The Brethren
Three men entered the room from the kitchen. Two of them wore shoes. One was eating a saltine. The one with no shoes was also bare-legged up to his knees, so that below his robe his spindly legs could be seen. They were smooth and hairless and very brown from the sun. A large tattoo had been applied to his left calf. He was from California.
All three wore old church robes from the same choir, pale green with gold trim. They came from the same store as T. Karl's wig, and had been presented by him as gifts at Christmas. That was how he kept his job as the court's official clerk.
I am amazed at how many books John Grisham can write, basically using the same characters and storylines in each (A Painted House being an exception). He has found a niche that works for him and, apparently, for the audience as well. The Brethren is right in line with his others - corrupt judges and weak lawyers set in a Southern backdrop. As a Grisham book, this one is good like the others. Not as great as the early works of The Pelican Brief and The Firm, but pretty good nonetheless. I think I'm just bored with his consistency. Let's see what else you can do, John! To sum up: three disgraced former judges are doing time in a minimum security prison where they have set up a complicated extortion scam, using one lawyer on the outside as their runner. Mix in the President and the FBI and...there you have it. The Brethren had no "good guy" to root for - other than the FBI, I suppose, leaving the only characters to know as the twisted judges and lawyer. I think that left me feeling empty, wanting someone good to counter the ugliness. I recommend The Brethren if there is nothing else to read on your shelves.
Rating: ***
posted by Kristi at 1:42 PM
2 Comments:
I've never read John grisham, but I've always had the impression that one book is basically the same as the next. I just started reading A Painted House to a client at work, so we'll have to see if he's my thing or not.
i began reading grisham in the early 90's when he had written the firm, pelican brief, the client and a time to kill. i was disappointed in the predictability of the firm, client, and pelican brief. when i read a time to kill, i thought to myself, how could they ever make this into a movie without having race riots? it was such a tremendous book and so different from the others already mentioned. a time to kill was his first book and remains one of his best.even if you have seen the film, you should also read the book. his books have in my opinion gotten much better since the client. a painted house is a departure from his legal thrillers and his next book will be a work of non-fiction similar to truman capote's In Cold Blood. while i agree that his books all seem to revolve around the legal profession, they have much improved in plotline, etc since his first few. check out the testament, the broker, and the rainmaker as well as any other he has written. some seem more thrown together than others but he has definitely improved. he is also very active in helping young and aspiriing writers. he has been very active in attempts to keep the literary mag, The Oxford American although it seems to have gone by the wayside again. Another tremendous southern author to take a look at is Donna Tartt whose best and most famous book is The Secret History. Keep up the reviews. i bought the ladies detective agency book for my wife and she loved it.
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