A Time to Kill: A Novel (Jake Brigance Book 1)

A Time to Kill is the first novel by acclaimed author John Grisham published in 1989 and instantly became a masterpiece in legal thriller genre. A Time to Kill takes place in Clanton, Mississippi and revolves around Carl Lee Hailey, Black, father of four children, three males and one 10-year-old female child named Tonya Hailey. One dreadful day while returning from the grocery store, Tonya was abducted by two racist white `rednecks' named Billy Ray Cobb and James Louis Willard. They brutally rape and beat Tonya and dump her in a nearby river after a failed attempt to hang her. She is rescued by fishers and survives. Both the rapist are arrested. Both men now indicted in rape and attempt to murder of Tonya but Carl Lee fearing all jury members will be white and acquitting - he kills both the accused using a M-16 machine gun by executing a well thought out plan. Carl Lee is charged with capital murder. Despite efforts to persuade Carl Lee to retain high-powered attorneys, he elects to be represented by his friend, white attorney Jake Brigance. Jake Brigance who once acquitted Car Lee's brother Lester in a capital murder case in Clanton. The book is set in fictional town named Clanton, Missisipi. Clanton is the mixture of both blacks and whites but city has 76% of whites whereas blacks consists only 26% of total cities population. The marrow-deep racism still exists in Clanton and white people getting acquitted in criminal cases compared to blacks are very common in Clanton as majority of jury(or most of the time all jury) member are white. This case of Carl Lee becomes a national sensation and every lawyer in the country wants to take this case for free. The quiet looking Clanton city is now filled with reporters and strangers. And to make things more complicated to defense lawyer Jake Brigance, the long forgotten and believed to be lost hundreds of years ago - Ku Klux Klan comes back to life in Clanton. The marrow-deep racism and presence of Klan members are handled pretty well in this book. The brutal attacks of the Ku Klux Klan on those who directly or indirectly involved in the defense of Car Lee Hailey puts them on par with the rapists. All the characters in this book are well thought and well-developed, specially the Jake's character. You can feel the tension mounting up as the trial date comes near and near. Though trial of Car Lee won't take place until the climax of the book. But the events which happens in Clanton before Car Lee trial either the coming Ku Klux Klan or NAACP lawyers who want to take the case from Jake are handled really well. Dialogues are well crafted and is crackling, specially dialogues between Jake and Roark. How the rape and aftermath of the murders effect the folks of the city both white and black is handled well. The psychological effect of rape on victim and victims family is handled well. It's really heart-braking when doctor tell Tonya's mother that Tonya will not have any child in the future. The way the legal system works in criminal cases and how people try to twist these systems either by purchasing one of the jury member to result in hang jury or by choosing all white jury or by presenting false witness or by using insanity defense to defend the victim very well handled and described in such way that even a novice to law can understand it pretty well. This book is well written and at times hard to follow as it has more description than dialogues but once you start reading - it's really hard to put this book down. A sequel named `The Sycamore Row` will be released next month written after 25 years of publication of A Time To Kill. Can't wait to read it. A Time To Kill is highly recommended for anyone who want's to read a good thriller.

Overall, I enjoyed this book but at times it did seem to drag on. Carl Lee Hailey has taken the law into his own hands. His ten year old daughter was raped and let to die by two white men. This story is set decades ago when racial tensions were very high in the south. There is repeated use of the N word which people can find offensive but based on the time period of tbis book it is something that was said frequently and people not give it a second thought. Jake Brigance is an attorney who has agreed to represent Carl Lee who is a poor black man in the South. Jake to the case with less than a $1000 given to represent him. Carl Lee was upset when he learned that Billy Ray Cobb and Pete Wilard took his daughter and repeated raped her and disgraced her and left her foe dead. Carl wanted justice and did not think he would get it for 2 white men abusing a little black girl. Carl took matters into his own hand and served his own justice by killing those two. Now Carl is on trial. This book follows the tensions in the South and the KKK and Carl planning to kill them and then also how Jake had to deal with the outlash from the community for representing a black man. It was an interesting read in that this is how things were common back in the day with names said and threats. It also has Ellen, Jake assistant, a 'yankee' feom up North who views things differently than those who live in the South. I admit it was refreshing to see Jake tease Rufus Buckley, the opposing counsel and he get so mad when called the governor. Harry Rex who is in other John Grisham novels also shows up in this story as well. The verdict at the end of the trial could go either way. I won't spoil it for you. The book could have been a bit shorter as no need to repeat about the national guard being out and the groups gathering for support but, still a good read and one of my favorite authors

