A Time To Kill book review

The multi-million copy bestselling thriller that introduced Jake Brigance to Clanton.

This is the book that launched the giant Grisham, that became the film, and then inspired a sequel, Sycamore Row.

When Carl Lee Hailey guns down the hoodlums who have raped his ten-year-old daughter, the people of Clanton see it as a crime of blood and call for his acquittal.

But when extremists outside Clanton hear that a black man has killed two white men, they invade the town, determined to destroy anything and anyone that opposes their sense of justice.

Jake Brigance has been hired to defend Hailey. It's the kind of case that can make or break a young lawyer. But in the maelstrom of Clanton, it is also the kind of case that could get a young lawyer killed.

I have read the first book in the Theodore Boone series and I really enjoyed the writing so wanted to jump into the more adult books. This one was the first book he ever wrote and was written before he got really famous, I had also heard good things from my family members who all said they really enjoyed it. I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this book. Apart from the horrendous thing that happens at the beginning I wouldn’t call this book action based. There are definitely moments of suspense but they are few and far between, the book is more based around the trial and the ins and outs of the legal system. Considering that there wasn’t an awful lot happening within the book, I was surprised to say that it had me gripped from the very beginning to the very end.

The main characters within A Time To Kill are Jake Brigrance and Carl Lee and I think there is where the beauty lies within this book. The characters really push the story forward and kept me wanting to read more. I thought that I would struggle with this book because it deals with really heavy material but I think the way that the plot and characters deal with everything really makes this book really special. By the end I was fully invested in every one’s lives and I felt every blow and every heartache with them. It was a really unique experience that doesn’t happen very often but I was so impressed!

The best bit of A Time to Kill would definitely have to be the ending, I’m not going to spoil anything but my heart was in my mouth reading it. I was so behind the characters that I wasn’t sure I would be able to take the ending. I will also say I loved the fact that this book made me think, I love morally grey books and this is definitely one of them. You really don’t know whether to root for Carl Lee because what he did was against the law but you really sympathise with him, well I did anyway. I just loved this book, I felt like it was a really great introduction into John Grisham’s adult world and I cannot wait to jump into other books of his.

For me the only bad thing about A Time to Kill would have to be that some of the detail and timing was a little overwhelming and I struggled to keep up with it all which was sometimes a little bit of a shame. But it wasn’t a big enough issue to ruin any of the reading of the book!

I would absolutely recommend A Time to Kill, it was a great and gripping read and I loved the characters. I have already started reading Sycamore Row the sequel and I’m really enjoying that one. I can’t wait to read more of John Grisham in the coming months.

Have you read A Time to Kill? What did you think? Let me know in the comments!