Rating: 
Summary: Good Book
Review: (...)After getting(...) into the book, I found myself pitying him when I learned what he was going through. I still hated him and considered him a miserable human being, but I didn't think he deserved to die like that. To do something like this with your writing requires incredible talent, something that I believe John Grisham has. Any other author might try to make you feel compassion for an awful and racist person and it certainly wouldn't work, it would probably annoy you. I found this was certainly not true with The Chamber. I have never agreed with the Death Penalty, but that was probably jsut because I grew up in a house were people would tell me that it was wrong. Never really knowing why it was really wrong I just accepted that that was the way things were. I now really understand what's so bad about it.
Rating: 
Summary: dissapointing ending to a wonderfuly written book
Review: the chambe does an outstanding job of describing the life of a death row inmate. yet I was dissapointed in the lack of excitement. There were many places Grisham could've gone with the plot at the end, and as a reader I was left curious as to why the death of sam cayhall was so boring
Rating: 
Summary: "And the winner is-'The Chamber'!!"
Review: I had a very difficult time deciding which John Grisham book was my favorite. It was between "The Street Lawyer" and "The Chamber". "And the winner is-envelope please-'The Chamber'!!". I'll make this short and sweet-tremendous plotting, fantastic writing, and tremendously memorable characters. If you only read one John Grisham book, make it "The Chamber". I'd give this more than five stars if I could.
Rating:
Summary: The Chamber
Review: John Grisham has written many captivating novels, including The Chamber. This novel is tells of a young lawyer's fight to save his grandfather's life. Adam Hall, a rookie from Chicago, takes on the case of Sam Cayhall, a former member of the KKK who has been wrongly convicted of a bombing and sentenced to the death penalty. (...) While this is not one of John Grisham's best novels, it is well-worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: The Chamber
Review: John Grisham has written many captivating novels, including The Chamber. The story is of Sam Cayhall, a KKK member who was accused and convicted of another man's crime, but is reluctant to reveal his identity for the security of his family. His lawyer is his grandson, Adam, who was completely unknown to him until four weeks before his execution. While tring to save his grandfather's life, Adam attempts to uncover all of his family history, which turns out to be a horrible display of murder, lies, and secrets. With the help of his alcoholic aunt, he learns much about his past and that of his ancestors. During the duration of the novel, Sam's pessimism, due to the lack of affection from loved ones, is terminated with the development of relationships with these individuals. This novel is is not one of John Grisham's best works, but it is well-worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: Don't make this your first Grisham
Review: I've read every novel John Grisham has published to date. This one is good, but far from great. If you are looking to read your first Grisham, read Time to Kill, the Client or the Brethren. Come back to this one later. It is much better than the movie, which was a real waste of $7.
Rating:
Summary: A John LeCarreesque Crime Book
Review: If you're looking for a heart pounding, spellbinding journey of ever twisting plots read another book. But, if you're willing to put your brain into high gear on a high octane adventure of thinking and rethinking your ideas on crime and punishment you must read this book. The heart of this story is the death penalty. Is it morally/legally justified? Is it neccessary? Does society benefit from it? All the usual questions and one I've yet to read about---the effects the death penalty has upon the people duty-bound to carry out the execution. This book will open up your eyes in ways you'd never imagine no matter your view point.
Rating:
Summary: The Chamber--A Closer Look At Death Row Life
Review: This was a moving book- it had a hard plot. It was about death row life, and the choices that Sam Cayhall made to get there.
It is also very controversial- it presents an important decision to be made within the plot about whether Sam Cayhall should be executed for his past crimes, or be allowed to live, since he was an old man and had reformed in his ways. It was not a book for people who can't take the hard reality that things do not always go as we want them to in life.
I could not put this book down; it continually captured my interest through the ebbs and flows of the plot, and the surprises that unfolded throughout the story. It was detailed and painstakingly written.
It presents past choices and death row life through the eyes of the inmate- Sam Cayhall. Adam Hall, who is Sam's grandson, is a lawyer, and chooses to legally represent him. Adam represents the hope that Sam will get to live.
This story is an excellent example of the choices that we make in life, and the different consequences that follow them.
I throughly enjoyed this book, and I recommend it to everyone who likes stories of reality, as well as a peek at the unknown stigma of death row. This was truly the best book by John Grisham that I have ever read. Grisham came through with his best once again!!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Provocative
Review: This may not be Grisham's best novel -- no tense action, no constant new thrilling plot turns and stuff -- but this book fulfills the intention of being a provocation. I am a supporter of the death penalty but this book made me think about the rightness of legal murder. What Grisham meant this book to do is achieved -- it arouses serious doubts.Moderately-paced, "The Chamber" depicts the life of a death row inmate with astounding detail. Everything from the daily routine to the last hours before the execution is beautifully narrated by John Grisham. The main character, Sam Cayhall, is about to be gassed for killing two children who died in a bomb blast. However, he was just an accomplice and he did not want the bomb to kill anyone. But there are some unknown hideous crimes he had committed before. So the whole setup of the book is that letting Sam live is too weak a punishment but gassing him is too much. You feel sorry for the victims, but you unwillingly feel sorry for the convict as well, who wakes up each morning with the thought that he is one day closer to death. The death penalty argument will never be over and Grisham does a fine job of describing all the controversy of capital punishment. Again, it's not his best work, but Grisham still hits the bull's-eye.
Rating:
Summary: Thought provoking
Review: After a cursory glance at the reviews given this book by fellow readers, I am surprised to see that people cannot appreciate this book for what it really is. Grisham apparently intented to abandon his normal commercially appealing style in order for him to bring an important issue to the forefront. Grisham does an excellent job of weaving through the the processes involved in evoking the death penalty and infuses the story with sentiment from both sides. It would have been easy for him to stack all the cards against the death penalty, and have the main character merely be a pawn which was framed in a crime. Rather every time the reader feels excessive sympathy for Sam, another vile act from his past is exposed, and once again the readers sympathy is put in jeopardy. I think Grisham did a masterful job with this book, the only fault being its unecessary length. This book could have been easily abridged by approximately 150 pages.
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