The Brethren--#61 finished

The Brethren is a Grisham book that was published in 2000, so a pre-9/11 book that talked about some interesting things. First off it is about 3 ex-judges that are now in a minimum security federal prison running a scam trying to snare in the closet men and extort money from them. One of the men they snare is a Congressman just before the CIA director talks him into running for President as a strong on defense candidate. The CIA director promises him money & basically the election.

The kind of interesting parts to me were, that the book was written as if Clinton was leaving office--surplus money, weakened army/defense, VP running, etc. It was somewhat enjoyable to think back to that time and be reminded throughout the book of what that election of 2000 was like and also some of what the mind set was then.

Also interesting in that this was basically a sex coverup and thinking of how many there have been of these in the last few years--Foley with the interns, Craig with wide stance, Stafford and Argentine mistress, NY governor with his mistress, New Jersey governor with his gay boyfriend and others that I am just not coming up with yet. Of course I have just remembered Edwards and Sessions too, wow it has been a lot it seems.

The Brethren is not one of Grisham's better works--the ending seemed a little to quick and the small surprises were just a sentence or two. The premise itself also seems unlikely, especially with the internet around back then also. Also the CIA director knew about everything going on in the world, but some how didn't find out about a secret mailbox the Congressman had rented in an assumed name. Not a bad book, but not really that good either.

I have posted it on PBS, but there are like 1800 copies on the system already so I am not expecting it to move. Maybe if I ever run a 2 for 1 or some kind of deal--that is how I got the book in the first place. I did get the person to accept my ex-library copy of The Boy of Good Breeding after I had already mailed 2 other books. But then I also had someone request the Brooke Shields book I had down so I will be mailing them early next week. That will get me up to 31 credits. I really need some of my WL books to come in. I am trying to stay away from the deals because I already have enough books here to read.