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3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
One of my rare "did not finish" books. I love Grisham, but this one was slow, boring, and full of loathsome characters.
I have read better books by Grisham, but it was a good enough read: 3.5/5 stars.
slow-paced
5 Stars
The Brethren by John Grisham.
I can always count on John Grisham to deliver an engrossing read!
Full review to come.
The Brethren by John Grisham.
I can always count on John Grisham to deliver an engrossing read!
Full review to come.
I love a story that I couldn't guess which way it's heading. I love how this story ends.
Meh. There was no climax. Threads left hanging. It held my attention, but was holding out for an exciting twist until the very end, and there wasn't one.
Tough to review. On the one hand, the story was a great read, interesting throughout, memorable. Even the details about the Presidential race were largely believable, which is not something I have seen someone accomplish before, as other authors tend to use that type of story as a vehicle for their own half-baked political opinions.
My problem isn't even the ending (which others have found to be a little flat, and I would have to agree there), it's the plot itself. Which means, naturally, the spoiler warning.
A CIA agent is using terrorist attacks to install his preferred candidate in the White House. I have no problem with that.
The candidate is caught up in the blackmail scam. Again, no reason that couldn't happen.
My problem is that Lake never does anything blackmail-able. All we know is that he sent letters to a gay man. We don't know of the content of the letters -- they could potentially be a little embarrassing, but for all we there may have been nothing lurid in them, we are just supposed to assume that. Lake isn't even married, and there is no indication that a crime was committed; there's a decent chance that the media would bury the story if they got it under those circumstances -- they aren't generally in the business of outing law-abiding politicians (of which there are many out-able).
I can believe that he would be worried about losing the election if the story were to come out (so to speak), particularly in 2000, but once the election is over he faces no risk except to his potential reelection, but even there I would bet in his favor as long as he remained celibate. Plus, the CIA agent's goal would have been achieved at that point, so there is simply no harm to anyone as far as I can see. Any short term harm that came about if the story were released before the election could easily be mitigated (depending on the details) with a decently written speech, especially given the huge margins by which the CIA guy was convinced he could deliver in November.
If Lake were married and at least some of the content of the letters were shared with the reader, I couldn't have found fault with the story. Absent that, the logic falls apart, at least for me.
My problem isn't even the ending (which others have found to be a little flat, and I would have to agree there), it's the plot itself. Which means, naturally, the spoiler warning.
Spoiler
The Judges are running a scam to blackmail gay men. No problem there.A CIA agent is using terrorist attacks to install his preferred candidate in the White House. I have no problem with that.
The candidate is caught up in the blackmail scam. Again, no reason that couldn't happen.
My problem is that Lake never does anything blackmail-able. All we know is that he sent letters to a gay man. We don't know of the content of the letters -- they could potentially be a little embarrassing, but for all we there may have been nothing lurid in them, we are just supposed to assume that. Lake isn't even married, and there is no indication that a crime was committed; there's a decent chance that the media would bury the story if they got it under those circumstances -- they aren't generally in the business of outing law-abiding politicians (of which there are many out-able).
I can believe that he would be worried about losing the election if the story were to come out (so to speak), particularly in 2000, but once the election is over he faces no risk except to his potential reelection, but even there I would bet in his favor as long as he remained celibate. Plus, the CIA agent's goal would have been achieved at that point, so there is simply no harm to anyone as far as I can see. Any short term harm that came about if the story were released before the election could easily be mitigated (depending on the details) with a decently written speech, especially given the huge margins by which the CIA guy was convinced he could deliver in November.
If Lake were married and at least some of the content of the letters were shared with the reader, I couldn't have found fault with the story. Absent that, the logic falls apart, at least for me.
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
It’s a good Grisham book. Better than King of Torts but not as good as the Firm. Still good.
The other reviewers take these way too seriously.
The other reviewers take these way too seriously.