The Summons & The Brethren

By: John Grisham

Narrated by: Frank Muller, Michael Beck

Length: 20 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

Two from the master of the legal thriller:

The Summons:

Once Judge Atlee was a powerful figure in Clanton, Mississippi; a pillar of the community who towered over local law and politics for 40 years. Now the judge is a shadow of his former self, a sick, lonely old man who has withdrawn to his sprawling ancestral home. Knowing the end is near, Judge Atlee has issued a summons for his two sons to return to Clanton to discuss his estate.

The summons is typed by the judge himself, on his handsome old stationery, and gives the date and time for his sons, Ray and Forrest, to appear in his study. But the judge dies too soon, and in doing so leaves behind a shocking secret.

The Brethren:

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

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.

©2002 The Summons, ©2000 The Brethren, John Grisham (P)2002 The Summons, ©2000 The Brethren, Random House Audio

Terrible Narrator

The story was good, the choice of narrator was terrible. No inflection, no emotion, dead pan the entire way thru.

An enjoyable 24 hours

love listening to the stories that John weaves together. it's exciting to see how it unfolds. Two thumbs up for me.

Two boring books

The Brethren was better than The Summons but both were pretty boring. I would hesitate before reading another John Grisham novel.

Great story

I really enjoyed both novels! They were both read beautifully. Kept me on the edge of my seat

Summons great, Bretheren terrible

Loved the summons. Two brothers very different and a father that didn't care about them. Great story, however, the brethren was a stupid story about inmates that was trying to control the country and the new president with the CIA. Too many confusing names to deal with. I never did know who was this Ricky, I guess a gay blackmailer. The best thing about the brethren was the narrator.

Good listen. Good listen.

I enjoyed the two books. I even came up with a game to play while listening - Count The Repeated Sentences. Whoever mastered the recording should have paid more attention. I counted at least seven lines that were repeated on the audio. First one surprised me so I backed up and verified. Second one I started counting. Still an enjoyable listen.

The increasing optimism of the judges as their lot in life appears to improve. The reader gets caught up in that.

Kind of a slow start maybe, or my house hold could just be too active for me to focus?

The Summons, not my fav, but the Brethren good

The Brethren was hilarious! Great mystery and well written! The narrator was excellent! Will recommend to friends.

Michael Beck is AMAZING

Would you listen to The Summons & The Brethren again? Why?

I will listen to the Summons again...I will never listen to the Brethren again. I have read both books but wanted to hear them. Mr Beck is an amazing narrator. Frank Muller is dull boring and waaayyyy too breathy!!

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Summons & The Brethren?

When we found out who was the culprit in The Summons

How could the performance have been better?

A totally different narrator for the Brethren

TXSCOTT28

A great combination of books by John Grisham. I have read the books in the past, and it was great to hear them again.