about two days, non stop to finish this book. Non-stop because I couldn't put it down. It was very interesting, all throughout, although the ending was bad, as usual with Grisham's novels, so I am used to that. Recommended to anyone!
Rating: 
Summary: Grisham writes one just for the money
Review: I believe John Grisham wrote this one just to pad his bank account. I have been a loyal Grisham fan throughout his carrer, so I was astonished after reading this latest tale. This story was predictable from page one. There were no plot twists, the dullest storyline and weak thin characters.
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