The Bottom Line
John Grisham's latest novel, The Confession, is a legal thriller with a serious purpose. Grisham focuses on the death penalty system in Texas, telling the story of a young man on death row for a crime he claims he didn't commit and a parolee three states away who confesses to a pastor that he committed that murder. The Confession follows the mechanics of the death penalty system as the players involved try to sort out justice and the hours tick down to the execution.
Pros
- 'The Confession' is a riveting story that takes unexpected turns.
Cons
- It's hard to say that the conclusion is satisfying, but that's surely Grisham's intention.
Description
- 'The Confession' by John Grisham was published in October 2010.
- Publisher: Doubleday
- 432 Pages
Guide Review - 'The Confession' by John Grisham - Book Review
The Confession is a serious and moving novel, without being predictable or cliched. Donte Drumm is a young black man on death row for the murder of a young woman whose body was never found. Donte claims innocence, and a strange man in Kansas tells a pastor he, in fact, is the murderer. What unfolds next is both tense and plodding, high stakes and red tape.
What gives The Confession an unexpected perspective is that Grisham doesn't focus his novel on the convicted man, his family, or even the man who claims to be the real killer. Instead, the story is told from the point of view of a young pastor from Kansas who is unwittingly drawn into the saga and struggles with the complex implications of his role.
Grisham's latest novel tackles a serious subject matter from an earnest perspective, with plenty of detail on legal technicalities, prison reality and social issues. That's not to say that the brisk pacing and sharp characters that Grisham is known for are absent--The Confession is a page-turner as much as his other novels.
