A time for mercy
Record details
- ISBN: 9780385545976
- ISBN: 0385545975
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Physical Description:
electronic resource
remote
1 online resource - Publisher: New York : Doubleday, 2020.
Content descriptions
Source of Description Note: | Title from resource description page (Recorded Books, viewed June 22, 2020). |
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Subject: | FICTION / Thrillers / Suspense Criminal defense lawyers -- Mississippi -- Fiction Trials (Murder) -- Fiction Police murders -- Fiction Mississippi -- Fiction |
Genre: | Electronic books. Thrillers (Fiction) Thrillers (Fiction) |
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Electronic resources
- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2020 October #2
*Starred Review* Set five years after the events of Grisham's first novel, 1989's A Time to Kill (and a couple of years after its sequel, 2013's Sycamore Row), this new Jake Brigance novel finds the Mississippi lawyer roped into defending a 16-year-old boy charged with the murder of a police deputy. The reader knows from the beginning the circumstances surrounding the fatal incident: there is no doubt who did what to whom and why. And, yet, the book is impossible to put down because we're fascinated by how Jake will overcome the many obstacles in his path to discovering what we already know. It's really a very clever setup; the story's structure bears a slight resemblance to an episode of Columbo, in which the viewer knows more than the detective at the beginning of the episode. Grisham builds a complex, surprising, and, in places, emotionally devastating story around Jake and his teenage client. A Time for Mercy isn't a whodunit. It's not even really a courtroom drama, although, of course, Grisham delivers some seriously intense courtroom scenes. Ultimately, it's a story about a community that values its secrets more than it values the truth, and Grisham tells it with great power and style.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Nearly everything Grisham writes draws readers by the millions, but his Jake Brigance mysteries are in a category all their own. This third Brigance outing will continue the pattern. Copyright 2020 Booklist Reviews. - BookPage Reviews : BookPage Reviews 2020 November
A Time for MercyWith nationwide calls for police reform and defunding, literary giant John Grisham's novel A Time for Mercy is undoubtedly timely, as it explores the ways that violence committed by or against law enforcement officials can complicate the pursuit of justice.
Jake Briganceâthe hero of Grisham's 1989 debut, A Time to Killâis court-appointed to represent 16-year-old Drew Gamble in the shooting death of his mother's boyfriend, deputy sheriff Stu Kofer. There's no question that Drew pulled the trigger, but Jake faces an ethical challenge over whether the shooting was justified. Drew contends that he shot Stu in self-defense after believing Stu had killed his mother. Drew, his younger sister and their mother lived in constant fear of beatings by Stu, who often returned home in a drunken stupor.
Jake only wants to handle preliminary matters for the Gamble case until a permanent public defender can be appointed. But deep down, he realizes he's the best chance the Gamble family has. With public sentiment and fellow police officers standing behind Stu and his family, Jake's efforts to keep Drew from being tried as an adult and facing possible execution put him at odds with the community.
While there are lulls during some of the legal procedural bits, Grisham's mastery of the courtroom thriller is never in question. As usual, he presents as smooth a read as you'll ever experience. The dialogue is sharp and pointed, layered with genuine emotions that make the characters pop off the pages of this morally complex story.
Copyright 2020 BookPage Reviews. - Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2020 October #1
A small-town Mississippi courtroom becomes the setting for a trademark Grisham legal tussle. Stuart Kofer is not a nice guy. He drinks way too much and likes to brawl. One night, coming home in a foul mood with a blood alcohol count more than triple the legal limit, he breaks his live-in girlfriend's jaw. He's done terrible things to her children, tooâand now her 16-year-old boy, Drew, puts an end to the terror. Unfortunately for the kid in a place where uniforms are worshipped, Stu was a well-liked cop. "Did it really matter if he was sixteen or sixty? It certainly didn't matter to Stu Kofer, whose stock seemed to rise by the hour," writes Grisham of local opinion about giving Drew the benefit of the doubt. Jake Brigance, the hero of the tale, is a lawyer who's down to his last dime until a fat wrongful-death case is settled. It doesn't help his bank book when the meaningfully named Judge Omar Noose orders him to defend the kid. Backed by a brilliant paralegal whose dream is to be the first Black female lawyer in the county, he prepares for what the local sheriff correctly portends will be "an ugly trial" that may well land Drew on death row. As ever, Grisham capably covers the mores of his native turf, from gun racks to the casual use of the N-word. As well, he examines Bible Belt attitudes toward abortion and capital punishment as well as the inner workings of the courtroom, such as jury selection: "What will your jury look like?" asks a trial consultant, to which Jake replies, "A regular posse. It's rural north Mississippi, and I'll try to change venue to another county simply because of the notoriety." The story runs on a touch long, as Grisham yarns tend to do, and it gets a bit gory at times, but the level of tension is satisfyingly high all the way to the oddly inconclusive end. Grisham fans will be pleased, graphic details of evil behavior and all. Copyright Kirkus 2020 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved. - PW Annex Reviews : Publishers Weekly Annex Reviews
At the start of bestseller Grisham's disappointing third outing for attorney Jake Brigance (after 2013's
Copyright 2020 Publishers Weekly Annex.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.Agent: David Gernert, Gernert Co. (Oct.)