I liked the book overall. I think Grisham did an amazing job of portraying the racial tone in the South, and in particular in Mississippi. I spent as much of my free time as possible reading the book because it was interesting and suspenseful. However, after I finished the book I was left with a few "That's it?????" questions in my head and would have liked Grisham to fill in the blanks more, if you will. 1. When Carl Lee ask Brigance why he chose the line of questioning towards the mothers of Cobb and Willard. Brigance says, "I'll tell you later..." yet we never get to hear the conversation. I understand the reasoning behind the questions he asked, but still would liked to have read in more detail. 2. I would have thought Carl Lee's testimony would have been in the book. As much as was devoted to the psychiatrists' testimony, I would have that just as much, if not more would have been written about the defendant, but there wasn't. Pretty disappointing... 3. After Ellen is in the hospital and Brigance talks to her dad, that's the last we heard of her. I would have thought there would have been some sort of conversation Brigance had with her after the verdict was given. She was given such a strong role in the book I would have thought there would have been some sort of closure. 4. No mention at all of the conversation between Jake and Carla about the verdict, the destruction of their house, nothing... As much build up as there was to the verdict, the last few pages seemed like a let down. I was looking for more closure than what was given. All of that being said, I still thoroughly enjoyed the book.

Great book

This novel, though not accepted by the public at first publication, deserved to be read. I’m so glad Grisham reintroduced A Time to Kill after he became famous.

I read this when I was 16 and could only remember the way it made me feel. Reading it now at 34, it didn’t hit me the same as it did then. I still very much enjoyed the story and I love the authors way of writing and details given. But to be honest? I didn’t enjoy AS MUCH. I didn’t cry like I did then, but I still intently read and enjoyed it.

That rings too true of our history in the South. As expected, plenty of action and riveting characters. It’s a book that once you start the read, is so difficult to put it down to get back to work & life. Thank you John Grisham for another great read. I am never disappointed.

Great book, keeps you on your toes and has everything you could want in a book. Thrilling and hilarious at certain parts. The beginning is a bit vile but does a good job at setting up the entire book.

Había leído la mayoría de las novelas de Grisham, pero me faltaba esta, y resulta que me pareció una de las mejores y más redondas que ha publicado. Emoción, ternura y sátira a partes iguales. Para mi ha sido un placer su lectura, y un disgusto que se acabara. Creo que acaba de publicar una continuación, muchos años después de esta primera parte. No me la perderé! Grisham es uno de esos escritores que no suelen decepcionarme casi nunca.

John Grisham の本はほとんどすべて英文で読んでいますが、この本もたのしみです。

Loved this book even though it was heartwrenching to say the least.

D'abord chapeau, pour un premier roman c'est excellent . Pour l'histoire, un viol abominable, une vengeance, et la justice entre en jeu . Peinture du système judiciare américain, semblable à beaucoup d'autre, quand l'important pour l'avocat c'est de gagner, pour l'égo, pour la publicité, et un peu par idéal . C'est assez cynique, tout en calcul et en manipulation, par exemple quand il s'agit de constituer un groupe de jurés . On est dans les USA côté sud, dans le Mississipi, avec une forte opposition entre blancs et noirs . On est bien dans un roman de Grisham . C'est bien d'avoir du temps pour commencer ce gros livre .

As always, John Grisham didn't dissapoint me. Great reading. Absolut recommendation. He is a master writting novels which involves trials and lawyers, but also everythin I have read from him.