A stand alone (no courtrooms in sight) thriller published 2000.

4 stars for a good yarn

Let me start by saying this is a tale of three incarcerated judges who are running an extortion racket from inside gaol. On the surface this was entertaining in its own right but, for me, the real story was much darker and very scary.
The racket was that the prisoners would place adds in gay magazines pretending to be young men looking for meaningful relationships with older men. Most of the men who replied were men leading double lives and once they were hooked the judges would threaten to expose them unless they paid up big time.
This went well for some time until they hooked the wrong man at the wrong time.
The wrong man was a leading contender in the political race for the white house.
Where the story got scary was when the head of the CIA wanted the incumbent president to increase military spending to counter a perceived Russian threat.
The President told the head of the CIA “that he could fly a kite; it was not going to happen whilst he was the president”.
This left the head of the CIA with a dilemma. If the President won’t do as he is told we’ll just have to find one that will.
What follows is a very credible tale of how the CIA went about using their inside knowledge and power to discredit the incumbent president and push their hand picked congressman to the White House. Watching how the media, the politicians and ultimately the populous are manipulated makes for scary reading.
But in a world of secrets there was one secret that the CIA did not know, their candidate was gay and the judges were turning the screws.
Entertaining but it put a shiver up my spine all the same.

The Brethren by John Grisham

I found this to be a pretty interesting book. It is the story of the brethren, three ex-judges in a low-security prison called Trumble, who come up with a scheme to extort money from older homosexual men. Two victims and one hundred eighty-nine thousand dollars into the scam the judges run across their biggest victim of all – Aaron Lake. He is the next president to be and seems to have a lot to offer.

One of the cool parts of this book is how much of the story happens in a prison. If you are not in the prison with the brethren you are probably traveling with Aaron Lake around the United States on the campaign trail or with Trevor, the brethren’s lawyer, in Neptune Beach.

John Grisham makes the brethren by far the best characters in the book. Joe Roy Spicer is an ex-Justice of the Peace sent to Trumble for skimming bingo profits. Hatlee Beech was a federal judge with a drinking problem that led to the death of a two hikers in Yellowstone. The last is Finn Yarber – Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court sent away for income tax evasion. The attitude of the brethren is very comical. They have “court” once a week in Trumble and their answer to one of the questions was “It’s whatever we say it is.”

Aaron Lake is portrayed in this book as a very boring character. If there is downside to this book he would be it. He is the up-and-coming president having been appointed by the CIA director to save the United States and maybe even the world. Yet he does nothing interesting; except his secret letters to a homosexual boy in rehab. This is a problem in more ways than one because the boy is actually the brethren running their fabulous scam.

Trevor is probably my favorite character in the book. He runs the letters of the brethren and their victims back and forth between the post office and Trumble. He has a severe problem with alcohol but that just makes him more interesting. Some of his “colleagues” were not drinking so he said to them “Guess I’ll have to drink for all three of us.” Funny comments like this are a big reason why I liked the book so much.

The main theme of The Brethren is not the type of theme you normally hear. Usually you will hear the moral “crime never pays” or “crime doesn’t pay.” To me, it seems like the theme of this book is the complete opposite--that crime does pay. To find out what I mean by that it looks like you will have to read the book.

Page Count: 440

Genre: Realistic Fiction

The Bretheren was published in 2000, one year before 9/11, which makes it a remarkable read, and for those who read it at the time, must have been flabbergasted at the horrific event of that day, September 11, 2001 in New York.

In the marketing world an expression is used which rings true for everything in life: You can fool all the people all the time if the advertising is right and the budget is big enough - Joseph E. Levine. Another concept is to first create a need(if there isn't an existing one) for a product, otherwise it won't sell. At first glance the statement appears too simple to really grasp the impact it has on politics, industry, even conservation, but it is the most powerful concept in use today.

The story, almost too fictional to be complete fiction, has this idea as starting point and proceed to implement it in a highly suspenseful drama in which three incarcerated judges execute a scam which works perfectly until they target the 'wrong' man. This man had the clout to make their actions look like a Sunday school picnic, which in the end, it was.

For the uninformed, this tale is just a fantasy, but for those in the know, it is a disturbing hit too close to home for comfort. And for those who think the events cannot be possible, believe me, it is not only possible, it happens all the time!

I enjoyed the book just as much as all the other John Grishams I have read through the years. It helps that he was a practising lawyer and know the ropes....mmm...yes...definitely the ropes
;-)

Thrilling, suspenseful and informative. Loved it.

This was another fun Grisham novel.

Three former judges in a low security jail. They work appeals for their fellow inmates, for a fee of course. They also have a very interesting side hustle that nets them tens of thousands of dollars in an off-shore account.

A presidential candidate being secretly backed and supported by the CIA. He goes from zero to frontrunner swiftly. I wondered how two drastically different plots would find a way to mingle, and was not disappointed by the twist. Or by the way things are handled and plotted out after said twist.

More likeable-slime characters here; a staple of Grisham novels. Story was unique, pacing was fun, prose was top level. Good stuff.

This one was probably my least favorite of the re-reads I’ve done so far of Grisham novels. It’s an intriguing plot with a ton of potential for good storytelling but I felt like he didn’t capitalize on the potential with it. Great idea for a story, but not the best execution. The characters just don’t feel like some of the solid character work he’s done in his other novels. I felt it was a bit of a chore to get through this one. I liked the book okay but really feel like it could have been much better.

I enjoyed this Grisham novel! It was easy to read and to understand, and the plot had good detail. I liked the unexpected plot changes! Recommended for those who like easy mysteries!

Well, I won't say it was a bad book, it just wasn't great. It went on a bit long and honestly was a little disappointing. The end was sudden and like all jammed up with loose ends being crammed into the pages. the middle dragged a bit. I did read all of it but it just kind of was underwhelming. I would not give this book away but I also wouldn't tell a Grisham fan to not read it. It's readable but like I'm on a plane and this is what I brought kind of reading.

much better book than the last couple Grisham books I've read. Definitely a fast-paced story with a good political story weaved into it as well!

Tiga orang hakim yang ditahan dipenjara Trumble. Meski berstatus terpidana praktek mereka sebagai hakim masih berlangsung. Mereka menangani kasus-kasus perselisihan para napi.

Hingga suatu saat mereka berkomplot untuk menghasilkan uang lebih banyak dengan membuat perangkap untuk memeras. Nama baik dan kehidupan dibalik kegelapan yang paling tersembunyi dari seseorang. Sampai akhirnya mereka memancing korban yang tepat karena mereka akan mendapatkan semua yang mereka inginkan, kebebasan dan uang.

Akhir cerita novel ini cukup mengejutkan.

my first and last John Grisham book.

Great book

The writing in this book is good. Great premise. However, I have a hard time enjoying books when I find all of the significant characters to be unsympathetic. Everyone that the book focuses on to any significant extent is either a bad guy or something that would normally be considered a good guy but it acting for reasons that I strongly disagree with. Some people won't have a problem with that, but I really need someone to root for to enjoy a book.