The Chamber Author: Visit Amazon's John Grisham Page | Language: English | ISBN:
0385339666 | Format: EPUB
The Chamber Description
Amazon.com Review
At first listen, the narration of this abridged version of John Grisham's
The Chamber seems flat and uninvolved. But Michael Beck has chosen his vocal style well, purposely eschewing unnecessary adornment and allowing this searing indictment of racism and murder to unfold on its own terms. Beck uses character voices sparingly, adding subtle emphasis to the already charged plot. The story begins with a Klan-sponsored bombing and then traces a trail of rigged acquittals stretching over three decades, until a young lawyer with secrets of his own brings the case to a powerful conclusion. (Running time: 6 hours, 4 cassettes)
--George Laney --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
The chamber in question is the gas chamber at the Mississippi State Penitentiary--and for 69-year-old Sam Crayhall, the road thence has been many years long. Sam was twice tried and twice acquitted for murder after a 1967 Ku Klux Klan scare bombing accidentally killed the twin sons of the intended target; 14 years later he was tried a third time, convicted and sentenced to death. Now, in 1990, a young Chicago lawyer, employed by the firm that represented Sam but which he has just unceremoniously dumped, wants Sam as a client. Adam Hall, the 26-year-old rookie, is Sam Crayhall's grandson. Adam's efforts to save this splendid curmudgeon from death form the center of Grisham's quietly compelling novel, a hub from which the far-reaching spokes of personal dramas extend. The despair of prison life has rarely been so grippingly evoked--no riots or dazzling escapes here, just a drab, pervasive dailiness. And the gradually revealed dysfunctions of the Crayhalls prove both surprising and affecting. This ranks as top-notch Grisham and reveals new dimensions to his talent: the focus on character, the credible emotion and the simple moments of human connection bear comparison to Grisham's work in A Time to Kill . The prose, too, has more subtlety and texture than Grisham has previously exhibited. Though the countdown to an execution is a well-worn plot device, it has seldom been as effective, especially in the novel's last 100 pages. Readers can almost hear the cogs of justice turning ever faster--or is that the sound of Grisham's fans stampeding the bookstores for this riveting read? 2.5 million first printing; Literary Guild main selection; audio rights to BBD audio; major ad/promo.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
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- Paperback: 640 pages
- Publisher: Delta; Reprint edition (December 27, 2005)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0385339666
- ISBN-13: 978-0385339667
- Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.1 x 1.1 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
At first glance, one might assume that this book's title refers to a judge's chamber and that this will be another one of Grisham's thrill-a-minute page turners like his other books. This well-researched, movingly-detailed story is difficult to put down, but not for the same reason as his other novels. Instead, it closely resembles the author's first book,"A Time to Kill", an intense courtroom novel examining the politics of Mississippi justice.
The chamber in the title is the death chamber, where Sam Cayhall, a nine-year resident of death row, is slated to be killed with cyanide gas in a few weeks. Cayhall, a frail and elderly man, was a Ku Klux Klan bomber convicted in 1981 of bombing the office of a Jewish civil-rights lawyer in Mississippi in 1967. This explosion killed the lawyer's two young sons and badly maimed their father. Cayhall was freed after mistrials in 1967 and 1968; for the next 12 years, Sam led a normal life until an aggressive new district attorney reopened the case.
The novel's main action begins a month before Cayhall's scheduled execution. Adam Hall, a first-year lawyer in a large, prestigious Chicago firm which formerly represented Cayhall on a pro-bono basis, asks to represent Sam in an effort to get a stay of execution. Adam's secret weapon in the effort to have Sam agree to his representation is that he is Cayhall's long-lost grandson. Although Adam wants to help his grandfather, he must deal with his guilt for wanting to help someone whose beliefs he detests.
When Sam agrees to Adam's representation, a race against the clock begins. Grisham presents a picture of the controlled but frantic coordination necessary during the appeals process. It is literally a legal juggling act requiring split-second timing.
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