A Time to Kill

A Time to Kill
by John Grisham

A Time to Kill
List Price: $30.00
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions

Buy A Time to Kill at Amazon.com
(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: John Grisham
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1993-11-01
ISBN: 0385470819
Number of pages: 496
Publisher: Doubleday

Book Reviews of A Time to Kill

Book Review: Best book by John Grisham
Summary: 5 Stars

An extremely well-written and thought provoking book that deals with racism, segregation, bigotry, southern culture, faith and much more. The first couple of pages are sickeningly brutal. At least i felt that way. And Grisham doesn't let you get over the initial shock.

I can't believe this was his first novel. I'd rate this his absolute best, although A Painted House and The Rainmaker come really close for me.

Summary of A Time to Kill

Criminal lawyer Jake Brigance faces the fight of his life when he is asked to defend Carl Hailey, who, in a rage of anger, shot and killed the men on trial for the rape of his daughter. Originally in paperback. 200,000 first printing. $100,000 ad/promo.
This addictive tale of a young lawyer defending a black Vietnam war hero who kills the white druggies who raped his child in tiny Clanton, Mississippi, is John Grisham's first novel, and his favorite of his first six. He polished it for three years and every detail shines like pebbles at the bottom of a swift, sunlit stream. Grisham is a born legal storyteller and his dialogue is pitch perfect.

The plot turns with jeweled precision. Carl Lee Hailey gets an M-16 from the Chicago hoodlum he'd saved at Da Nang, wastes the rapists on the courthouse steps, then turns to attorney Jake Brigance, who needs a conspicuous win to boost his career. Folks want to give Carl Lee a second medal, but how can they ignore premeditated execution? The town is split, revealing its social structure. Blacks note that a white man shooting a black rapist would be acquitted; the KKK starts a new Clanton chapter; the NAACP, the ambitious local reverend, a snobby, Harvard-infested big local firm, and others try to outmaneuver Jake and his brilliant, disbarred drunk of an ex-law partner. Jake hits the books and the bottle himself. Crosses burn, people die, crowds chant "Free Carl Lee!" and "Fry Carl Lee!" in the antiphony of America's classical tragedy. Because he's lived in Oxford, Mississippi, Grisham gets compared to Faulkner, but he's really got the lean style and fierce folk moralism of John Steinbeck. --Tim Appelo

Contemporary Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Raven's Recommended Thrillers, IV
The Vanished Man (A Lincoln Rhyme Novel) ImageThe Vanished Man (A Lincoln Rhyme Novel)
by Jeffery Deaver
Pocket; Published: 2004-06; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.22
Price in other shops: $7.99
Pop Goes the Weasel (Alex Cross) ImagePop Goes the Weasel (Alex Cross)
by James Patterson
Little, Brown and Company; Published: 1999-10-19; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $2.00
Price in other shops: $40.00
The Bone Parade ImageThe Bone Parade
by Mark Nykanen
Hyperion; Published: 2005-05-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.75
Price in other shops: $6.99
Death du Jour (Temperance Brennan Novels) ImageDeath du Jour (Temperance Brennan Novels)
by Kathy Reichs
Pocket Star; Published: 2000-08-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.04
Price in other shops: $7.99
Mortal Prey ImageMortal Prey
by John Sandford
Putnam Adult; Published: 2002-05-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $1.00
Price in other shops: $26.95
The Romanov Prophecy: A Novel ImageThe Romanov Prophecy: A Novel
by Steve Berry
Ballantine Books; Published: 2005-04-26; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.99
Price in other shops: $6.99
The Janson Directive ImageThe Janson Directive
by Robert Ludlum
St. Martin's Press; Published: 2002-10-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $0.43
Price in other shops: $27.95
Sahara: A Dirk Pitt Adventure ImageSahara: A Dirk Pitt Adventure
by Clive Cussler
Pocket Star; Published: 2004-12-28; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.75
Price in other shops: $7.99
A Time to Kill ImageA Time to Kill
by John Grisham
Doubleday; Published: 1993-11-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $16.75
Price in other shops: $30.00
Native Tongue ImageNative Tongue
by Carl Hiaasen
Vision; Published: 2004-11-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.49
Price in other shops: $7.99
Similar Books and other products
The Innocent Man ImageThe Innocent Man
by John Grisham
Dell; Published: 2007-11-20; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.24
Price in other shops: $7.99
The Street Lawyer ImageThe Street Lawyer
by John Grisham
Delta; Published: 2005-04-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.00
Price in other shops: $14.00
The Runaway Jury ImageThe Runaway Jury
by John Grisham
Delta; Published: 2006-04-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.95
Price in other shops: $13.00
The Partner ImageThe Partner
by John Grisham
Delta; Published: 2005-04-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.50
Price in other shops: $13.00
The Chamber ImageThe Chamber
by John Grisham
Delta; Published: 2005-12-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.00
Price in other shops: $13.00
The Testament ImageThe Testament
by John Grisham
Island Books; Published: 1999-12-28; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.79
Price in other shops: $7.99
The Rainmaker ImageThe Rainmaker
by John Grisham
Delta; Published: 2005-09-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.91
Price in other shops: $13.00
The Client ImageThe Client
by John Grisham
Delta; Published: 2005-04-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.99
Price in other shops: $13.00
The Pelican Brief ImageThe Pelican Brief
by John Grisham
Island; Published: 1993-03-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.44
Price in other shops: $7.99
The Firm ImageThe Firm
by John Grisham
Dell Publishing Company; Published: 1992-02-14; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.66
Price in other shops: $7.99
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories