The Brethren

by: John Grisham

I’ve been finally tackling the task of making sure every surface of literature I own has been conquered and read. In a box I found “The Firm” and “The Brethern” gathering dust. After breezing through “the Firm” I was certain I may have read it in the past, but the Brethern I knew I had not. Years ago, I was always quick to pick up the newest John Grisham novel right when it hit paperback, I have read them all straight through to “The Partner”, but thereafter have for some reason not purchased one, so my curiosity was perked. What was Grishams more recent writing like? What suspenseful twisted legal thrillers had he congered? The result was fairly disappointing.

The Brethern’s setting involved three judges that had been sentenced in a Federal Prison for enough time to have simply lost hope at having a respectable or normal life after their release. In their prison they conspired together a scam that extorted money out of people from the outside. While they all had a long time before their releases, it gave them motivation and hope of a life after prison. The first portion of the book deals with much foreshadowing to what seems an uncertain future. With the secoondary plotline it seems very implausable that the two plotlines will eventually mesh and explode.

The second plotline involved a concerned CIA director who needed a Zest fully clean candidate to run for President. NOt only that, one who would reinforce the military and calm the directers concerns of Russian military power. When he found the man Aaron Lake, it seemed that there were no skeletons, the man was, who the man was. The story goes on with great lengths of how his campaign is ran and why he suddenly becomes an important candiatate and why he is suddenly a threat to the other career politicians who are running for President as well. But for the most part makes no allusions to any connection with the first plotline.

It’s my opinion the connection between the two plotlines develops way too late in the book and lacks the suspense and believability it needs to push the to the climax. The connection and likelihood of the events is paper thin and it runs over the line of suspension of disbelief. In fact it’s downright outrageous. The CIA’s involvement was actually annoying and it made them seem powerless and weak. It’s obvious is prior books Grisham has no love for the Feds or Langley, but he always impresses the power they do have. In this novel that sense of dread and fear did not exist or intimidate. The Judge charecters weren’t likeable other than Yarber, and even he was stretching it. The only charecter that was likeable was Aaron Lake and he was boring, even though he was supposed to be, if running for President I would assume him to be very charismatic. If you are attempting to make the badguys be your heros, you need to give them some redeeming or interesting qualities.

I pushed hard to the final pages of the book hoping for something. There isn’t usually a huge shocking twist in a Grisham novel, but the way things pan out is usually interesting in themselves, because he is not a predictable writer in the good guy always winning. The final chapters were at best flat.

I’m going to pick up The Street Lawyer next time I’m out with the hopes that some of his other newer novels don’t have the same deadpan storytelling, because he is really a genius of a writer, but this book I wouldn’t recommend to anyone.