A Time To Kill (Jake Brigance Book 1)
£0.90
John Grisham’s first and most shocking legal thriller, adapted as a film starring Samuel L. Jackson and Matthew McConaughey.
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THE MULTI-MILLION COPY BESTSELLER FROM THE MASTER OF LEGAL THRILLERS
When Carl Lee Hailey guns down the violent racists who raped his ten-year-old daughter, the people of the small town of Clanton, Mississippi see it as justice done, and call for his acquittal.
But when extremists outside Clanton – including the KKK – hear that a black man has killed two white men, they invade the town, determined to destroy anything and anyone that opposes their sense of justice. A media circus descends on Clanton.
As tensions mount, Hailey hires the inexperienced Jake Brigance to defend him. It is the kind of case that could make a young lawyer’s career.
But it’s also the kind of case that could get a young lawyer killed. . .
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‘A master at the art of deft characterisation and the skilful delivery of hair-raising crescendos’ Irish Independent
‘John Grisham is the master of legal fiction!’ Jodi Picoult
‘The best thriller writer alive’ Ken Follett
‘John Grisham has perfected the art of cooking up convincing, fast-paced thrillers’ Telegraph
‘Grisham is a superb and instinctive storyteller’ The Times
‘Grisham’s storytelling genius reminds us that when it comes to legal drama, the master is in a league of his own. . .’ Daily Record
‘Masterful – when Grisham gets in the courtroom he lets rip, drawing scenes so real they are not just alive, they are pulsating’ Mirror
‘A giant of the thriller genre!!!’ TimeOut
The original, epoch-defining Jake Brigance novel. Brigance returns in SYCAMORE ROW and A TIME FOR MERCY.
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Additional information
| Publisher | Cornerstone Digital (20 April 2010) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| File size | 3495 KB |
| Text-to-Speech | Enabled |
| Screen Reader | Supported |
| Enhanced typesetting | Enabled |
| X-Ray | Enabled |
| Word Wise | Enabled |
| Sticky notes | On Kindle Scribe |
| Print length | 530 pages |
by paul doherty
First book of John grishams I’ve read even though I’ve seen most of the film adaptations.
Enjoyable and well written even though I knew the plot. look fwd to reading more
by Ymh33
Parts of the book are hard to read such as the detailed rape made me ill. The movie made a few changes for drama but the book is excellent. Well worth a read.
by Mandrek Larl
OK so this is a good book, an engaging story and a modern morality tale but I have two problems with John Grisham’s debut novel “A Time To Kill” , it’s too long and you know what the outcome will be from the first page.
There was a time when I thought that books, and particularly popular fiction by American authors was sold by the inch, or perhaps that should be by the pages-per-dollar, look at the length of the early Robert Ludlums or Tom Clancys, and like those this John Grisham’s first novel from 1989 is a hefty read. Now that might be Ok but really in this case I’m sorry to say there’s a lot of unnecessary padding, or perhaps as a paid literary critique might write: extensive character development, contextualisation, and back-story. But this is a straightforward narrative, there are no real twists or turns along the way and you know that the outcome [spoiler alert] was never going to be anything other than they all lived happily ever after or something to that effect, and that’s why the padding is unnecessary because all you just want is to get to the end to confirm that it was what you expected it to be (does that make sense?).
But there’s more to this book than the superficial story, because this is really a morality tale in a modern setting, although I hesitate to describe 1980’s Mississippi as modern. You need to be a bit thick-skinned to look beyond the appalling attitudes, language and behaviours of these red-neck Neanderthals to get to the real issue that’s on trial: the right to private extrajudicial revenge, and that’s where the all-lived-happily-ever-after ending is a disappointing, but all too believable outcome.
As I said at the top, “A Time To Kill” is a good book, on one level it’s engaging and on another it’s challenging and thought provoking, it was John Grisham’s first book, but with hindsight it’s not his finest read, and that’s why it’s only four stars.
by CaroleQ
A Time to Kill
John Grisham has been writing and publishing books for more year than he wants to remember. Drawing on his legal knowledge and experience the American legal system tends to be at the heart of most of what he writes. In addition many of his books have been made into films. A Time to Kill is special though because it is his first published work and was released in 1989.
Jake Bernice is a small-town lawyer in Clanton, Mississippi. Content to live his life quietly with his family dealing with relatively small criminal issues then all hell breaks loose. A young black girl is seriously attacked by two white men who leave her both physically and emotionally scarred for life.
Both men are gunned down whilst in the custody of the court and the girls father is witnessed carrying out the attack. Can a black man receive justice from a predominantly white community after killing two of their own? Bernice is asked to defend the father.
The trial splits the community on racial grounds but in the process allows so many others to use it as a vehicle for their own agendas. The District Attorney sees its prosecution as his road to the Governors Mansion. The Judge identifies its potential as putting him back into the mainstream of influence within the community. The black churches and other pressure groups use it as a vehicle to advance civil issues further within the Southern states. Other lawyers identify the career potential as they line up to play Monday morning quarter-back in the hope that Jake messed it up and they can take his place. Even Jake is aware of the life-changing consequences this could have for him and his family if the jury return an innocent verdict.
External forces such as the Klu Klux Klan and the NCCAP are involved. The former to ensure the rights and superiority of the white race by any means possible and the latter to promote and highlight the rights of the black community. In brief it is an issue surrounded by a morass of circumstances with Brigance right in the centre of it and unclear as to the best way to proceed.
Grisham paints a stark and at times brutal picture of the South. In addition to the direct discrimination which is everywhere he also highlights the institutional racism that is inherent within the mainstream organisations within the community. It can be frightening at times.
Excellent book.
by Sandra
Loved the movie decided to read the book wasn’t disappointed
by keith ibbotson
All to like
by Ready for turkey
It turns out right can be wrong. True Grisham story that does not let you down.
Thank heaven I never lived in the south