A review by daniell
The Brethren by John Grisham
2.0
A fine read indeed. It's as if Grisham's entire effort is expended on winding a premise, and the work is simply watching that premise unravel the way it inevitably would. This is to credit his imagination and critique the inevitable nature of his premise. It was very easy to see how his two plots related, and once this was seen it made the book less enjoyable.
Towards the end some character development is seen in the Brethren, three ex-judicial felons, and this is nice because it is not made clear from the start if this is a book about them or about Y2K presidential hopeful Aaron Lake. Although, the title does say something to this effect.
Once the gears are moving you can see where the book is going, and while the story is not barren, twists and thrills are sparse. The more powerful a major character is the less they have to overcome, and the entire plot is simply about someone with unlimited money and a problem finding someone who needs money and can solve their problem. Of course it's more complex than that, but it's not anything less. 2/5 for being compelling anyway.
Towards the end some character development is seen in the Brethren, three ex-judicial felons, and this is nice because it is not made clear from the start if this is a book about them or about Y2K presidential hopeful Aaron Lake. Although, the title does say something to this effect.
Once the gears are moving you can see where the book is going, and while the story is not barren, twists and thrills are sparse. The more powerful a major character is the less they have to overcome, and the entire plot is simply about someone with unlimited money and a problem finding someone who needs money and can solve their problem. Of course it's more complex than that, but it's not anything less. 2/5 for being compelling anyway.