Excerpt from The Brethren by John Grisham, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

"I can't answer that," he said. "We know a lot, but we don't know what the man's thinking. He's moving very quietly, putting people in place, setting things up. It's not completely unexpected, you know."

"Of course not. We've had these scenarios for the last eight years, but there's always been hope that it wouldn't happen."

"It's happening, Congressman. Chenkov and Goltsin are eliminating their opponents as we speak."

"What's the timetable?"

Teddy shifted again under the quilt, tried another position to stop the pain.

"It's difficult to say. If he's smart, which he certainly is, he'll wait until there's rioting in the streets. I think that a year from now Natty Chenkov will be the most famous man in the world."

"A year," Lake said to himself, as if he'd just been given his own death sentence.

There was a long pause as he contemplated the end of the world. Teddy certainly let him. The knot in Teddy's stomach was significantly smaller now. He liked Lake a lot. He was indeed very handsome, and articulate, and smart. They'd made the right choice.

He was electable. AFTER A ROUND of coffee and a phone call Teddy had to take--it was the Vice President--they reconvened their little conference and moved forward. The congressman was pleased that Teddy had so much time for him. The Russians were coming, yet Teddy seemed so calm.

"I don't have to tell you how unprepared our military is," he said gravely.

"Unprepared for what? For war?"

"Perhaps. If we are unprepared, then we could well have a war. If we are strong, we avoid war. Right now the Pentagon could not do what it did in the Gulf War in 1991."

"We're at seventy percent," Lake said with authority. This was his turf. "Seventy percent will get us a war, Mr. Lake. A war we cannot win. Chenkov is spending every dime he can steal on new hardware. We're cutting budgets and depleting our military. We want to push buttons and launch smart bombs so that no American blood is shed. Chenkov will have two million hungry soldiers, anxious to fight and die if necessary."

For a brief moment Lake felt proud. He'd had the guts to vote against the last budget deal because it decreased military spending. The folks back home were upset about it. "Can't you expose Chenkov now?" he asked.

"No. Absolutely not. We have excellent intelligence. If we react to him, then he'll know that we know. It's the spy game, Mr. Lake. It's too early to make him a monster."

"So what's your plan?" Lake asked boldly. It was quite presumptuous to ask Teddy about his plans. The meeting had accomplished its purpose. One more congressman had been sufficiently briefed. At any moment Lake could be asked to leave so that another committee chairman of some variety could be shown in. But Teddy had big plans, and he was anxious to share them. "The New Hampshire primary is two weeks away. We have four Republicans and three Democrats all saying the same thing. Not a single candidate wants to increase defense spending. We have a budget surplus, miracle of all miracles, and everyone has a hundred ideas about how to spend it. A bunch of imbeciles. Just a few years ago we had huge budget deficits, and Congress spent money faster than it could be printed. Now there's a surplus. They're gorging themselves on the pork." Congressman Lake looked away for a second, then decided to let it pass.

"Sorry about that," Teddy said, catching himself. "Congress as a whole is irresponsible, but we have many fine congressmen."

"You don't have to tell me."

"Anyway, the field is crowded with a bunch of clones. Two weeks ago we had different front-runners. They're slinging mud and knifing each other, all for the benefit of the country's forty-fourth largest state. It's silly." Teddy paused and grimaced and tried to reshift his useless legs. "We need someone new, Mr. Lake, and we think that someone is you."

Excerpted from The Brethren by John Grisham. Copyright© 2000 by Belfry Holdings, Inc.. Excerpted by permission of Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.