Not bad. But pure cliché. Assassins, assassins and more assassins. Pretty improbable material. But hey this is the guy who wrote First Blood. Entertaining story. Good writer. ( )

I found this to be a better story than Brotherhood of the Rose, but not nearly as engaging.   You have the same elements, 2 bestfriends/brothers, 1 girl, an older mentor, betrayal, paranoid assassins.   But it was draggy. Mr Killer/Assassin man feels bad, goes to be a monk and it isn't until almost 1/3 of the way through that his past catches up and the plot begins to move forward.   So while I'm all for secret societies, and assassins and religious overtones, this book just fell shy of being a good book. A plodding time filler.   I'm not so sure I want to read the 3rd Brotherhood book now. " ( )

In The Fraternity of the Stone, Drew MacLane is an anti-terrorist agent working for a covert organization called Scalpel, where he had been an assassin. After going through some personal demons for things he had done while working, he retires and lives as a monk in a monastery. He is drawn back to his old life when the monastery is attacked. He must now hunt down the killers.

Although I like the trilogy that this belongs to, I thought this was the weakest novel of the three. The biggest issue is that the novel really suffers from a lack of believability . The concept of the story was good, but the plot needed some work to measure up against some of Morrell’s other novels. Drew is a strong character, likeable and realistic, but much of the rest of the novel doesn’t hold up to scrutiny. I would suggest reading this novel if you have already started reading the trilogy, but lower your expectations since Morrell's work is typically top notch.

Carl Alves – author of Blood Street ( )

I acquired several David Morrell books after mentioning to a friend that I enjoyed his writing … kind of David Baldacci meets Dan Brown. In this book Drew MacLane is a man with a past who is trying to atone by becoming a hermit in a monastery. As with all “men with a past” no matter where you hide it eventually catches up with you. Drew is no different, so when the monks are all killed and Drew survives thanks to his pet mouse his mission starts. The book takes us on twists and turns, introduces us to a secret brotherhood of assassin priests and tells us the story of Drew’s past. It was a good escape read. ( )

Picking up with ideas he started to explore in Brotherhood of the Rose, Morrell continues to look at the long term impact spending your life killing would have on the soul.

Can a person find peace and forgiveness when everything they've ever done has caused destruction and pain?

Of course, this is all done with the backdrop of some amazing set pieces, including the opening sequence where we meet our protagonist, Drew, a spy who has withdrawn from society and become a monk. His newly found peaceful existence is ended when a hit team kills his fellow monks and attempts to kill him as well. Of course, it's no surprise that he escapes to find the people responsible but Morrell finds a way to take what seems to be a pretty standard thriller and make it something more.

Last Words: With it's combination of three dimensional characters and original action sequences Fraternity's starts with momentum that doesn't let up.

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