Rating: 
Summary: Disappointingly Dreadful
Review: What absolute drivel Grisham has written for his latest book. I've struggled to around page 50 and have had enough. I am no longer interested in the bunch of dreadful characters sprinkled throughout the book and don't particularly care where the story will lead. After reading most of the comments here - I am well advised it seems to give up this 'also ran' - life is too short.What went wrong John - this is a huge disappointment, especially coming from the author of such wonderful previous novels. Is the Brethren the work of a ghost writer. Grisham has progressively declining over the past few books and now I believe he has sunk as low as you can get - absolutely no more Grishams for me!
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: This book was a real disappointment, and I am an avid fan of John Grisham. Maybe he is turning books out too quickly; they just don't have the interesting storylines and great suspense they did several years ago. I had a hard time getting through this one, and was really glad to be done with it. I didn't even care how it ended. It just wasn't "The Firm," "The Partner," or "The Rainmaker." I won't rush out to buy his next one.
Rating: 
Summary: Get Back to What Works
Review: Don't get me wrong, Grisham is an excellent story-teller. The problem with "The Brethren" is that Grisham has strayed too far away from a most succesful formula. Before Grisham came onto the scene, I wasn't a great fan of legal thrillers, but wonderful books such as "The Firm", "The Pelican Brief" and "The Runaway Jury", left me thirsty for more. I was quite surprised that "The Brethren" followed so swiftly on the heels of "The Testament", but having read it, I understand why. Grisham appears to have decided to change tack when it comes to his theme. Spellbinding us with the world of the courtroom, and the lawyers who can barely cope, we couldn't get enough. Trying to convince us with the inner workings of a frail crippled leader of the CIA, with the worrying personal life of a no-one Senator, Aaron Lake, and attempting to persuade us to feel for three old, cranky imbettered corrupt judges, in the softest of Federal prisons, is not something Grisham had any success at. If a formula works then go with it, don't disappoint the fans by changing tack so dramatically, and in my opinion so badly. If you are looking for a good story, then read "The Brethren" - if you're looking for a GOOD Grisham, then don't.
Rating: 
Summary: Grisham delivers again
Review: The Brethern is certainly different from Grisham's earlier works. There is a role for a lawyer in the story, but only a minimum one. The strength of the book, besides Grisham's fine writing, is in the plot (or plots), building around various conspiracies or scams concocted by the characters in the story, including a top US government official. I found the book a little slow to begin with, and I guess that's because there are so many characters involved in the story. Half way through, I still did not know who the real heroes are. But, typical of Grisham, he keeps us in suspense all the way and the outcome is full of surprises. Yes, Grisham has delivered the goods once again. His fans would not be disappointed with this one.
Rating:
Summary: Strike Three For Grisham
Review: Strike three for Grisham. For an author who started out hitting home run after home run, it's disappointing that his last three novels (Street Lawyer, Testament, and now this one) have been lucky to make it to first base. Unlike The Street Lawyer, which was totally uninteresting, this one at least has a plot worthy of a Grisham novel. The problem is that by the third chapter, you basically know who is doing what, so you set yourself up for a big twist somewhere...but it never comes. Grisham's style is still there, and he keeps you interested with colorful enough characters, so it is easy enough to keep interested. But with a handful of pages to go, I kept wondering, "When is the shoe going to drop? Who is going to come out of the woodwork and blow me away in shock?" It wasn't until I had read the last page before I realized I had been duped...by Grisham. There was NOT a twist, the characters never progress, and but for an interesting scam that was on exhibit throughout the book, nothing ever really happens. While this book was more compelling to read than The Testament, I felt that at least with The Testament I had closure, an ending I could be (somewhat) satisfied with. With The Brethren, I felt like someone cut out the last chapter, and that chapter held the key to all of the twists that never came about. I've read every Grisham novel to date (enjoyed them all until the last three, Pelican Brief and The Firm being my favorites), and unless another Grisham enthusiast HIGHLY recommends the next novel, I think I'll invest my precious reading time in a different author.
Rating:
Summary: A very poor effort on Grisham's part
Review: Very disapointing. Not much effort by Grisham here. The ending was very anti-climatic. I will think twice before buying another John Grisham novel.
