An Eye Opener . Review on Confession, The - John Grisham

John Grisham, a lawyer by profession is also an author of several best sellers and has written 'The Confession' which is one of the legal thrillers that not only leaves the reader spellbound with the material, it also forces him to think about the issues of wrong convictions that leads to death sentences.

Being a lawyer by profession, he has the knowledge to get to the root of the issues and then present them in the form of a gripping tale that arrests the attention of the reader from the word go. Though this book might remind the readers of Grisham's earlier book 'The Chamber', which also dealt with the issue of death sentence but that is where the similarity comes to an end. Because this time the author has gone a step ahead and that can be felt with the way he narrated the tale.

We have often seen and/or read about the confessions that people make in the church. Can one confession make some difference? Or can it change lives of people? That is what this book is all about.

One fine morning, Travis Boyette walks into the church & confesses to the Reverend Keith Schroeder that he has raped & killed a cheer leader Nicole Yarber, a white woman, nine years ago. He has buried her body somewhere & only he knows the place. Nine years ago police has arrested Donte Drumm, a black man, for the murder of Nicole, who is to be executed after four days because he has confessed to the killing, even though the body of the victim is yet to be found. Travis Boyette who has been in & out of the prison decided to confess to the crime because of his own imminent death due to the egg size brain tumour. He knew that he has limited number of days to live hence decided to confess.

People may think that revealing the identity of the killer in the beginning can spoil the proceedings but not in this case because the innocent man who has been arrested is to be executed, so the justice is done in the eyes of law. But the real killer himself has confessed to the crime & the sad part is that no body would believe him because of his criminal record & heath condition.

This confession leaves Reverend Keith Schroeder in a fix. He knows an innocent man is going to be executed in four days, who can be saved by a guilty man. But is it possible? He starts the investigation & tries to save the life of the innocent man while the main culprit who has confessed to the crime begins to play hide and seek game with him. Donte Drumm's lawyer who has fought his case for nine years has not yet given up as he still hopes that he can save the life of his client. But he too doesn't believe Reverend Keith Schroeder when the latter narrates the confession of Travis Boyette.

What happens then? Can Keith Schroeder save Donte Drumm, the innocent man? Because one person has confessed that he has seen Donte Drumm kidnapping Nicole Yarber, the night she disappeared. Will Travis Boyette cooperate? If yes, will the law believe him? There are several such questions that are answered in 450 plus pages by John Grisham.

People who think they are masters in guessing the final outcome of this book are advised to hold their horses right there because it is not an easy task. The author had something else in mind that he wanted to bring to the knowledge of the common man & he has shared it with his book that will open the eyes of many to the reality, which will shock the readers at times.

The best part about the book is even though the hero of the story is a pastor, the book does not intend to preach anywhere because that would have spoiled the impact that it created. As the book heads forward it brings out issues like tension between the whites & the blacks as the victim was a white girl & the man convicted for the crime is a black man, which is brilliantly written. Also the twists & turns in the book keep the reader glued to the material waiting for the inevitable to happen as the powerful authorities that have always run the system by taking full advantage of the loop holes in it, continues to do so.

Be it a book or a movie, I have always believed that any story can become interesting if the characters are well drawn & John Grisham scores full marks in this department as all the characters in the book, be that of the victim or the real killer or the pastor or the lawyer or the governor to name a few are well sketched. The research done by him is commendable & it shows on every page.

As stated earlier John Grisham has gone a step ahead this time, the last 50 plus pages takes the reader through a ride, which is thrilling for sure but at the same time brings awareness as to how the authorities behave when the chips are down. The power game that has been running the system & will continue to run is explained convincingly.

John Grisham has said in one of his interviews, "Death row is a nightmare for serial killers & for an innocent man, it's a life of mental torture that the human spirit is not equipped to survive".& with 'The Confession' he has attempted to bring to surface the issues & aftermath of wrongful convictions that can lead to death sentences. It goes without saying that he succeeded with flying colours.

The book is strongly recommended to all.