The Brethren

Written by John Grisham

Narrated by Michael Beck

Trumble is a minimum security federal prison, a "camp," home to the usual assortment of relatively harmless criminals - drug dealers, bank robbers, swindlers, embezzlers, tax evaders, two Wall Street crooks, one doctor, and at least five lawyers. And three former judges who call themselves the Brethren: one from Texas, one from California, and one from Mississippi. They meet each day in the law library, their turf at Trumble, where they write briefs, handle cases for other inmates, practice law without a license, and sometimes dispense jailhouse justice. And they spend hours writing letters. They are fine-tuning a mail scam, and it's starting to really work. The money is pouring in. Then their little scam goes awry. It ensnares the wrong victim, a powerful man outside, a man with dangerous friends. The Brethren's days of quietly marking time are over.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House UK Audio
• Release date: Sep 15, 2005
• ISBN: 9781843452454

Reviews for The Brethren

[shesinplainview · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This one was a new twist-judges in prison. Very entertaining.

[emscape · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Three incarcerated judges conceive of a money-making scam they are able to run from federal prison: enticing closeted gay men to write to the fictional "Ricky" and "Percy" and then extort money by threatening to expose their predilections. Meanwhile, Aaron Lake is a senator selected by the CIA to run for President on a platform of doubling the defense budget (this was clearly written prior to the 2000 elections). The intersection of these two stories is entertaining as well as suspenseful as the CIA is expending a multitude of resources surveilling three bumbling elderly felons trying to figure out what they know and attempting to contain the fallout.

[lizamichelle1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Was a little confusing, too many characters for 2 different stories, that eventually became one. For me that is when it became more interesting. The ending was disappointing.

[krushkelsey · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

this one wasn't too bad. it is about 3 judges that were put in prison for one monetary reason or another and the scam they run from prison to bank some money if and when they get out. it also ties in the outside with a presidental election. the only thing that really sucked about this book was the ending. it just sort of stopped. i hate it when books do that. but is wasn't a bad read before that.

[icefirestorm · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A crime reaches from inside prison to the outside world with potentially far reaching consequences. Unfortunately, once I got a little way into it, I found the story quite predictable.

[joannsmithainsworth · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

At first I thought there were two different stories in the book. There were so many characters, I started getting mixed up. About 2/3rds along, the two stories merged and made sense. The ending was a surprise for me.

[loveseabooks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another enjoyable story by Mr. Grisham. Again, Mr. Grisham has not disappointed me with this story. In the Brethren the author took me on a journey into a political campaign, and how the government can control an election. The characters of the three judges' and their activities were believable. What I appreciated about John Grisham is that each new book that he releases takes me into a new world and I always learn something from his stories. The Brethren is a super story. Enjoy it, it's a wonderful book.

[alincolnnut · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In this, yet another John Grisham legal thriller, the author spins another exciting and exotic tale from the fringes of the American legal system. Telling the story of three former judges serving time in a federal prison, he paints an intriguing picture of the seedy underbelly of the prison system, where three people with legal know-how and moxie can perpetrate an extortion scheme under the disinterested noses of the minimum security guards.In Grisham's most satisfying book since "The Runaway Jury," "The Brethren" is a page-turner merging the story of these three disgraced judges with a partially rigged presidential election. Merging a tale of sex and politics, with the very active involvement of the CIA Director, the story moves at a fast clip, filled with twists and turns.Unlike some of Grisham's other books, this one is less tied to the intricacies of the law. In fact, the main catalysts for the story are decidedly out of legal bounds, focusing on manipulation and extortion. The characters are economically drawn, in the style of a thriller, with perhaps only an alcoholic attorney as an intriguing, three dimensional personality.Still, the book is entertaining and absorbing. If not Grisham's best, and it's hard to imagine that he'll ever top "The Firm," it is still an excellent book, a unique thriller with ominous overtones that heighten the suspense.

[hermit_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is well written. The author has weaved two story lines that are tied together extremely well and the the two premises are very interesting. Three imprisoned judges pulling off for them what appears to be a safe blackmail scheme. And the CIA buying the Next president of The USA. Finally Grisham is back on his game for thiss book is funny and easy to read. It is better than his last two.

[amyelizabeth_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The Brethren, by John Grisham, is a quick, easy read. It's classic Grisham in the sense that there's a lot of legalese and puzzle pieces that slowly come together throughout the story. It was intriguing, but not edge-of-your-seat exciting.This is the story of 3 ex-judges sitting bored in a federal prison, and one congressman who's just been selected by the CIA to run for President. The judges have started an extortion scheme, and it works best when they ensnare rich men with something to lose. The CIA is counting on Aaron Lake to win the election and double the US's military funding in order to stop an impending war. But is Lake as perfect as the CIA thinks? Or does he have secrets, just waiting to be found by the judges?While this was good and kept my attention, it's not one of my favorites. I kept coming back to the story, but not because I couldn't wait to find out what happened. It's just a good book to curl up with on a cold winter night.3 out of 5 stars.

[anagarika · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

One of Mr. Grisham's best. A good read.

[dickmanikowski · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A typical Grisham read . . . meaning riveting and thoughtful. What starts out as two seemingly disparate tales (a pen pal extortion scheme operated by three judges inmates of a federal prison and a Machivellian scheme by the director of the CIA to fix the nomination process and secure the election of a previously unknown hand-picked candidate who will be controlled by the CIA director) come together when CIA finds that their candidate has been ensnared by the extortion ring.

[horacewimsey · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

One of the better Grisham stories.

[lbt_4 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Good, fast, easy read for the middle of the night when you can't sleep and your mind is fuzzy.

[nderdog · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great book! One of my favorite Grisham novels, it's a really intriguing story that sucks you in.

[tetchechury_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Another solid effort by John Grisham. He knows how to write the legal thrillers very well, and always does a good job with them.

[swl_2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Such a disappointment after enjoying The Last Juror so much. There is not a single likeable character in this book. It is impossible to care about who gets caught at their misdeeds. I'll admit that the twin plots - a purchased presidency and a porn con run from jail - were intriguing enough to sweep me along, and everything was techincally competent and well-enough paced.In romance writing, there's a rule that if the hero and heroine could settle things by one long and honest talk, then your conflict is not adequate. In the same vein, Lake's little predilection could have been solved early on without any of the ensuing drama, after the reader buys into the (not-terribly-credible) world JG describes. This is a rookie mistake and it was definitely distracting.And again with the sailing/desert island fantasy! Enough, I beg you, JG!Is it possible that this book was ghost-written? A few times recently I've noticed such disparities in the quality of books by well-known authors, esp. those who are publishing frequently. And I've heard rumors (eg Koontz)...somehow I wouldn't have guessed JG would do it though.

[captkirk_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Not bad. It was a little weird in some spots, but overall, pretty good. Probably not my favorite, but it held my interest.

[jaypoxx · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The book tried to be exciting and how it ended was ugly.