The Guardians by John Grisham 5

 

"This can be a dirty business. We are forced to deal with witnesses who have lied, police who have fabricated evidence, experts who have misled juries, and prosecutors who have suborned perjury. We, the good guys, often find that getting our hands dirty is the only way to save our clients."

            -Cullen Post, from the novel

This is my third Grisham novel in a row. Might not have happened if The Guardians had not been a June Page Turners selection and had The Testament not been the best available in the cruise ship library. Of the three, I liked this one best for a couple of reasons. It reminded me of Framed, a nonfiction by Grisham and a co-writer, Jim McCloskey who heads up an innocence project of his own. I found it fascinating, if disturbing. Also, The Guardians is partially set in Central Florida where I live with mentions of familiar places like the Orange County Court House, a skyscraper in Orlando. I rate it a 5, definitely a page-turner.

Cullen Post is a former criminal defense attorney turned episcopal priest turned innocence lawyer. He works with a nonprofit, Guardian Ministries, out of Savannah. The novel focuses on two of his clients, innocent men falsely imprisoned: Duke Russell dangerously close to being executed in Alabama and Quincy Miller 20+ years in prison in North Florida for a murder he did not commit. Post puts in an incredible number of hours and miles on his old car traveling from prison to prison and finding and interviewing people involved in the original verdicts.

I can only hope there are numerous guardians like Cullen Post in America trying to right some terrible wrongs. Our U.S. justice system is far from just for some Americans, especially people of color and those without resources.