Frankly, An Innocent Man which was Grisham's best-seller NON-fiction about the near wrongful execution of Ron Williamson was better. This was good, but couldn't beat the real thing.
Nevertheless, Grisham weaves a powerful narrative of how a young black suspect was forced to confess in an illegal police interrogation and how he was put on death row in a biased, unethical court (where the prosecutor was having an affair with the judge. A little melodramatic in parts, but a valuable analysis of what could potentially go wrong in America's justice system and how to fight against it more effectively.
Obviously, the most effective way to avoid wrongful executions like this fictional one, and Ron Williamson's actual case, is to abolish the death penalty altogether. How many mistakes or near misses will it take for Texas, Japan, China and other states to realize that any human system of justice is always going to fallible and death as a penalty should be abolished.
To all students of the legal system, in both Japan and the US, this a very effective introduction to how skewed and unjust justice can be.
The Confession is a legal thriller by an accomplished writer, one who became famous by writing legal thrillers. I loved Grisham's early books, reading each one eagerly, glued to the pages, and disappointed when I finished, realizing that I had to wait a long time for the next one. Somewhere along the way Grisham lost his mojo, and, unfortunately, he hasn't fully regained it.
返信削除Thanks for the comment! I'm glad you are a fellow legal thriller fan. I agree that Grisham is slowing down a bit, but I guess it can't be helped after a dozen or more best sellers. Maybe he wants to sit back and enjoy life for a few years before he regains his creative drive.
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