Brothers [Mass Market Paperback]

William Goldman (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

At one point in Goldman's new book, the main character peruses the movie listings and complains about the inadequacy of most sequels. Sadly, he might have added this novel to the list. Resurrecting Scylla, the agent from Marathon Man who is the brother of Babe Levy, hero of that earlier book, Goldman offers an unbelievable story that lacks the plot cohesion and tenacious suspense of its predecessor. Believed dead, Scylla has in fact been hidden away, his face altered, his voice changed, making him the perfect killing machine. His assassin's skills honed to perfection, he is brought back into action by "Division," the mysterious agency for which he works, as part of a plan to permanently alter the balance of world nuclear power. The author spices the plot by introducing a host of super-secret weapons, among them a drug that forces compliance, a liquid that induces suicide, and an almost superhuman killer simply known as The Blonde. Goldman (Magic, Heat, Boys and Girls Together, etc.) is best at depicting nonstop action, and there is plenty to spare here, much of it wildly imaginative. But it is all window dressing, as the book's basic premise fails to hold together. 50,000 first printing; $50,000 ad/promo; Literary Guild dual main selection.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

In this belated sequel to Marathon Man Goldman jumps several years into the future of the Levy brothers. Thomas is now a history professor at Columbia, and Scylla, the lethal secret agent left for dead in New York's Lincoln Center, has been restored and reactivated as a top-level killer by his shadowy masters in the U.S. government. In the nether world of Washington policymaking science has become a major weapon in a bizarre struggle between hawks and doves, and Scylla's assigned role is to eliminate two scientists whose invention of new creative killing methods may be more dangerous than the problem they set out to solve. The imaginative, if sometimes bizarre, plot winds its way through seemingly unconnected episodes of considerable violence before reaching an ironic conclusion which pulls all the threads together. John North, LRC, Ryerson Polytechncial Inst., Toronto
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (March 1, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446346802
• ISBN-13: 978-0446346801
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,284,784 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

William Goldman has been writing books and movies for more than forty years. He has won two Academy Awards (for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and All the President's Men), and three Lifetime Achievement Awards in screenwriting.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This isn't a sequel, July 14, 2002

By 

Aldous (NZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Brothers (Mass Market Paperback)

I love the novel Marathon Man, and I've read it several times. I couldn't believe my luck when I saw Brothers for sale. Unfortunately, this isn't a sequel to Marathon Man. It's a whimsical, superficial secret agent story that brings Scylla back from the dead -- or does it?

I'm afraid, if you are a big fan of the Marathon Man novel, you'll be disappointed with Brothers. Read Brothers as a stand-alone story, by all means. But if you want a sequel to Marathon Man, steer clear. The Scylla in Brothers is not the same character as in Marathon Man; he is a completely new character with the same name. Brothers concentrates on this new Scylla.

Babe comes into the story for no good reason -- he appears briefly for the purpose of contributing to a hastily-finished twist ending. If you liked Babe from Marathon Man, again, this is not the book for you.

The fight scenes are poor, with this new Scylla, at times, swinging wildly from being a terrifying, super-strong menace, to a klutz who repeatedly gets knocked down and trapped by the most innocuous of characters.

Certain important characters significant in Scylla's life and background from Marathon Man have disappeared, to be replaced by new characters, without explanation. The author hasn't given a damn about what went before.

Maybe William Goldman, who is, yes, a great storyteller, should have had his own novel Marathon Man open in front of him when he was writing Brothers. The connection between Marathon Man and Brothers is spurious at best.

So, I repeat my advice: if you are looking for a sequel to Marathon Man, steer clear. Brothers is not a sequel.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Ambitious but Slapdash, February 28, 2002

By 

buddyhead (Taxachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Brothers (Mass Market Paperback)

I wasn't crazy about this Marathon Man sequel. Although Scylla was improbably resurrected from his fatal stabbing from the first book, this feat paled in comparison to the wealth of fantastic plot devices and tricks appearing throughout Brothers, which, while clever, were never quite explained: potions capable of encouraging suicide; sprays causing complete compliance in those within range; and bombs disguised as children, which can walk and talk effectively enough to fool brilliant scientists and government agents (and even sophisticates such as Scylla himself). Unlike Marathon Man, I really had to suspend my disbelief in order to get into the action.

Fight scenes abound and are excellent- Goldman has a gift for describing them unconventionally and believably. However, combat alone couldn't save this story; its scope was just too ambitious, and literally involved Scylla's assignment (and, later, efforts) to infiltrate the Division and to save the world. The mention of Scylla's brother and Marathon Man protagonist Babe was token at best- he appeared spottily throughout, and was thrown in on the next to last page in a rushed effort to tie things up neatly. In fact, the entire last quarter of Brothers was too summarily wrapped up.

I thought there were a lot of brilliant ideas in this story, the majority of which would have been better served if they were fleshed out in another few installments. Scylla remains fascinating, although there was just too much going on in this story to do the complexity of his character justice. Oddly, as another reviewer noted, Scylla seems to have altered his sexual preference as drastically as his external appearance, miraculously turning hetero without explanation (perhaps to further his attempts at anonymity?). Quirks like this suggest that more development was necessary to make Brothers as robust as its predecessor.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Goldman needed to buy a house..., January 15, 2004

By 

"coensister" (Culver City, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Brothers (Hardcover)

...that is the only reason I can think of for resurrecting his beloved MARATHON MAN characters, completely rewriting their history, and shoving them awkwardly into a story that could have just as easily featured characters from THE PRINCESS BRIDE. Not only did he write a ridiculous book--a man creates a drug that makes a racist homophobe have sex with a black man!--he did the unforgiveable: he undid much of the power of MARATHON MAN. Turns out that tragic, shocking death in MARATHON MAN didn't even happen...Scylla's just been living on an island. Really unfair and embarrassing. Can only reccommend it on a purely camp level.