Rating:
Summary: Solid and engaging
Review: This is the first Grisham book I've read/heard. I listed to the unabridged audio version. I found the characters to be believable in most respects. I particularly like the way Grisham delved into the actual characters and their backgrounds to help understand the motivations and did so in such a way that I didn't find myself wanting to move ahead. The characters themselves were neither caricatures nor monochromatic plot devices. Knowing the characters furthered the story without dragging it down. I found that he deftly moved from one plot line to another at just the right pace and tied them together early enough in the book to provide the necessary cohesion. I listened to the unabridged audio version read by the prolific narrator Frank Muller. He's easy enough to listen to most times but I find that often moves too quickly in dialog from character to character without a vocal distinction such that it made it occasionally confusing as to who was speaking. This was the only thing that I did not like and it is the sole reason I give it 4 instead of 5 stars. Grisham's book gets 5 and Muller's reading of the book gets 3.
Rating:
Summary: A great book with a disappointing ending
Review: This book had me intrigued from the very beginning. The way the plot kept building made me not want to put the book down. I savored every page until the end, when I was left with a feeling of "That's it?" The novel leaves the reader with no sense of resolve or closure, like Grisham's other novels do. Overall, the book was wonderful, but readers should be expecting a disappointment when the reach the last page.
Rating:
Summary: Good, Entertaining Story
Review: I think that some people are expecting that every book should leave them breathless and completely enraptured. This book was a very good tale that total immersed you in the story plot. I think that it was a fresh view not to have a hero. I really enjoyed the switchbacks; it came as an exciting revelation when I figured out how he was to tie in the dual stories. Also, it was a nice little touch to have the wrongfully imprisoned young man get away.
Rating:
Summary: Sub-par for Grisham, not riveting or thrilling
Review: The Brethren, by John Grisham, is a tale of corruption, politics and the purchase of public office, and Machiavellian, single-minded evil. These themes are fertile grounds for suspense and mystery and would seem infallible subjects for successful storytelling. Unfortunately, John Grisham was unable to reap the potential from his novel's original promising scenario. The story is about the accidental nexus between three inmates and a presidential candidate. Three former judges, who call themselves The Brethren, are serving time in a federal prison. In addition to presiding over their own kangaroo court to adjudicate fellow inmates' grievances, they spend their time conniving at a scheme to blackmail unsuspecting homosexual pen pals who correspond with them. Once they get sufficiently damning letters written by the risk-taking and hopefully wealthy men, the judges, posing as young gay men confined to drug rehabilitation clinics looking for friendship, demand hush money from their correspondents. The other main story line is about Congressman Aaron Lake, an insignificant member of the U.S. House of Representatives from the state of Arizona. He is chosen by the head of the C.I.A., Teddy Maynard, to run for President as a single-issue, pro-defense candidate. Lake's candidacy will be bought and paid for by the C.I.A. and the nation's defense contractors, in exchange for which he will double the Pentagon's budget. Lake passively agrees to the scheme. To assure Lake's success in the primaries, Maynard ignores intelligence he has received in advance about pending terrorist attacks and allows them to take place in order to focus the electorate's attention on the need for increased defense spending. It is not until Chapter 15, more than a third of the way through the book, that it is finally revealed how these two story lines will intersect. The Brethren's gay pen pal scam has inadvertently snared Aaron Lake, who responded to one of their ads in a gay magazine prior to his decision to run for President. The rest of the story focuses on the C.I.A.'s unraveling of the mystery of the identity of Lake's correspondent, and then averting the public relations crisis presented by the threat of exposure. Much of the action details the C.I.A.'s surveillance of the Brethren and their lawyer, and of Lake himself. As in all of John Grisham's books, there is a great deal of tedious discussion about the ins and outs of hiding and transferring huge sums of money, as well as how fugitives disappear while living lives of luxury. The story is unsatisfying for three reasons. First, Grisham takes too long to make the connection between the Brethren and Lake, during which time he bores the reader with facile and oversimplified descriptions of political campaigning, fundraising, and other such incidentals that add nothing to the suspense of the plot. Secondly, Grisham leaves some plot lines dangling, (such as when one of the Brethren's other victims succeeds in tracking them down and then abruptly leaves town), and introduces other plot lines that are superfluous (such as the arrival and escape of a young inmate named Buster whom the Brethren aid in his flight). Finally, Grisham does not make the most of the tension that could have been created once the Brethren finally realized that one of their pen pals was a presidential candidate, choosing instead to avert the crisis quickly through C.I.A. intervention. Overall, this is not one of Grisham's best. If you're expecting one of his typical page-turners, you'll be disappointed. He seems to have taken a fork in the road leading to authorial sloppiness and lassitude that will be a disappointment for fans of his previous work.
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