The Brethren

Rating:
Summary: Emperors new clothes
Review: Where's the plot? Nothing happened. It starts with a fine premise, a group of wiley old judges, v. an evil CIA chief. But there is no battle of wits. Give us some real action. If Grisham's next book also gets bad review, I'll just take the critics word for it.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining and quick read
Review: I have come to enjoy Grisham not for fantastic writing or insightful characters, but simply for a fast, completely entertaining read. The Brethren accomplished this purpose. No one expects great literature from Grisham - what we do expect is to get caught up in an entertaining story - and he has not failed to accomplish that yet in my opinion.

Rating:
Summary: Great
Review: It seems like the fashionable thing to do is trash an author who has become very popular. Individuals who undoubtedly want to appear 'chic' have done this with Grisham's latest. I refuse to get caught up in this trend. The Brethren is a delightful read. The plots are interesting, but above all it is just plain fun. Ignore the literary snobs and enjoy the book. It is worth it.

Rating:
Summary: Yawn
Review: What a disappointment! Threads were left hanging and NONE of the characters ever fleshed-out. I don't think I will rush out for his next work.

Rating:
Summary: waste of time
Review: If you really want to waste your time, go ahead. No plot, no "characters", no ending is a pretty good summarization of this misuse of paper. I think Grisham needed some money, and so he sat down one afternoon and just wrote about any old thing which he could think of.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining
Review: This book is not your typical John Grisham courtroom style of story. I think it's the mark of a good author, however, when one can journey away from their traditional style of writing successfully. Grisham has done this both with this book and with the Testament. I do enjoy his courtroom dramas, and even though this book did not involve that, it was still an entertaining read.

Rating:
Summary: Good Story, Bad Ending
Review: I have enjoyed many of Grisham's works and looked forward to the Brethren as well. The story was developed nicely, but seemingly fell apart at the end...as if Grisham was in a hurry to end the story and did so in a rather quick and sloppy manner.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Mr. Grisham should stick with his tried and true writing style instead of trying to venture out. There were too many characters for me identify with. I wasn't sure who the good guys or the bad guys were. Disappointing - I wish I had bought the paperback instead to cut down in costs!

Rating:
Summary: Finally a Grisham book that I finished
Review: I really enjoyed this book. I went to the book page and was surprised to see such a low star rating from other readers. I am a divorce attorney and when I read Grisham I usually don't care for it because the law environment he tries to create is ridiculous. This book was strange but good. It's not realistic but it doesn't pretend to be. This is just a story. It does leave you with a glow and thinking but you do want to keep reading it and by the time you decide the story has fragmented, you only have a chapter or so to go. Sometimes I won't finish a book like that but this one I did. That says something in itself because I buy about 5 books every two weeks and will not finish most. That, for me, is a good review.

Rating:
Summary: An ok start, but...
Review: Pretty average stuff. In breaking his "young, southern lawyer" formula for writing books, Grisham seems to have fallen in with the regular suspense/drama authors' formulas instead. The Brethren was predictable; it didn't take much to see how the two plots would be united. I kept on reading to see how he'd twist the ending on this one, but it never happened. However, the book did have some interesting ideas and I'd say it's a much better read than The Partner, but definitely not anywhere as intriguing as his older books like A Time to Kill or The Client.