The Reckoning: A Novel

John Grisham

Oct 2018 · Sold by Anchor

About this ebook

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • John Grisham's most powerful, surprising, and suspenseful thriller yet • “A murder mystery, a courtroom drama, a family saga.” —USA Today

October 1946, Clanton, Mississippi

Pete Banning was Clanton, Mississippi’s favorite son—a decorated World War II hero, the patriarch of a prominent family, a farmer, father, neighbor, and a faithful member of the Methodist church. Then one cool October morning he rose early, drove into town, and committed a shocking crime.  Pete's only statement about it—to the sheriff, to his lawyers, to the judge, to the jury, and to his family—was: "I have nothing to say." He was not afraid of death and was willing to take his motive to the grave.
           
In a major novel unlike anything he has written before, John Grisham takes us on an incredible journey, from the Jim Crow South to the jungles of the Philippines during World War II; from an insane asylum filled with secrets to the Clanton courtroom where Pete’s defense attorney tries desperately to save him. 

Reminiscent of the finest tradition of Southern Gothic storytelling, The Reckoning would not be complete without Grisham’s signature layers of legal suspense, and he delivers on every page.

Don’t miss John Grisham’s new book, THE EXCHANGE: AFTER THE FIRM!

Ratings and reviews

Grisham is usually one of my favorites for legal intrigue but this "Reckoning" was pure downer from start to finish. Oh and he threw in a horrific POW story for added grief. And some blacks treated badly in Mississippi. The main character a "war hero" shoots and kills a preacher at point blank range but refuses to say why. It was pretty obvious he believed the guy had been intimate with his wife whike he was believed dead at the hands of the Japanese in the Phillipines. His wife is in an insane asylum.

This book is disappointing. The stories, or should I say lies, are so intricately woven that there are too many unanswered questions at the end. Recounting one man's story during the Bataan Death March was necessary to a point, it went on for far too long to make its point in the main storyline. A murder was a means to an end for the former POW. I would like to have seen the horrors of The March played out in the mind of the former POW as he remained silent in his own defense while the rest of the cast tried to answer unanswerable questions. Nonetheless, two stars because it didn't fail to be a page-turner.

Unless you like morbid, do not read this book. 1/3 of the book is about the Bataan Death March during World War II and it is so horrific I just skipped over it. The point of the book is unknown. A horrible story of a family destroyed by mis-information and lies. A man who's misplaced sense of honor is more important than the legacy he leaves behind. He goes off to war, the wife thinks he's dead, she has an affair, he comes home & finds out and cannot get over it. The worst Grisham book I've ever read. Gruesome, pointless and totally tragic is not what I call wonderful. There is way too much detail in the segment on the war. How horrific it was for those soldiers. If we wanted history, we would visit the Smithsonian, not read it in a Grisham novel. Sorry, John, this was not a home run.

About the author

John Grisham is the author of forty-seven consecutive #1 bestsellers, which have been translated into nearly fifty languages. His recent books include The Judge's List, Sooley, and his third Jake Brigance novel, A Time for Mercy, which is being developed by HBO as a limited series.
 
Grisham is a two-time winner of the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction and was honored with the Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for Fiction.
 
When he's not writing, Grisham serves on the board of directors of the Innocence Project and of Centurion Ministries, two national organizations dedicated to exonerating those who have been wrongfully convicted. Much of his fiction explores deep-seated problems in our criminal justice system.
 
John lives on a farm in central Virginia.