Grisham opens The Brethren with a false court presided over by the imprisoned judges and a character who performs the duties of a bailiff but thinks of himself as the "court jester." This mockery of justice neatly foreshadows the opinion Grisham offers in this novel of the real court system, showing that it and the rest of government are not what they are supposed to be. And yet, in prison, the three ex-judges appear to pass fair decisions and help keep the peace, so Grisham shows us the positive aspects of a justice system even at its lowest. This does not, however, redeem the ex-judges.

Two main story lines intersect in this novel. The first is the squalid tale of the exjudges running their blackmail scam, and the second is the election plot, tied into an epic tale of an impending third world war.

This thread seems like...