Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Of the five Grisham novels I've read thus far, this is by far the worst. I'm puzzled to see so many found this book 'thrilling', as I thought it was extremely predictable. I found none of the characters to be likeable. The book contains several sub-plots which either add nothing substantial to the novel, or even more annoying simply vanish without a trace. This book will probably be satisfying to only the most die-hard of Grisham fans.
Rating: 
Summary: A Vivid, Provocative Experience
Review: The Chamber is one of the most provocative novels I have read, and I ranks among Grisham's best. The story is about two men from different worlds: Sam Cayhall is a KKK member and a bigot, and Adam Hall, his Grandson, is a liberal Chicago lawyer. Hall takes Sam's case to try to get him off death row. He will be challenged by the Governor, the Attorney General, his own firm, Sam's former accomplice and now a fascist leader, and his alcoholic aunt. This book's study on the gas chamber really made me think about it and helped to change my stance on the issue. There was also an illusion to another of Grisham's books, A Time To Kill, and this book had a similar air to it as that book. It is by far the longest of Grisham's books, but it is worth the time.
-m-
Rating: 
Summary: Too slow, couldn't finish
Review: Boy was this book slow reading...I got about one third of the way through it and stopped. I found the character development shallow and the plot weak. JG can do better than this!
Rating: 
Summary: Great Exploration of a Tough Topic
Review: 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. This book reads like non-fiction, with details about how the gas chamber actually works and what happens when it doesn't work perfectly. While it was not Grisham's intent to have "The Chamber" alter anyone's opinion of the death penalty, it will certainly cause many readers to re-examine their position.
Rating:
Summary: TOTALLY AWESOME!!!
Review: This is the first of JG's books that I read, and I loved it. It made me cry at the end, yes, but it was still a very good book. Adam is a truly caring person, and Sam seems like he's truly sorry for his sins. I wish that the high schools in this country would have their students read this book and then have discussions about the death penalty. It's a very daunting issue, one that too many of the American people are afraid to discuss because they feel it is too gruesome and too controversial to talk about in public. This book makes you think long and hard about your opinion on the death penalty.
Rating:
Summary: A Real Sleeper (Yawner)
Review: This has to be the worst of Grisham. By "sleeper" I mean you will probably fall asleep many times before you get through this one. I started it this past summer and finally finished it in the fall. The book starts out great, but drags along after several chapters. All the slow detals on the gas chamber and the people on death row. Don't waste your time, try The Testament instead.
Rating:
Summary: Good book ? Are you crazy ?
Review: This book has information about death penalty in the U.S. and has some tense passages along the story. But the reading is SLOW !Slow and rich would be okay, but slow and empty .... is terrible! Unless you enjoy bad books.
Rating:
Summary: Death Penalty With Usual Grisham Pacing and Flair
Review: I enjoyed this book. The Chamber features the usual marks that make Grisham a success -- taught stories, a serious central issue, good characters and believability. This is the story of a fractured family forced to confront its past through the impending execution of Sam Cayhill, scheduled to be put to death by the state for a bombing of a civil rights attorney in the South many years ago. Grisham explores the impact of violent racism and family dissolution on members of that family, the slow nature of the legal system in capital cases, and the changing mores of Southern common culture over the last five or six decades. His technical and legal exploration of the death penalty are not only informative but also interesting. I found his explanation of the mechanics and physiology of lethal injection particularly gripping. His characters, a young lawyer without any family but with lots of questions about them, and his aunt who has smothered her childhood memories with a blanket of booze are well drawn and move the story along nicely. I won't give away the plot lines. Suffice it to say that this is one of Grisham's finest efforts (along with The Firm, The Testament, and A Time To Kill). A quick read and solid story that does make you think.
Rating: 
Summary: Quick, easy and interesting read...dull ending.
Review: Must read for Grisham fans, but not the best place to start for newcomers. Moves along quickly with excellent character developement. Grisham could have spent a little more time developing a less disappointing ending, but was most likely in a hurry to pick up his paycheck.
Rating:
Summary: BLOOD IS THICKER THAN WATER?
Review: This book really drives home the fact that you can hate what your family does but they are still family. This young lawyer desperately tries to save his grandfather from the death penalty, not because the man deserves to live, but because he is his grandfather. It portrays how the young lawyer is torn the entire time because the more he finds out about the things his grandfather has done, the more sickened he becomes. It also shows how the actions of one can affect lots of people, such as the lawyer's aunt. I "hated" the grandfather and kept hoping the lawyer would not be successful in his attempt at stopping the execution, but I also understood the family tie. A good book.
| 
