Me ha gustado mucho la ambientación en ese Mississippi rural de los años cuarenta del pasado siglo. Refleja a la perfección el tema de los prejuicios raciales. Clanton es una localidad en la que casi nunca se ha cometido un crimen. En palabras de sus policías, alguna pelea y el linchamiento de un chico negro, pero claro eso no cuenta, no era ilegal colgar a un chico de color en esa época. Por muy sabido que lo tengamos leerlo así de crudo te deja helada. I suppose.” He had toyed with the idea of warning his sister of what was to come, but she would react badly, beg him not to do it, become hysterical, and they would fight, something they had not done in years. The killing would change her life dramatically, and on the one hand he pitied her and felt an obligation to explain. But on the other, he knew that it could not be explained, and attempting to do so would serve no useful purpose. John Grisham has captured a suspenseful story and keeps us on the hook until the very last chapter. Why in the world would Pete Banning have killed Reverend Bell? Suspicions are easy enough, but proof seems impossible. The man is brilliant, patient, and always one step ahead of law enforcement. He is the most cunning of all serial killers. He knows forensics, police procedure, and most important: he knows the law. With regard to the Bataan material, it’s not that Grisham isn’t allowed to write about things other than courtroom drama. Playing for Pizza (2007) is an example of a book in which he broke away from the legal thriller groove and wrote a story that was charming, engaging, and entertaining. It’s not that he has to write the same thing, every time out.

Surprised at the intrusion, Bell said, “Well, good morning, Pete.” He was about to stand when Pete whipped out a pistol with a long barrel and said, “You know why I’m here.” Es una novela muy diferente de lo que suele hacer Grisham. Tiene parte de thriller legal, pero lo importante no son los juicios. El acento lo pone en la historia del protagonista y en el contexto.

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After a tragedy, those with even the slightest connections to it often exaggerate their involvement and importance.”

Kudos, Mr. Grisham, for entertaining the reader from the outset. This is a story that will keep the reader thinking throughout as they become enthralled with the detailed writing. I cannot wait for the next piece you have planned. Pete took a step closer, aimed down at Dexter, and squeezed the trigger. He had been trained as a marksman with all firearms, and had used them in battle to kill more men than he cared to remember, and he had spent his life in the woods hunting animals large and small. The first shot went through Dexter’s heart, as did the second. The third entered his skull just above the nose. Born in Jonesboro, Arkansas, Grisham holds a J.D. degree from the University of Mississippi, School of Law, one which he acquired in 1981.

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No es la típica novela sobre abogados y juicios a los que nos tiene acostumbrados. Hay abogados y hay juicios, sí. Pero no son lo más importante en la narrativa. En la segunda parte (hay tres, bien diferenciadas) asistimos a la historia personal de Pete Banning, nuestro héroe, desde que conoce a su mujer y se alista en el ejército, hasta su movilización y posterior traslado a Filipinas. Tras el bombardeo de Pearl Harbour, la guerra en el Pacífico cobrará extrema importancia. Aquí nuestro protagonista será apresado por los japoneses, y asistiremos a capítulo tras capítulo de vejaciones y sufrimientos. El que avisa no es traidor, esta parte está descrita con tal detalle, que a más de uno se le puede atragantar la lectura, pues no se escatima en nada. Es como si estuviésemos leyendo una novela sobre un campo de concentración nazi, sólo que aquí los nazis son los japos (perdón por el americanismo). Y por desgracia, lo que se cuenta, por lo que yo sé, es bastante verídico. Es en esta parte donde la novela alcanza una dimensión que raya en lo soberbio, por lo que intuyo que Grisham hubiese sido un gran narrador bélico.

He won’t listen.” Pete took a bite of his omelet. “I just want him to hurry up and graduate. I’m tired of paying tuition.”The hurricane is devastating: Homes and condos are leveled, hotels and storefronts ruined, streets flooded—and a dozen people lose their lives. One of the apparent victims is Nelson Kerr, a friend of Bruce’s and an author of thrillers. But the nature of Nelson’s injuries suggests that the storm wasn’t the cause of his death: He has suffered several suspicious blows to the head.

The problem with the Bataan section of the novel is that it’s too larded down with information cobbled from his reference sources, and it’s far too detailed in terms of physical suffering. It’s a fair bet that after endlessly recurring descriptions of diarrhea and beheadings, many readers won’t make it all the way to Part Three. The question of why Pete Banning shot the Reverend Dexter Bell is just not compelling enough to justify struggling through the middle portion of this book. The quest for justice is only the beginning in this Southern-family saga… Grisham does so much more this time around.” The thought that this could be their last meal together was difficult to comprehend, but then most things that morning were being done for the last time.In the summer of his seventeenth year, Sam­uel Sooleymon gets the chance of a lifetime: a trip to the United States with his South Sudanese teammates to play in a showcase basket­ball tournament. He has never been away from home, nor has he ever been on an airplane. The opportunity to be scouted by dozens of college coaches is a dream come true.