The Brethren

Rating:
Summary: Second Half Spirals Downward
Review: The lastest Grisham starts off with great prospect. I was really into the first half. Then, something happened - or rather didn't happen. The suspense just played out into a huge payoff and everyone goes home happy. Were we supposed to be rooting for any of the characters? I certainly didn't want any of them to be successful. This novel is comparable to a huge trial which settles 5 minutes before calling in the jury. All the promise of action fades and everyone just quietly goes away.

Rating:
Summary: Poor imitation of a novel
Review: There is no intrigue, no ending, and took effort to continue reading. It appears to have been written just to make (not earn) money. I feel like writing Mr. Grisham and asking for a refund.

Rating:
Summary: boring
Review: When I read The Firm and A Time To Kill I thought I had discovered a treasure. As a southern lawyer, I adored the books. All of the rest of his books have been sort of uneven..a flash of the old brillance here and there but ultimately unsatisfying. This one reads as if he dashed it off over a weekend. No real passion. John, PLEASE! Write something with passion...

Rating:
Summary: Not even worthy of one star
Review: I only gave it one because this review wouldn't post without one. I feel that this book was simply words on paper. I had little or no regard for any of the characters and consequently couldn't have cared less about what happened to any of them. There were also many logistical flaws in this book and I really doubt Grisham bothered to do any research at all in order to write The Brethren. I felt it was a huge waste of time and I'm very disappointed with this used-to-be-great author.

Rating:
Summary: Great Grisham Book
Review: This was a really good John Grisham Book. I couldn't put it down. It was different but it sure held my interest. The story was interesting and well written. It twists and turns and you're held in suspense until the very last page!

Rating:
Summary: For Entertainment Purposes Only
Review: An entertaining read. I no longer expect the caliber of writing that Grisham achieved with A Time To Kill or The Firm, so there was no great disappointment in the scripted, lack-luster writing style of The Brethren. I could almost see the movie as I was reading the book. I did enjoy the parallelism with the presidential primary in the novel and the current presidential primary underway here in the U.S. I was reading the chapter where Arron Lake wins the Michigan-Arizona primary on the day of the actual Michigan-Arizona primary in the U.S. When McCain won the primary here in the States, the similarity was uncanny and I enjoyed a chuckle or two given the timing of it all. I didn't feel in any way connected to the characters' plight. Not that there wasn't great potential in the plot and subplots, just that Grisham seem to provide only the bare essentials, as if he were providing an outline for a more imaginative writer to fill in. This is no super engaging, intellectually enthralling novel, but it was entertaining and a fast read. Judging from Grisham's last five novels, perhaps we shouldn't expect anything more.

Rating:
Summary: This is a terrible book. Don't waste your time or money.
Review: I swore off of Grisham's books after The Street Lawyer, and only read this one because someone lent it to me. What a colossal waste of time. None of the characters were likeable, and there was zero plot. The book just stopped; there was no well plotted ending. I've read several reviews of the book that mention Grisham's use of comedy; they must have read a different book. Nothing in this book was remotely humorous. I can't believe that a book this bad got published!

Rating:
Summary: Poor at best
Review: If this is the best that John Grisham can do, he ought to give up writing novels. It is trite, mundane, boring and has no intrigue.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: I've read every Grisham book the week it came out. His novels are usually filled with action or conviction. This one has neither. It is a boring, unethical story of greed, deception and the state of American politics. It's the only one that I won't keep in my library.

Rating:
Summary: Grisham is back in the groove.
Review: "The Brethren" was a superior story to Grisham's last two or three books. Certainly it is much more engaging than "The Testament" which took a long time to get to where we already knew it had to go. I LOVE "Wag The Dog" and this book is "Wag" on steroids. The ending of "Brethren" set me to thinking of that song about the lady who finds a snake cold, hungry and near death. She takes the snake home, nurses it back to health, then the snake bites and kills her. As she dies she, naturally, asks: "Why?" And the snake replies: "Because I'm a SNAKE, you fool!" That is the only possible explanation of the judge's behavior!