A Time to Kill

Title: A Time to Kill

Author: John Grisham

Pages: 14 discs

Genre: Fiction, Thriller

Grade: A-

Synopsis: In Clanton, Mississippi a 10-year old black girl is brutally raped and beaten by two white redneck racists - Pete Willard and Billy Ray Cobb. The girls father, Carl Lee Hailey, takes justice into his own hands and blows the two boy's brains out as they are leaving a courtroom. He is immediately arrested and put on trial for capital murder. The trial divides the town and county and brings the KKK back into Ford County (where it had been dormant for many years). Carl Lee Hailey hires a local lawyer to defend him against the charges.

My Review: Right off the bat this book is a little disturbing. The plot gets your attention and sickens you at the same time. What really makes it interesting though, is that in every sense of the word, Carl Lee Hailey is guilty and should be sentenced to the gas chanber (regardless of his kin color). Because he is a black father that killed two white men, many of the white's in the county can't believe that he even gets a trial. I'm not sure whether I would have acquitted him or not. It's a plot and story that allows for deep introspection and that I really enjoyed listening to.