Tried listening to this book but the narrator made it painful!

I read a scanned copy on my Nook, and the format was something awful. So I KNOW that affected my reading. Mainly because with all the jumping around the story does I had to pay over-attention to make sure which/who/what storyline I was following.

I saw this as a movie/miniseries for tv back in the early 90's when it was a rerun. I don't think I saw the whole thing, just enough to burn the idea of it into my mind.

The idea is awesome! 2 orphans, now brothers, superbly trained as the best of the best, carrying out covert missions for their father figure. And then, betrayal, backstabbing and the harsh reality of the intelligence gathering world.

Sadly, I wasn't as enamoured of the carrying out of this idea in this book. It was pretty cool, but there were quite a few times where I was wondering when the action would start up. There is a sequel, [b:The Fraternity Of The Stone|21837|The Fraternity Of The Stone|David Morrell|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1167323742s/21837.jpg|2130076], and I'll read it to give Mr. Morrell another chance. ( )

In The Brotherhood of the Rose, two orphans, Chris and Saul, were raised in an orphanage in Philadelphia until Eliot, their mentor and father figure took them in as adopted sons. From an early age, he trained them to be his personal assassins. After things go awry, he is now trying to have them killed.

This thriller is loaded with action and takes place at a very fast pace, making the reading of the novel enjoyable. Chris and Saul are well-developed characters. I also enjoyed the concept of the novel about boys who were raised to be assassins, and operate together so well that they are almost like a single entity. The novel has its down points. There are significant logic and believability issues that can be hard to overcome at times. All the same, the action and thrilling nature of the novel make it well worth reading.

Carl Alves – author of Blood Street ( )

Na 40 bladzijden kreeg ik steeds meer het gevoel een jongensboek te lezen. Voor mij hoeft Morrell niet meer.

I picked this one up along with a bunch of others for ten cents each at the permanent booksale on the Boothbay Harbor Public Library porch.

It was okay. A bit reminiscent of all the other thriller/potboilers that inevitably litter the best-seller lists. But The Brotherhood of the Rose wasn't particularly intelligent or well-written. It wasn't painfully stupid either; just a tolerable thriller, a bit predictable, rather shallow, and not particularly memorable or well-written. A tolerable way to kill an hour or two on a commute, but I won't bother to read it again.

For the record, The DaVinci Code is rather similar to The Brotherhood of the Rose; they're both rather simplistic, somewhat insulting to the intelligence of the reader, and awkwardly-written. It you're looking for a superior potboiler of the same general type, try Marathon Man. ( )