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Book Reviews of A Time to Kill

A Time to Kill
A Time to Kill
Author: John Grisham
ISBN-13: 9780385470810
ISBN-10: 0385470819
Publication Date: 11/1/1993
Pages: 496
Rating:
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 85

4 stars, based on 85 ratings
Publisher: Doubleday
Book Type: Hardcover
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

26 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

reviewed A Time to Kill on + 9 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
One of the best Grisham novels.
ladycholla avatar reviewed A Time to Kill on + 2081 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Great Grisham as always.
reviewed A Time to Kill on + 26 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Excellent early Grisham.
reviewed A Time to Kill on + 31 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
When you read this book, you understand why it was so instrumental in making Grisham so famous. Because I saw the movie and wasn't so impressed, I almost didn't read this book. Even more then most, this book absolutely blows the movie away. It will keep you glued to the pages!
reviewed A Time to Kill on + 191 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
HIs first and a classic.
scrapbooklady avatar reviewed A Time to Kill on + 472 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I loved this book like I love most of Grisham's novels! Extremely fast paced, twisting and emotional plot, and humor that comes out of nowhere to catch you off guard and laughing despite yourself. Since everyone knows this story I won't get into that, all I'll say that this is a MUST for every Grisham fan and a great one to start with if you aren't.
reviewed A Time to Kill on + 204 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
What else could you expect from Grisham? Grisham takes on hard, and sometimes, harsh storyline and makes you stop and think....can you take justice in your own hands? As always, Grisham's deep detail makes you become a "part" in the book. Meaning you can sit back and say would I do the same thing? This was a page turner from the first page.
reviewed A Time to Kill on + 27 more book reviews
My favorite Grisham, hands down.
reviewed A Time to Kill on + 2 more book reviews
My favorite of all John Grisham's books.
reviewed A Time to Kill on + 8 more book reviews
Clanton, Mississippi. The life of a ten-year-old girl is shattered by two drunken and remorseless young men. The mostly white town reacts with shock and horror at the inhuman crime. Until her black father acquires an assault rifle--and takes justice into his own outraged hands.
For ten days, as burning crosses and the crack of sniper fire spread through the streets of Clanton, the nation sits spellbound as young defense attorney, Jake Brigance struggles to save his client's life...and then his own...
freeverse071681 avatar reviewed A Time to Kill on + 609 more book reviews
A Southern town is shocked when a 10-year-old black girl is raped by two white men--until the girl's father takes the law into his own hands.
the cardboard box this audiobook comes in has gotten wet and is very worn as it has traveled a lot but the tapes work great
Handlebars avatar reviewed A Time to Kill on + 153 more book reviews
2 cassettes - Abridged
Amazon.com
This addictive tale of a young lawyer defending a black Vietnam war hero who kills the white druggies who raped his child in tiny Clanton, Mississippi, is John Grisham's first novel, and his favorite of his first six. He polished it for three years and every detail shines like pebbles at the bottom of a swift, sunlit stream. Grisham is a born legal storyteller and his dialogue is pitch perfect.

The plot turns with jeweled precision. Carl Lee Hailey gets an M-16 from the Chicago hoodlum he'd saved at Da Nang, wastes the rapists on the courthouse steps, then turns to attorney Jake Brigance, who needs a conspicuous win to boost his career. Folks want to give Carl Lee a second medal, but how can they ignore premeditated execution? The town is split, revealing its social structure. Blacks note that a white man shooting a black rapist would be acquitted; the KKK starts a new Clanton chapter; the NAACP, the ambitious local reverend, a snobby, Harvard-infested big local firm, and others try to outmaneuver Jake and his brilliant, disbarred drunk of an ex-law partner. Jake hits the books and the bottle himself. Crosses burn, people die, crowds chant "Free Carl Lee!" and "Fry Carl Lee!" in the antiphony of America's classical tragedy. Because he's lived in Oxford, Mississippi, Grisham gets compared to Faulkner, but he's really got the lean style and fierce folk moralism of John Steinbeck. --Tim Appelo
--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.


Amazon.com Audiobook Review
With a chillingly calm, even delivery, Michael Beck, a regular Grisham reader (The Rainmaker, The Runaway Jury), turns the narrative of this disturbing tale of racism, ignorance, and brutality into an almost visceral experience. "Cobb strung a length of quarter inch ski rope over a limb ... he grabbed her and put the noose around her head." The story is frighteningly believable and expertly crafted around a horrible crime and the tragic consequences that follow. At times, Beck's character voices can be distracting, but his efforts are generally applied to good effect, adding another level of tension to this already suspenseful look at a small Mississippi town's struggle for justice. --George Laney
--This text refers to the Unabridged Audio Cassette edition.
classy-lady avatar reviewed A Time to Kill on + 14 more book reviews
John Grisham at his finest!
reviewed A Time to Kill on + 12 more book reviews
My fave Grisham book of all time
reviewed A Time to Kill on + 18 more book reviews
Better than the movie.
Lyn95 avatar reviewed A Time to Kill on
A Time to Kill by John Grisham is his first and best book. This is the story of Carl Lee Hailey who gets his revenge on some white trash who attacked his daughter and it is about the lawyer, Jake Brigance, who defends him. It is a page turner that will have you glued from the 1st page.
reviewed A Time to Kill on + 58 more book reviews
If you've only seen the movie, i HIGHLY recommend you pick up this book. It's one of those books you cannot put down until you finish it.
Tunerlady avatar reviewed A Time to Kill on + 581 more book reviews
This is one of the best Grisham novels I have ever read! I could not put it down. The characters were so real and excitement that builds to very end can be felt deeply. Makes one so very aware of the racial tension that still exists, especially in the south. Very moving story.
reviewed A Time to Kill on + 34 more book reviews
Though the story is about a trial, it is not a courtroom story. This book is about motive and how race figures into motive. An excellent plot with get dialogue and in-depth characterizations.
reviewed A Time to Kill on + 8 more book reviews
One of my favorite books. Grisham is the master storyteller. The cover of my paperback is different than the one pictured.
twinsmama avatar reviewed A Time to Kill on + 28 more book reviews
This is one of my favorite books. I love John Grisham. He goes into some pretty vivid details but keeps you on your toes and wondering. I would suggest anyone who loves books that were made into movies, read this book.
ORION9 avatar reviewed A Time to Kill on + 56 more book reviews
John Grisham is very well known for his legal thrillers and this one, in my opinion, is the best one he has done. The story is set in small town Mississippi and is filled with gritty characters in intolerable situations. There are more bad guys per capita than in most of his novels and they combine to form an explosive mixture that is pure entertainment. As always, he creates vivid and believable characters and situations as the very good storyteller that he is.
pipi avatar reviewed A Time to Kill on + 43 more book reviews
I love John Grisham and this book particularly. He has never written a bad book.
DarlaZ avatar reviewed A Time to Kill on + 21 more book reviews
This is the first time I've read a Grisham. I avoided reading it because I saw the movie first. I loved it and will read others by Grisham.
Arlene avatar reviewed A Time to Kill on
This book is a hardcover book, red cover.
reviewed A Time to Kill on + 42 more book reviews
Cover is a little different than this one