Because I do not anxiously await every new John Grisham novel, I would not say I am a huge fan. Having said that, I have read almost every one of his novels. Although his forte is the legal novel, my favourite of everything he has written is "The Painted House", a very well written novel that has nothing at all to do with lawyers and courtroom scenes.
"The Confession" is a story of justice gone bad, an innocent man sent to the death chamber in Texas for a crime he did not commit. At the last minute, the true killer, about to die of cancer, decides to do the right thing and confess. But how do you stop the wheels of justice after nine long years of appeals and last minute reprieves that have drained the patience of all involved. It is gripping and suspenseful, and when you think the story could not go any further, there are still more than 100 pages left in the novel. It goes further and gets more interesting. I have said many times that you can recognize a Grisham novel from a mile away. He has a terse style that moves the story along quickly. Only the plot changes from book to book.
He usually gets on a hobby horse, and in this book it is the death penalty. He chooses a safe ground from which to argue his logic, an innocent man being put to death. Of course we would agree that this is an atrocity. The circumstances surrounding this particular miscarriage of justice makes the blood boil and one wonders how close to the truth it comes in real life. After putting the book down tonight, I was kind of glad I do not live in Texas.
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