"He, deserved to die, Joel. You'll never understand it, and I suppose you'll learn one day that life is filled with things we can never understand. There's no guarantee that you are allowed to live with the full knowledge of everything. There are a lot of mysteries out there. Accept them and move on."
-Pete Banning, from the novel
I must admit I was disappointed in this latest Grisham offering. I've read and loved many of his earlier novels, particularly A Time to Kill, his first, The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, Skipping Christmas and A Painted House. (The last two were departures from the regular legal thrillers.) Many were adapted for the screen and became popular films. I found this one's 400+ pages tedious at times. A 3 is the best rating I can give.
In the very first chapter, Pete Banning, well-to-do landowner and hometown war hero, shoots the Methodist pastor at point-blank range. When he is quickly arrested he makes no denial, no excuses and gives no reason for his actions. In fact, he will not explain even to his family---sister Florry, son Joel, daughter Stella, nor his lawyers. One would rightly guess it to be an open-and-shut case under the circumstances. Pete's estranged wife is in a mental facility so she's in no position to help in his defense.
After this shocking beginning, the author flashes back to Pete's past---as a West Point grad, to his meeting Liza, his future wife, and his experiences as a soldier and POW in the Philippines during WWII. I didn't know much about the Bataan Death March and from this story I learned MORE than I wanted to know. Such unspeakable cruelty of the Japanese! Pete suffers such extreme torture, the reader starts to wonder if he returned home with PTSD and something caused him to snap and commit this crime. I can tell you not to expect resolution until late in the novel.
Much of the novel features Pete's son, Joel, a law student who spends a great deal of time wandering and wondering just how his family and home have fallen apart. There have been too many secrets and deceptions! I wonder if YOU will successfully predict the ending.
