A Time for Mercy
John Grisham's No. 1 Bestseller
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4.4 • 192 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
***THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER***
Jake Brigance, lawyer hero of A Time to Kill and Sycamore Row, is back, in his toughest case ever.
'A new Grisham legal thriller is always an event, but this one is exceptional as the author is returning to Jake Brigance, the hero of his very first book, A Time To Kill . . . There is a lot of Grisham in Brigance - they were both street lawyers on the side of the people, not big corporations. It gives the book an emotional core that burns with a white heat' - Daily Mail
'A master of plotting and pacing . . . suspenseful' - New York Times
CAN A KILLER EVER BE ABOVE THE LAW?
Deputy Stuart Kofer is a protected man. Though he's turned his drunken rages on his girlfriend, Josie, and her children many times before, the police code of silence has always shielded him.
But one night he goes too far, leaving Josie for dead on the floor before passing out. Her son, sixteen-year-old Drew, knows he only has this one chance to save them. He picks up a gun and takes the law into his own hands.
In Clanton, Mississippi, there is no one more hated than a cop killer - but a cop killer's defence lawyer comes close. Jake Brigance doesn't want this impossible case but he's the only one with enough experience to defend the boy.
As the trial begins, it seems there is only one outcome: the gas chamber for Drew. But, as the town of Clanton discovers once again, when Jake Brigance takes on an impossible case, anything is possible ...
Starring the same hero and setting that featured in John Grisham's multi-million-selling bestsellers A Time to Kill (adapted as a film starring Samuel L. Jackson and Matthew McConaughey) and Sycamore Row, A Time for Mercy is an unforgettable thriller you won't be able to put down.
'When Grisham gets in the courtroom he lets rip, drawing scenes so real they're not just alive, they're pulsating' Mirror
'A superb, instinctive storyteller' The Times
'Storytelling genius ... he is in a league of his own' Daily Record
350+ million copies, 45 languages, 10 blockbuster films:
NO ONE WRITES DRAMA LIKE JOHN GRISHAM
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
At the start of bestseller Grisham's disappointing third outing for attorney Jake Brigance (after 2013's Sycamore Row), deputy sheriff Stu Kofer comes home one night in 1990 to the isolated house outside Clanton, Miss., he shares with his lover, Josie. In a drunken rage, Kofer falsely accuses Josie of infidelity, and knocks her unconscious. Kofer falls asleep after a half-hearted attempt to break into the room of Josie's 14-year-old daughter, Kiera, whom he has sexually abused. Josie's 16-year-old son, Drew, believes his unresponsive mother is dead, and fears Kofer will attack Kiera. After dialing 911 to report Josie's murder, Drew takes the sleeping lawman's service weapon and shoots him in the head. A judge taps Brigance to defend Drew after the teenager is charged with intentional homicide. As Brigance prepares his case, he learns a secret that he hopes will bolster his chances in court. The high-profile murder trial that follows, however, doesn't live up to the promise of the book's harrowing opening: the prosecuting attorney proves a weak opponent for Brigance, and the tepid courtroom proceedings fail to engage. This one's for Grisham diehards only.
Customer Reviews
Excellent
Fast paced read with exquisite detail of both characters and places. Loved it
Time drags
Author
American lawyer from Mississippi who became one of the top ten highest grossing authors of all time, his name synonymous with the modern legal thriller. Nuff said. Mr G hit it out of the park first time at bat with A Time To Kill (1989). Jack Brigance, a young idealistic small town attorney in Clanton, a small fictional town in Ford County, Mississippi, makes his name, if not many friends in the white community, by successfully defending a black man facing the death penalty, accused of murdering a white dude. (Any resemblance to Harper Lee is purely coincidental because her black guy was accused of raping a white chick.) The 1996 movie starred Matthew McConaughey (he wasn't much of actor at the time but really hot), Sandra Bullock (ditto), Samuel L Jackson, Kevin Sp***y (I dare not speak his name), Donald Sutherland, Kiefer Sutherland, Ashley Judd, the list goes on. Patrick McGoohan (Danger Man himself) even got a guernsey as the judge, whose name is Omar Noose. (There's a heavy handed metaphor for you). Jack made his second appearance in Sycamore Row (2013): no death penalty this time, but contested probate can be tricky in a place where everyone owns guns (plural) and many have white hoods too. Now Jack's back again.
Plot
32 year-old single Mom with a 16 year-old and a 14 year-old to different fathers, drug convictions and jail time in her past, kids in and out of foster care and orphanages, yada, yada. She doesn't even qualify as trailer trash (she can't afford to rent a trailer) when she hooks up with small town Deputy Sheriff: ex-military, well regarded at the station, but twice divorced with a teensy weensy drinking problem and a penchant for domestic violence. What could possibly go wrong? How about a weedy underdeveloped 16-year-old boy growing a pair and putting bullet in head of passed out step-Dad. Local sheriff is black, but as BLMs has taught us, cops all stick together, right? Dead guy's family are quite exercised over the situation, and Jack cops a beating for defending the kid, which he only did because Judge Noose made him and because he needs the money. Long story short, our boy creates reasonable doubt and scores a win on the domestic front himself.
Narrative
Third person, mainly Jack.
Characters
Déjà vu all over again, including the ones we haven't met before.
Prose
Mr G knows how churn out a fine sentence/paragraph, but was 70% in before they even started jury selection. The denouement is satisfying, if a little saccharine.
Bottom line
The last 25-30% was good, but it felt like an age before I got there.
Baws
If they turn this into a film it would star Steve Segal.