The Confession
Like a stick of dynamite. That's how I'd describe this book. Just like the dynamite stick in cartoons, with the really long fuse, then it disappears, and just as you think the dynamite will not explode...it blows off Wylie Coyote's head! This book is like that, only in a good way?
It starts off with a confession, as the title implies, and the clock starts ticking.
We are given a situation, a young black man on death row who's execution date is a few days away. A minister is told a confession from a sketchy serial rapist that he was the one who actually committed the crime, hence, the young man who is about to die is innocent. The clock ticks as the minister convinces both the real criminal to come clean and the innocent man's lawyer to believe the crazy story this hardened criminal is telling. Sounds like it could be a real nail biter of a story. However, I found it reminded me of a lazy Sunday afternoon. The story slowly revealed itself and progressed, but, at a drawn out easy pace. It seemed very predictable; it would come down to the last minute but everything would be fine in the end.
But does it all work out?
No!
What?!
That is when all heck breaks loose. The story explodes with every angle coming together in a brilliant climax. The lawyers, the victims, the courts, the judges, the angry mobs, the Texas Governor...everyone and their dog is involved! What made the reading really interesting is all of the different ways all of these people were effected.
What I like about John Grisham books is that they typically focus on one legal issue. After finishing a book you feel just that much smarter, because you now know all the details around whatever legal aspect the book took on. By smart, I mean lawyer smrt (sic)...that makes one feel good inside.
The Confession was all about the death penalty. How the inmates are treated on death row. How the appeals work. How the Governor can stop the executions right down to the last minute. After reading this book you will probably leave with that prolife feeling because the story takes on the worst possible scenario - an innocent man is executed.
Rating: Read
No comments:
Post a Comment