The Confession by John Grisham

Who can resist a new John Grisham novel, and with his latest "The Confession" he is back in his element with a new legal thriller.

The book opens in Topeka, Kansas where Keith Schroeder, pastor of St. Johns Lutheran Church is visited by Travis Boyette. Boyette, a recently released prison parolee, has a confession to make and a amazing story to tell. He admits to killing a young women nine years earlier in Sloane, Texas, and has learned a another man is soon to be executed for the crime. He has been diagonosed with a terminal brain tumor and wants Keith to help him right this terrible wrong.

Keith and his wife quickly do some online research and learn Boyette has a history of sexual crime, and was in Sloane around the time of the murder. They also discover the evidence was sketchy in the conviction of Donte Dunne, a black high school football star.

Eventually Boyette convinces Keith to drive him to Texas to tell his story to authorities and hopefully postpone the execution. The next few chapters are a frenzied race to beat the clock ticking against Donte.

This horrible miscarriage of justice is emotionally seen through the eyes of the families of both the murdered young women, and the falsely accused young man.

At the center of the matter is defense attorney Robbie Flak, a brash ,driven defender of lost causes. He has worked feverishly for nine years on Donte's case and continues to fight for him up to the day of his execution.

This is not Grisham's first venture into the issue of the death penalty. "The Chamber", "The Innocent Man" and a short story included in "Ford Country", all deal with the controversary surrounding execution of criminals for their crimes. However this extremely well written novel is a blatant tool for Grisham to expound on his opposition to sentencing citizens to death. If you are offended by this viewpoint, it might be well to skip this book. However you would be missing what some might consider Grisham's greatest work. Expect to shed a few tears, and experience some disturbing thoughts for those wrongly accused of crimes. It's impossible to put this one down once started, so allow yourself a cold winter week-end, and enjoy.