Rating: 
Summary: Quite a current issue
Review: It took me three attempts to finish the book. The first two times I always started another book and put The Brethren on the side. And now, that I have finished it, I indeed think that it has a slow start. It takes a while to connect the two stories that are introduced. And the core of both stories are somewhat extreme - at least at the time of publication. However, the reasoning behind the presidential race, foreign terror as a national security issue, is more current than ever right now. But it still is a Grisham and not a Clancy so the scope of national security is rather small but still makes you want to read it. Once the stories connect and the storyline seems to move faster, the national security issue moves further into the background. This is an "OK-Grisham" but it still managed to get me hooked - admittedly, that took a while. Grisham introduces a couple of weirdo characters. Maybe they make you wonder whether it is worth reading on because it just sounds too unreal to make the story flow at first. However, when lawyer Trevor enters the scene, the picture becomes more human. He is a character with so many believable vices that I actually got to like him! But the book got what makes a Grisham: National intelligence agencies, lawyers (dead and alive), bank accounts in the Carribean and a plain, straight-forward writing style.
Rating: 
Summary: Not up to expectations at all!
Review: I was extremely disappointed in this book. It was in no way what I have come to expect from John Grisham. It was slow and not really that interesting, but I stuck it out to the end where major irritation was achieved. Of all the endings possible, it seemed that Grisham just took an easy out. I disliked the book overall, but I really hated the ending. The whole thing gave me the impression he wrote it in about 2 hours. It just didn't have his usual depth.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a good pick
Review: This is the third Grisham novel that I have read, The Summons and Painted House being the first 2. I was extremely disapponted with this book. I waited and waited till the last page for some big ending or surprise, but it never came. While I have to admit that the book did keep me somewhat hooked, I finished the book very disappointed and wondering if I had missed something.
Rating:
Summary: to be continued. . .
Review: Grisham writes well about people, but this novel is a cliffhanger. You'll have to buy the next book to see where it ends. He badly combines two subplots, I fail to see the relationship between them. Granted, he's a cynic about people, his writing is good, but the plots are odoriferous.
Rating:
Summary: Decent book - a bit rushed at the end?
Review: Good book for summer reading - was a bit
surprised at the quick (?) ending and
thought the judges would be delt with
differently. I've only read a few of his books and
picked this up for a quick read while
on a weekend/boating trip. Great book
for a weekend of relaxation and need
some summer reading material.
Rating:
Summary: A good writer getting slow
Review: Well, actually, I *did* enjoy the book. But it could have been so much more, with Grisham's proven ability to write a gripping yarn. Apart from the ending thats been (rightfully) criticized enough, there's another point here: it seems almost a dozen or maybe even more people within the CIA clearly know that the agency is trying to rig the election. Yet no leaks happen. Money is being dumped by the millions 'carried by the chestload into black churches and union halls', if I remember the phrase correctly, but no one remarks on it among the public. Add to that the rather weakly done 'russian scare' that supposedly makes it all necessary, and it was hard to keep away the disbelief at times. Still, technically good, and sometimes even gripping. If you like Grisham and have some time + money to waste...
Rating:
Summary: Bring it to the beach and let the tide take it out
Review: This is quite a departure from the typical Grisham book (I haven't yet read the books that came after this one) and all in all, it makes for some enjoyable light reading. It wasn't boring like others here have said and it held my interest throughout. In fact, I found it hard to put down once I got started. For you see, a John Grisham book is like a bag of Doritos. It ain't exactly gourmet food, but once you open the bag, you don't stop eating until the bag is empty. Then you feel [terrible] afterwards and wished you had something more nutritious instead. My main issue with the book is that the two subplots are so ridiculously implausible. A CIA director, concerned with falling military budgets, recruits an obscure congressman (Aaron Lake) to run for president AFTER the New Hampshire primary, no less, and begins pulling strings to make it happen. In exchange for the rigged election, Lake promises to double the military budget. Meanwhile, three disgraced judges are sitting in a minimal-security prison where they hatch an extortion scheme that they run with some two-bit, washed-up, alcoholic lawyer and they somehow drag into their net the front-runner for president of the United States! In the real world, the CIA director would have simply made the three judges and the sleazy lawyer disappear off the face of the Earth forever. But this is a John Grisham novel so it has to last for 400 pages and include the obligatory offshore wire transfers and the "just-in-the-nick-of-time" escapes from the hired thugs. I won't give away the ending but suffice to say, it is horrid. If you don't get to finish it, you aren't missing much. In fact, it might be better if you don't finish this one at all. The ending in your imagination will be far better, trust me on this one. Still, the novel does have merit which is why I gave it three stars instead of one. By all means, pick it up this summer and take it to the beach with you. It's a perfect book for the beach. It's a fast read that will kill a few hours while the kids build their sand castles around you. It won't matter if the book gets wet or gets sand all over it because like the empty bag of Doritos sitting next to you, it's going in the trash as soon as you are done with it.
Rating:
Summary: Is Grisham getting bored?
Review: This novel like all the others starts out boring and slow. If you can last until the completion of the 4th chapter that is when the real story will begin. An adventure sometimes if you happen to live in the South to places you have actually been to or heard of or seen. Then come the end, ho hum, no justice, no excitement just wondering why you wasted your time... BR>I have purchased and read every paperback Grisham has written and these endings are just a turnoff. I would like to see some variety.
Rating: 
Summary: a pretty good book
Review: This book was pretty good. John Grisham, as always, uses stunning description and detail. There are plenty of twists and turns in this book which will keep the reader excited. Another thing i liked about this book is how it went back and forth between the stories of the bretheren and Mr. Lake. John Grisham hasn't always used this technique and I'm glad that he did in this book. ONE WORD OF ADVICE for those choosing to read this fine book: don't take a break from it. In John Grisham's writing i feel you need to keep all the details in your memory to make the story exciting. When i took a break from reading it for a few days it took a bit of time getting back into the story and made the experience a little less enjoyable than it could have been.
Rating:
Summary: A Major Let Down
Review: Have you ever seen a movie that you really enjoyed only for it to have such a bad ending that it ruins the whole thing? That's what happens in the Brethren. The book starts off with two separate storylines; one is about three judges who have wound up in a federal jail in Florida and the mail scam they run, the other about a politician who has been designated the next President by the CIA. You know somehow that the two plot lines will merge, it's just a question of how. Unfortunately, by the end there is no real resolution to the story the book just ends...a real disappointment to an otherwise better than average book.
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