Rating: 
Summary: Life on Death Row
Review: John Grisham produces another great book here. It starts out with a bombing gone awry. One man meant to only bomb a building, but instead kills two innocent children and destroys another life. Thirty years later, one of the bombers in sitting on death row, a former Klan activist, waiting to die when his unknown grandson appears as a lawyer in hopes to rescue him.Grisham does another excellent job describing a story, with great mastery and fluidity, of one man's last ditch effort to save his grandfather from death. Even though his emphasis on law is profound, he delves into deeper issues such as family, the question of the death penalty, and other emotional issues that one does see in other Grisham novels (with the exception of A Painted House). What's really fascinating is that nothing in this book is not black and white. For each issue he brings up, there are good and bad points - each issue is a gray area. He describes the horrors of death row, but then juxtaposes it with the deaths of the two youngsters. Instead of making the main character purely good or evil, he mixes it a bit. Sometimes you wish the inmate would fry, sometimes you feel he's innocent. Another good point about the book is that it's not a farfetched story, like the Street Lawyer or the Firm, it's a book that could be confused with a documentary. He doesn't revolve action or plot twists, but instead relies on the psychological aspects of all sides of a death sentence. The only bad point, of which Grisham tends to do a lot, is he is repetitive. Many, many parts were repeated over and over again. This 700-page book could have been reduced to 500-page book without any loss of detail. Pages 200 to 400 just dragged on and on and on. The last 150 pages, though nothing exciting happens, is really intense and emotional, and is what makes this book. I highly recommend this book to anyone. It's a slight departure for Grisham, as he delves into more psychological elements, but it works well.
Rating:
Summary: Very entertaining
Review: This is my 1st John Grisham book. I found it extremely entertaining and thought provoking. If this is the quality of John's books I certainly look forward to reading others written by him.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Disappointing
Review: This was the most disappointing book I've read in years. Yes, it's well written in that the characters are well developed and you can really feel the emotion of the heartbreaking story. However there is no plot!! Many, many pages are spent laying the groundwork for exciting twists and new dimensions to the story -- but not a single twist or diversion to the story line ever comes to pass. The plot just plods along in 676 pages via a single, linear story line to the logical conclusion.
Rating:
Summary: The Chamber
Review: The Chamber: Adam Hall is a Chicago attorney who takes on a case that could destroy his life. His racist grandfather Sam Cayhall is sitting on death row for the fatal bombing of an office building in the 1960's that paralysed a man and killed his two children. Adam senses there is more to the story and while the nation waits for his execution, Adam tries to uncover the truth with the help of many people including his own aunt who at first wants nothing to do with him or Sam, but she eventually begins to sense a need for closure and so she begins to talk of life with a father like Sam. As he gets closer to the truth he puts his life on the line. Grisham has tackled racism before, but never quite like this. Here we have a character that isn't sorry for what happened all those years ago. Making the main character someone that we cannot like makes it hard to have to read material like this, but Grisham makes the novel work and doesn't become to preachy. The only problem is that the book is really long and I think that the books content could have been trimmed. Besides that it is still another sure fire hit from the master writer.
Rating:
Summary: Very good
Review: The Chamber is a very well crafted story. It'll make you think long and hard about the death penalty. It is slightly darker than most Grisham novels you will encounter, however. Still, if you have the slightest interest in the death penalty, check this novel out.
Rating: 
Summary: This is an example of why Grisham is more popular than good.
Review: Grisham was never really a good writer -- he just came up with a few good stories and told them adequately. In this book, he even failed at that modest aim. The whole purpose of the book seems to be to give Grisham a forum for arguing against the death penalty -- though I'm not even sure about that. If that was his goal, he tried to accomplish it by making us sympathize with an old, sick man on death row. Sorry, but he was once a young, healthy murderer. Executing him sooner would have solved the old, sick man issue.
Rating:
Summary: The Chamber
Review: Adam Hall is Chicago Lawyer who takes the most deadly case of his career. A racist Klansman named Sam Cayhall has been sentenced to die for his actions in the 1963 bombing of an office building that resulted in the deaths of two young children. Adam is trying the case that has created media frenzy. Adam goes to stay with his aunt while trying the case and it puts them at odds because of a shattering secret involving his client. As he tries to have his "client" freed from death row, a man from his clients past resurfaces to keep him from finding out the truth. Grisham first touched on the politics of racism in his debut novel "A Time To Kill" and this one is just as harsh and topical with a gripping plot narrative. It does however require a lot of patience, as it is well over 500 pages long.
Rating:
Summary: Very good
Review: This was the first John Grisham I ever read - it was everything I expected, and more. Like in his other works, he uses the 'thriller' genre brilliantly to make us ask questions of ourselves, making us question those beliefs we've always held closest to our hearts. There have been many works of fiction that have dealt with the question of Capital Punishment, many of them often trivializing the whole issue with sentimentality and Hollywoodish emotions - in one sentence, this one doesn't.
But what strikes you most about this book is the astonishing realism and the complex plotting. The characters manage not be caricatures - each one of them manages to achieve flesh-and-blood status and never descend into the ludicruous. A very good read. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: The Greatest book in the World
Review: This is one of my favorite books, and definately my favorite of all Grisham Books. I first read the book at 12, after my father finished it. Its a great read, that anyone would enjoy
Rating:
Summary: Much Deeper Then His Other Books
Review: For me this was one of his better books. The reason is that I think he took a story line that had some real meaning and most of us see parts of on the TV all the time. He then really got into the characters and story. He develops it all the way to the end. I truly felt for the prisoner at the end of the book. The book does not move off the main path it set for itself. A lot of my friends felt the book was too slow or heavy, but for me I think most of his other books have been to easy and light. You have to and want to spend time with this book. The time pays off in the end with a book that you will remember for a good time to come.
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