John Grisham - Lake-Sumter State College | Homelssc.edu/faculty/jacklyn_r_pierce/Shared Documents/LIT 2091 Fall... · John Ray Grisham – Born February 8, 1955 in Jonesboro, Arkansas

John Grisham

John Ray Grisham – Born February 8, 1955 in Jonesboro, Arkansas

Graduated Law school from Ole Miss in 1981

Practiced law for a decade specializing in criminal defense and personal injury litigation

Served in the House of Representatives from 1983-1990

First novel – A Time to Kill – finished in 1987 and didn’t receive the greatest reviews

The Brethren (Three former Judges) Joe Roy Spicer – stole bingo profits from a Shriner’s

Club

Finn Yarber – Tax evasion

Hatlee Beech – in jail because he killed 2 hikers while drinking and driving

While in jail, they create a scam to target rich “in-the-closet” gay men and try to blackmail them.

They do very well until they catch the wrong guy “Al Konyers”

Trevor Carson – the Brethren’s man on the outside. Trevor is a sleazy lawyer who runs mail for the Brethren and is in the

scam. He manages the off-shore banking accounts, delivers and picks up mail, and other things that the Brethren cannot do in jail

Teddy Maynard – Director of the CIA “rigging” the presidential election. Is in a wheel chair and in constant pain, he is incredibly rich and has all the

power needed to get Aaron Lake elected for president.

Aaron Lake – Congressman who runs for President with Teddy Maynard helping. Before he begins running for President, he is in the crosshairs of the

Brethren, after answering one of their ads. He makes one mistake that causes the Brethren to figure out who “Al Konyers” is.

He is running for President on a landslide election with millions of dollars in his campaign, on the main precedence that he will double military spendings, and make the US a huge superpower.

Quince Garbe – one of the first the Brethren blackmail. His father owns a bank, and makes the mistake of getting in the Brethren’s net. Pays the Brethren $100,000, then another $25,000

Wes and Chap – Two men that Teddy sends to do dirty work. They “force” Trevor to work for them in order to protect their client –Al Konyers- which is really Teddy trying to protect Aaron Lake.

Buster – A young kid wrongly sentenced to 48 years in prison. The Brethren help him escape Trumble.

Argrow – A CIA operative who is sent to Trumble to get close to the Brethren.

Trumble Federal Prison- “located” near Jacksonville

Neptune Beach, Florida

Washington D.C

The Brethren have figured out how to blackmail in-the-closet gay men, that are rich and powerful.

They pose as two fake men, Percy and Ricky, writing letters to men claiming they are in rehab and soon to be released and need a companion.

Trevor Carson helps them move their ill-gotten money, extorted from Quince Garbe and others. He moves mail around, identifies pen pals that have an alias and other duties.

Teddy Maynard is trying to win an election through Aaron Lake, for National Security. He is the best man for president – minus his little secret.

Aaron Lake is an unheard of Congressman who comes out of nowhere. Teddy enables him to win with lots of money (millions of dollars!) and steamrolls any opponent. Aaron Lake is trying to win the election by scaring the American public that the military is weak.

Teddy is trying to protect the country from the Russians, who also have lots of money and are buying WMDs, and getting their army bigger and bigger.

A terrorist attack in the beginning of the novel that attacks the American Embassy in Cairo enables Aaron Lake to be the frontrunner. Before this attack, no one took him seriously.

When Teddy finds the letters to “Ricky,” he works quickly to identify who is running the scheme. He gets men (Wes and Chap) to get Trevor to work for them.

In the novel, Trevor Carson visits “Pete’s Bar and Grille” on many, many occasions in Florida.

This is a real place!

Located in Neptune Beach

Pete's Bar was established in 1933 and is the oldest continuously operating tavern in Northeast Florida.

Awesome Read!

Big book, but worth it!

I would recommend to those that like John Grisham, or haven’t read one of his books yet.

John Grisham’s website -- www.jgrisham.com

Pete’s Bar www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM34G3_Petes_Bar_John_Grishams_The_Brethren_Neptune_Beach_FL