A Time to Kill Read When the Opening Was Not as Personal

A Time to Kill by John Grisham
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When this book first was published our daughter was about 5 or 6 years old and, within a couple of pages, I simply had to stop reading. I could not handle the gruesome details of the rape of Tonya. My husband kept assuring me that beyond that part the book would be fine. Well, since I decided I wanted to read all of Grisham this year, I felt I had to start with the first book. It is true, once past the rape scene, the book is amazing if over long. I think I could have cut about 200 pages with no serious damage to the story. Still, the suspense of knowing whether a father who takes the law into his own hands will be found guilty of murder and sent to the death chamber or acquitted is exciting. The background workings of lawyers and judges in deciding venue and selecting jury members is interesting. And the details of the racial conditions of the south and how factions are stirred up and bolstered by outsiders is educational. The role played by religious leaders and their self-interest is deplorable. All in all, lots to keep the reader involved and a conclusion that is thought provoking and as divisive between mind and heart as it was for the characters involved in the book.

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