Daniel Woodrell wrote in The Washington Post that "The ultimate significance of the title becomes clear only in the surprising, explosive twist at the end.

The plot concerns an effort to instigate World War III by means of simultaneous, worldwide terrorist attacks, which Scylla attempts to stop.

[4] Scylla's job is to kill American scientists who made three inventions meant to give the United States a military advantage against the Soviet Union.

Babe's wife, Melissa, has been hired by a facility in England ostensibly to fine-tune speech of amusement park props - in reality, the exploding children.

[8] Goldman later recalled, "I'd written one sequel before, which was Father's Day, and I had this notion that Doc wasn't dead and I thought, 'Shit, I'll bring him back and see what happens.

"[4] Kirkus Reviews stated that "Goldman's slick delivery[...]provides fairly painless reading" but that Brothers did not have "the memorable punch of Marathon Man.

"[7] Lehmann-Haupt wrote that the author "bewilders us as to his ultimate aims, and seeks to keep us entertained in the meantime with gimmicks" but that it does not "[puzzle the reader] constructively.

"[5] Publishers Weekly also gave a negative review, stating that it was not a good sequel and "the book's basic premise fails to hold together.