The Confession
A Novel
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4.1 • 2.6K Ratings
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In this “grab-a-reader-by-the-shoulders suspense story” (The Washington Post) from “the master of the legal thriller” (USA Today), an innocent man is about to be executed—and only a guilty man can save him.
WINNER OF THE HARPER LEE PRIZE FOR LEGAL FICTION
For every innocent man sent to prison, there is a guilty one left on the outside. He doesn’t understand how the police and prosecutors got the wrong man, and he certainly doesn’t care. He just can’t believe his good luck, content to allow an innocent person to go to prison, to serve hard time, even to be executed.
Travis Boyette is such a man. In the small East Texas city of Sloan, he abducted, raped, and strangled a popular high school cheerleader. He buried her body so that it would never be found, then watched in amazement as police and prosecutors arrested and convicted Donté Drumm, a local football star, and marched him off to death row.
Now nine years have passed. Travis has just been paroled in Kansas for a different crime; Donté is four days away from his execution. Travis suffers from an inoperable brain tumor. For the first time in his miserable life, he decides to do what’s right and confess. But how can a guilty man convince lawyers, judges, and politicians that they’re about to execute an innocent man?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Grisham's recent slump continues with another subpar effort whose plot and characters, none of whom are painted in shades of gray, aren't able to support an earnest protest against the death penalty. In 2007, almost on the eve of the execution of Dont Drumm, an African-American college football star, for the 1998 murder of a white cheerleader whose body was never found, Travis Boyette, a creepy multiple sex offender, confesses that he's guilty of the crime to Kansas minister Keith Schroeder. With Drumm's legal options dwindling fast and with the threat of civil unrest in his Texas hometown if the execution proceeds, Schroeder battles to convince Boyette to go public with the truth and to persuade the condemned man's attorney that Boyette's story needs to be taken seriously. While the action progresses with a certain grim realism, Schroeder's superficial responses to the issues raised undercut the impact. As with The Appeal, the author's passionate views on serious flaws in the justice system don't translate well into fiction.
Customer Reviews
P00
2sharon
Excellent Read
With typical Grisham writing style, another winner. The story is excellent. The plot and character development are perfect. Grisham knows how to keep readers turning the pages late into the night. Typical of Grisham, there is no Calvary to rescue the protagonist. His stories, and this is no exception, feel real. I look forward to Grisham's next book and am grateful that they are now available in digital format. Thank you for joining the digital world.
The Confession
I have not picked up, nor downloaded a Grisham novel for several years. After works such as Bleachers and The Painted House, I had given up. I honestly thought someone else was writing for him. Insomnia prompted me to 'sample' this book. It didn't take the full 3 chapters to decide that I was definitely adding this book to my library. Welcome back to my library Mr. Grisham. I look forward to our next reading!