A Time to Kill

I was blown away by the authentic voices of the characters, the quick pacing, and the theme of justice confronting racial hatred in a courthouse and a community. Something tells me that Grisham himself might be most proud of this first novel, even over his many fine ones that followed it. Recently, I went back to read some of this book.

I wanted to remember how Grisham wrote about place and atmosphere. I found myself sweating as I took in his words describing the hot southern town. I re-read the entire novel.

Grisham is the undisputed king of the legal thriller. Of all his novels, my favorite is his first. The story is set in a small southern town and centers on a white lawyer defending a black man (a la To Kill a Mockingbird). However, the lawyer, Jake, is not as noble as Atticus, as he is more motivated by personal ambition. And unlike Atticus’ client, his client is clearly guilty of murder, though the circumstances (the accused killed the men who brutally raped his young daughter) make him sympathetic.

There is an abundance of stereotypes here, including the Jewish… show more.

A Time to Kill is the first book of a four-book fiction series written by world-renowned author John Grisham featuring Clanton, Mississippi, lawyer Jake Brigance. Grisham is one of my favorite authors, and although the titles in this series may not be as well known as many of his other books, A Time to Kill is an exciting introduction to this young lawyer. Set in a  time in the South that endured blatant racial injustice, Jake fights tirelessly for his client accused of avenging the rape of his daughter. Grisham's extraordinary storytelling shines through and takes you on a journey… show more.

I really like this author because he’s got some chops to back it up. Grisham has been one of my favorite authors since he burst on the scene and part of it is due to him practicing law before he started writing. I can certainly relate. In this story, he hits some of the difficult issues of our time, that of racial injustice, especially in the south. Being a southerner, born and bred, I witnessed this growing up although not to the level in his book. What would you do if your young daughter was brutally attacked and raped? As… show more.

In this legal drama, Grisham delivers a classic portrayal of how racism can affect cases with Black defendants. The initial crime, the rape of ten-year-old Black Tonya Hailey, escalates when her father Carl Lee kills the two white men who were responsible. Carl Lee’s attorney Jake Brigance discovers as he prepares the defense case that perceptions of guilt and innocence differ when race is involved. In fact, attitudes are so extreme that his own family will be in danger if he proceeds. Are law and order incompatible in this small Southern town?

A legal thriller set in the Deep South deals with racism, distinguishing between what is legally justified and what is morally wrong. Racial tension and local corruption were the reasons I chose Biloxi as the setting for my novels. Grisham is a master storyteller who engages the reader from the first paragraph. 

White supremacy. Is this genre literature or a witty comment on racism? You can guess the answer. It's both. Grisham puts a lawyer at the center of this story about the murder of a Black girl and her father, who avenges her death. What follows is not just a courtroom drama but the chaos and tragedy of a small town in the American South that is far from having thrown off the shackles of the American slave trade. When I picked up A Time to Kill, I was looking for a suspenseful story, but I got so much more.… show more.

The recounting of a harrowing ordeal of the father Carl Lee who avenged the rape of his 10-year-old daughter Tonya touched my heart. The manner in which Jake Brigance, the attorney who represents Carl Lee pleads the case and succeeds to save his client from punishment lingered in my heart for a very long time.

The novel captures the racial and political climate of Mississippi in the 1980s. The plot centers on Carl Lee, a Black man who shoots and kills the two men responsible for raping his daughter and throwing her off a bridge. Considering how justice was doled out in Mississippi and throughout the deep south, especially when victims were Black, it’s hard to believe the rapists would have faced a justice system intent on seeing them fully prosecuted by the law. And I suppose that’s what’s compelling about the novel. Many of the issues raised could be raised today if the novel… show more.

An extraordinarily well-written, suspenseful, and thought-provoking novel that served as one of my earliest exposures to not only the seriousness of, but also the deep pain of, racism in America. Also, for aspiring writers, this was one of the first books I read in order to gain a foundational understanding of seriously good writing. It’s a perfectly crafted novel, wherein John Grisham shows his finesse at using grammar, creative imagery, plot development, character building, scene description, and realistic dialogue.