Book Review by T. E. Hill
John Grisham, famous author, has written over 25 books, most of them telling the stories of lawyers and their episodes in court. His latest, A Time For Mercy, is the third story of Jake Brigance, a small time lawyer in rural northern Mississippi. Jake unwillingly takes the case of a young man accused of murdering a local deputy even though his friends and neighbors are calling for the gas chamber. Jake is also leading a wrongful death suit against a large corporation that he is depending on for his next pay day. As both cases progress and Jake gets into more trouble, you wonder how he’ll ever make it.
I am certain that if you asked me if I wanted to read about lawyers talking to clients, judges, and clerks I would tell you no. Very little, it seems to me, would be more dry than the minor details argued and negotiated within a law office. Grisham, however, is a master at making those details come to life.
A Time For Mercy kept me riveted and reading way into the night. I sometimes wondered how the lawyer, Jake Brigance, could be so good sometimes and then make the dumbest mistakes. I was also struck by the similarities between this book and previous books. But, with Grisham telling the tale, I enjoyed it all. I liked this book and recommend it.
