I have a confession of my own, that this is the first John Grisham novel I have ever read. And it took me precisely two weeks to finish, which is good for me considering 'The Slap' took at least six. Therefore, at 450 pages, I would have to say it was a real page-turner indeed.
The story follows the Texas legal system, in particular the death penalty, as one young footballer called Donte Drumm is due to be executed in four days time when the story begins, for a murder which becomes apparant that he did not commit. Travis Boyette is the real murderer and he is suffering from a brain tumour, he comes forward to a priest some 400 miles away with very little time to spare. It then becomes a race against time to stop an execution which the police, the governor and most of the legal system are intent on seeing go ahead.
I don't want to give too many details away as I would recommend that you read the book, especially if you're a fan of thrillers, but it is a tense read for the most part and it throws up a few shockers along the way. It's very factual in its account of the story and none of the people involved in the case are left out in the detailed time-line of events. Because of this the scenes swap around fairly frequently and this is no bad thing as it keeps you from getting bored. Grisham manages to give you a very good insight into the legal system over there, despite his own admission at the back of the book that he 'loathes research', and I just thank God that we don't have the death penalty in the UK as this book is a brilliant argument against it. 8/10
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