Aug 20, 2003 05:17 PM
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(Updated Aug 20, 2003 05:29 PM)
The Brethren seems like a book which should have been out in 2003. It seems like a prophecy come true when one reads it in the context of today when world leaders like Blair and Bush have blatantly lied to their people in order to push for war.
John Grisham is at his best again. PLOT REVEALED AHEAD. ENDING NOT REVEALED.
Three ex-judges are sitting in a minimum security prison for various felonies. They have formed a group known as the Brethren. They hold mock sessions of court in the prison where mostly there are white collared criminals to settle disputes between the inmates. They also do some legal work for the inmates helping them to reduce their sentences all of which is illegal. They take fees for thir efforts which are illegal. But this money is chicken-feed.
They have launched a successful mail scam and it is earning them big bucks. They give out ads in gay magazines requesting prospective men in their 40's and 50's whilst themselves posing as a young male. A little correspondence here and there and the men are hooked. Through their only contact with the outside world, a greedy but somewhat loyal lawyer they find about the true identities about their victims and then blackmail them threatening to out them to their families etc. This scam is bringing them nice money which is being deposited in offshore accounts. Their scam is a well-oiled machine which begins paying them rich dividends.
The CIA is worried about a new Russian who might usurp power in Russia and who is known to be definitely anti-US. To tame him they need a President who will double the defense budget. They find out and select a low key Congressman Aaron Lake and catapult him into the race for President. They raise money for him, make ads for him, engineer an explosion in the US embassy in Cairo which kills the Ambassador and 89 others (or rather look the other way). They make him the front runner in the Elections. Now they have a problem.
Aaron Lake responds to the ad given by the Brethren under a false identity and all hell breaks loose when in subsequent correspondence he reveals his identity inadvertantly. America has never elected a woman president. So electing a president who's gay is impossible. The CIA have to silence the brethren. How they manage to do it forms the crux of the book. They have to do it silently as killing all three inside prison would raise suspicions. They are also not sure as to how many people the Brethren may have told about their scam.
The book is excellent in most aspects. The portions where the Judges hold their mock court sessions is hilarious. John Grisham dwells on the ingenuity of the Brethren who are sitting in prison all day with lots of free time. He details the CIA and their style of functioning albeit fictional. He goes in for the works with offshore accounts like he did in the Firm. He dwells on the Presidential elections, his campaign efforts, what it takes, all details and very interesting too.
All in all he manages to write a thriller with spies,drama,law,politics and lots of adventure. There are many characters in the book. Like the people who fall victims to the scam, lawyer of the Brethren who is killed, many CIA agents who perform various undercover tasks in the book. The main characters in the book are Teddy Maynard the CIA director, the three judges Spicer, Yarber and Beech and of course Aaron Lake.
I am a big Grisham fan and so far have not read a book of his which I did not like. He is instinctive writer who even as know writes fiction compels you to think always as to what would happen if this were the truth. Some of the circumstances he builds go over the top but what the hell it's pure fiction, 366 pages and five hours of pure reading pleasure. I wish the ending weren't that tame.
