Reviews

2.5 rounded up
OH MAN this book made me so mad. Maybe anger is the emotion John Grisham was trying to evoke here, maybe we are supposed to feel bad for Aaron Lake or sympathize with Trevor or the Brethren for some reason, maybe this and maybe that. At the end of the day I just did not like this book. That's not to say it wasn't well written, just not a personal favorite.
We spend this book hopping between 7-8 different characters, none of whom I would call a protagonist. We have Aaron Lake who was bought to run for President by the CIA. He runs on a corrupt campaign and has his people buy votes. Lake finds himself caught in a scam targeting gay men run by the Brethren (3 judges in a federal Florida prison). We get the perspective of these judges in prison and their lawyer, Trevor, who runs letters and wires money drawn in by the scam to foreign banks. I'm not sure why, but Grisham loves to make at least one character a raging alcoholic in his books, this books lucky winner is Trevor. Not a fan. AND the ending pissed me off. Not only are these judges pardoned and able to leave the country with 2 million dollars each from the United States government, but they also continue the scam from another country. GAHHHH, no punishment whatsoever.
The entire premise of this book is inspired by a very real scam that still occurs in 2023, so I suppose it holds up in the respect. Despite that, the fact that we have have a straight man writing homophobic characters and trying to portray gay people(and ultimately failing at doing so) doesn't sit right with me. I feel the lgbt characters of this book fall into stereotypes and remain one dimensional, with not much thought or care given to them.

quinnster's review against another edition

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3.0

Started out really strong and then just kind of fizzled out. The ending was so blah that i had to check to see if my ebook was actually missing chapters!

shesalwaysreading's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

An easy-to-follow read from Grisham. Recommended to me, but otherwise never would've picked this up on my own. It was fine - I did the audio but of course it was dated. Heck, the storyline is a little dated too in terms of politics, law, and technology.

emerygirl's review against another edition

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4.0

I really liked the story line of this book. I liked the duplicty of the presidental candidate and the protrayal of the sneakiness of politics

randybaggins's review against another edition

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4.0

Two separate plotlines would not make sense for the longest time. But then, you should keep on reading. The first John Grisham I read and immediately was hooked in his simple storytelling prose.