549 reviews for:

A Time for Mercy

John Grisham

4.0 AVERAGE

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Man, what a book. This book was incredibly well written - taking us through the before, the moment everything changed, and all the after that comes with it. This would probably be classified as a crime novel, but it was so much more than the crime. This was a story reminiscent of To Kill A Mockingbird. Families in poverty are at a much higher risk of domestic violence (9.5% compared to 2.5% of those not in poverty). This story is about single moms, about alcoholism, about domestic violence, about sexual violence, about race - and all about the prejudices that come with police officers - good and bad. I highly, highly recommend this book. 
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Synopsis: In a Mississippi town where everybody knows each other, Drew, his sister, and his mom live with one of the most popular police officers. But behind closed doors, he’s an angry alcoholic, he’s mentally and physically abusive, and his only aim is to get rid of the children in his home. But when he comes home drunk one evening, Drew believes he finally killed his mother. He grabs the gun and he ends the violence. And now the trial that will establish this Mississippi town’s integrity is in full swing. 
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 | Gut Instinct Rating: | 10
 | Characters: | 10
 | Believability: | 10
 | Uniqueness: | 9
 | Writing Style: | 10
 | Excitement Factor: | 10
 | Story Line: | 10
 | Title Relevance: | 10
 | Artwork Relevance: | 8
 | Audiobook Narration: | 8
 | Overall: | 9.50
 | Audiobook: | 4.75
 | % Audiobook | 95%
challenging dark tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
emotional tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

Mind the CW’s. This book was quite good. I enjoy the Jake Brigance books.

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Reminded me so much of A Time To Kill with plenty of references to Carl Lee’s trial! Not a waste of time at all but a bit recycled.
challenging emotional tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

A fantastic final chapter (so far) in the Jake Brigance story. The familiar Clanton characters all gained new facets to their personality, and became even more realistic than they were before. This case had all of Grisham's trademark complexities and imperfect plaintiffs. I was just as involved in the ups and downs of the legal case as I was in the personalities and life choices of the Clanton locals. I wish that the ending had been a bit more resolved in terms of the Gamble case, but I did enjoy the overall resolution. I hope that this isn't the end we get to hear about Jake Brigance, I could read about him and the other Clanton citizens forever.
emotional slow-paced
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes

I didn't get through this entire book, but it's not because it wasn't well written, it just simply was not that interesting to me... I'm not interested in the complexities of law. But, for those who do swear by Grisham, I have no doubt you would enjoy this book.

Back to Jake Brigance, hooray! This was one of the better Grisham novels.

As a sequel to the story A Time to Kill I was intrigued to find out more about Jake and his family, friends and colleagues that featured in the first novel. The story is a realistic one and not too sensationalized but it is quite lengthy and does grow tedious but it is definitely worth the read (or listen).

A Time for Mercy is John Grisham at his best. He returns to his roots of criminal defense in Clanton, Mississippi with star Jake Brigance. The story is compelling and Grisham does a great job of building compassion for the multiple stories and characters involved. Not to be overlooked is the similarities between Grisham and Brigance, including the evolution of his views of capital punishment. In A Time to Kill, Brigance argues that the only thing wrong with the death penalty is that it is not used often or quickly enough. In A Time for Mercy, he is a staunch opponent of the death penalty and explains his change of opinion.

I loved this book. Grisham's best in quite a while and reminiscent of his earlier work