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  • The Brethren

  • By: John Grisham
  • Narrated by: Frank Muller
  • Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (1,701 ratings)

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The Brethren

By: John Grisham
Narrated by: Frank Muller
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Publisher's summary

They call themselves the Brethren: three disgraced former judges doing time in a Florida federal prison.

One was sent up for tax evasion. Another, for skimming bingo profits. And the third, for a career-ending drunken joyride.

Meeting daily in the prison law library, taking exercise walks in their boxer shorts, these judges-turned-felons can reminisce about old court cases, dispense a little jailhouse justice, and contemplate where their lives went wrong.

Or they can use their time in prison to get very rich --very fast. And so they sit, sprawled in the prison library, furiously writing letters, fine-tuning a wickedly brilliant extortion scam ... while events outside their prison walls begin to erupt.

A bizarre presidential election is holding the nation in its grips--and a powerful government figure is pulling some very hidden strings. For the Brethren, the timing couldn't be better. Because they've just found the perfect victim...

Don’t miss John Grisham’s new book, THE EXCHANGE: AFTER THE FIRM, coming soon!

©2000 Belfrey Holdings, Inc. (P)2000 Random House, Inc.

Featured Article: The Essential John Grisham in Audio


John Grisham is best known for his fast-paced legal thrillers and mysteries, many of which have been adapted for television and film. Because he’s so prolific and has been writing for decades, it can be difficult to know where to begin when selecting a title from his impressive back catalog. And Grisham is definitely a jack-of-all-trades: he’s written not only legal thrillers, but nonfiction, a series for kids, some humorous novels, and recently, a new mystery series outside of the legal thriller genre. To help you decide which Grisham gem to download next, we’ve compiled a list of the very best.

What listeners say about The Brethren

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Grisham

Not my favorite Grisham novel by any means but still a decent read. I didn’t think I liked this narrator but he was perfect for this book.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Narration was the resistance, very disappointing.

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The narrator.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Could not get over the irritation of the narration, as a result was unable to get to the end if the book. I have tried to listen and press on three times now, but cannot.

What didn’t you like about Frank Muller’s performance?

High mono tone ran throughout. Very irritating.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

I will, because I think the story is good I was just put off by the narrator.

Any additional comments?

The book might be worth listening to with another narrator.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

bad editing

a good book with a great performance, unfortunately the editor feel asleep at the controls a few times and the same line was repeated at least a half dozen times

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

The narrator!!

Grisham does it again!!! This book is a great tale!!! The narrator did a wonderful job!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

What a story!

Excellent job by the narrator! John Grisham is one of my favorite authors… but this narrator does such a quality job of capturing the personality of all the characters.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great story

Feels like there could've easily been another ten chapters in this book. I would have liked more about Lake's presidency. Great book!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Way too long and drawn out.

Liked the story but the ending seemed flat. Needs to be abridged and shortened. A follow up story might work?

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

This'll work!

Very cool story. Grisham interwove two seemingly disjointed tales into each other gracefully. There wasn't much of a "mystery" involved as the reader can easily guess where the story is going. That fact, however, doesn't take anything away from the sheer brilliance of Grisham's storytelling effort here.

Grisham broke out of the cookie cutter mold with this novel. There is no "good guy". Every character has a different angle and motivation but they're all crooks. It's great fun! The narration is fantastic.

Give it a whirl.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Very dated, unfortunately

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I expect John Grisham would change it, too, now. A huge part of the plot is a scam to trap and extort gay men, and everyone in the book treats this as though it is the most horrific, dirty, unacceptable secret ever. Just seems both dated and impossibly silly in this day and age, when being gay is not such a big deal. But at times it came off as really homophobic.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Actually I'm not there yet.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Frank Muller?

No, I'm going to try to avoid him -- he's very breathy, trailing off into an ominous whisper even on very ordinary sentences.

Pretty good job doing a variety of voices, so if you don't mind a little overdramatic breathy whispering, he might not bug you.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Intriguing story, unlikable characters

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

It was entertaining

Would you recommend The Brethren to your friends? Why or why not?

John Grisham's books are always easy to listen to and he weaves a good tale. This one seemed a bit dated in light of events of the twenty-first century.

Any additional comments?

Good book, not great

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