Sycamore Row: A Jake Brigance Novel

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After graduating from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1981, Grisham spent a decade practicing law as a criminal defense attorney. Throughout his career, he dealt with many criminal cases and participated in numerous trials that would later serve as an inspiration for his famous legal thrillers. How he achieves that in a way that will leave fans of both sides of the issue satisfied is amazing. Grisham's dénouement will not only please you but it will move you and, possibly, just possibly, it will move the USA toward that post-racial society that has so far remained just a societal dream. The second will raises many more questions than it answers. Why would Hubbard leave nearly all of his fortune to his maid? Had chemotherapy and painkillers affected his ability to think clearly? And what does it all have to do with a piece of land once known as Sycamore Row? Confident in his knowledge of the law and connections with law enforcers, Theodore rarely refrains from giving legal advice to his friends, which often leads you to follow him on exciting new adventures.

In this 2nd book in the 'Jake Brigance' series, the attorney gets involved in a monumental fight over a will. The novel works fine as a standalone. I've read the precursor to this book, A Time to Kill, but don't remember much about it - it was a long time ago. What I do know is that this is a brilliantly crafted courtroom drama in it's own right. It's worth reading whether you caught ATtK or not. Having recently read another excellent courtroom yarn, in Michael Connelly's latest offering The Gods of Guilt, I had little hope this would compare favourably. I was wrong, it's as good if not better.

This is without doubt the best legal thriller I’ve read this year, hands down the best. Set at a terrific pace this multi layered story evolves and evolves and just when you think it can’t go anywhere, that the end is in nigh, the book suddenly branches off in a fresh direction, a new perspective, and Grisham introduces a new witness or a different focus to the investigation. This really is clever and sharp witted stuff! That's not to say it's perfect. It's totally predictable, and folks get lost in the huge cast of characters. Still, it's the best thing Grisham has written in a very long time. The brother turns out to be a key - hardly surprising given the subplot - to the dead man's past, with a story about a childhood trauma of witnessing a horrible crime. This is supposed to be a twist but honestly, most readers will see it coming since it is telegraphed all the way through the book that something awful happened in the housekeeper's family past, connected to the dead man's family past. Grisham brings his setting to life - the town, culture, attitudes and more are all detailed and benefit greatly from the author's own past. The legal machinations employed are just as detailed (and interesting) Grisham both grew up in the South and practiced law in Mississippi.

A disbarred layer in Clanton. Older and alcoholic, he offers advice to Jake Brigance on the murder case in “A Time to Kill.” He used to be the number one attorney in town. Is a time for mercy a true story? The USA of the late twentieth and early twenty-first century would probably like to view itself as a post-racial society. But John Grisham's SYCAMORE ROW, a superbly told, moving and completely compelling story, portrays deep south rural Mississippi as anything but. The drama of the civic trial testing the validity of Seth Hubbard's will manages to be at once banal and work-a-day as well as totally gripping. And the conclusion, well, you'll have to read it for yourself. You'll realize that John Grisham could not possibly choose the enormous cop-out of having a mistrial declared without killing the novel entirely so you'll also be aware that he had to choose one side or another. The story starts to drag when it becomes apparent that there is nothing to be done besides rehash the same subjects over and over again. There is some interest in the lives of the characters affected, the housekeeper and her family, the humiliated children of the deceased and his past. But too often the legal sections get mired in the same old greedy lawyers attempting to manipulate one another. I like legal suspense stories but there is no suspense here. Even accepting those choices Grisham made, I had serious issues with the story. It was too much like A Time To Kill. I enjoy the characters of Lucien and Harry Rex, but they felt a bit stale because there was no change in their relationships. Race was again the driving force of the narrative, but somehow in a scant three years, the n-bomb count in Ford County dropped from about 1,000 in A Time To Kill to 2 in this book. Either Mr. Grisham decided he was no longer comfortable casually mixing in that word, or he’s decided his original depiction was historically inaccurate (I’m guessing it’s the former). Most of all, I thought the answer to the question of why Seth Hubbard left his estate to Lettie Lamg was telegraphed from very early in the story, so there was less mystery than there should have been. Variety is reporting that Matthew McConaughey will reprise the role of Jake Brigance for A Time for Mercy, a new HBO series based on the novel by John Grisham. McConaughey previously played the character in another Grisham adaptation – 1996’s A Time to Kill, directed by Joel Schumacher. Does John Grisham have a new book coming out in 2020?To win the case, Jake decides to avoid mentioning race. The jury would be mostly white and he wants them to focus on the case rather than Seth Hubbard’s will. He’ll argue that Seth Hubbard was rich and could give his money away if he wanted to. However, after Lettie’s husband gets into a car accident and kills two teenagers, everything changes. The narrator shows that Seth’s family is a bunch of jerks. They’re loud, mean and racist in their own way. They only care about money and don’t really love him for who he is or what he does. This was a great read written with a focused projection that kept the plot steaming toward a very grand finalé. The characters were colorful without being Southern stereo types; even without knowledge of the prior book, I was able to fill in their personalities and get that familiarization that makes you feel comfy with a book and its inhabitants. Lettie had/has the potential to be a great character that is a beacon of light in the sea of vultures. The problem with the housekeeper is that she wasn't developed enough to surpass being a caricature. Sure, she's the lowly housemaid that was subjected to taking care of a man who was on his way out. Then she was subjected to a small towns' speculation. She was assumed to be his lover, his manipulator, and his puppet-master. A woman who deserved none of these titles yet withstood the ridicule of of so much... crap. I wish I could feel anything for her but I didn't. An orphan that garnered no sympathy from me is a miracle.

Grisham’s only children’s series centers around Theodore Boone, a 13-year-old boy from Pennsylvania. Wishing to follow in his parents’ footsteps, both successful lawyers, young Theo spends most of his time inside the courtroom.Hubbard notes that his children will certainly contest the new will because they are greedy and that Jake must do whatever it takes to make sure the new will is enforced. He says he chose Jake because of the admirable work that Jake did during the Hailey trial.