John Grisham delivers a classic legal thriller–-with a twist.In the small Florida town of Seabrook, a young lawyer named Keith Russo was shot dead at his desk as he worked late one night. The killer left no clues. There were no witnesses, no one with a motive. But the police soon came to suspect Quincy Miller, a young black man who was once a client of Russo’s. Quincy was tried, convicted, and … was tried, convicted, and sent to prison for life. For twenty-two years he languished in prison, maintaining his innocence. But no one was listening. He had no lawyer, no advocate on the outside. In desperation, he writes a letter to Guardian Ministries, a small nonprofit run by Cullen Post, a lawyer who is also an Episcopal minister.
Guardian accepts only a few innocence cases at a time. Cullen Post travels the country fighting wrongful convictions and taking on clients forgotten by the system. With Quincy Miller, though, he gets far more than he bargained for. Powerful, ruthless people murdered Keith Russo, and they do not want Quincy Miller exonerated.
They killed one lawyer twenty-two years ago, and they will kill another without a second thought.
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Classic Grisham legal thriller! Very entertaining with a great plot, excellent story telling and good ending. Highly recommended.
True to tradition, an excellent read
I enjoyed The Guardians immensely and John Grisham is a superb story teller.
My only gripe with this book is that the Author’s Note is in the back matter … it should have been at the front. It describes Grisham’s inspiration for the characters and the plot. The main inspiration is a prison chaplain whose work and dedication saw the release of an innocent prisoner in 1980 and since then another 63 men and women owe their freedom to him. Sadly the second source of inspiration is a 79yo man who has been imprisoned for 30 years for a crime he did not commit.
Grisham skillfully weaves real-life events into a gripping thriller. Great book.
In true John Grisham style, this novel is a riveting page-turner.
I read a lot of books by many different authors and most of them are very good, but then I read a book by John Grisham and am reminded that he is one of the best, a master of the craft. A great story teller, his prose is spare and concise. There is always a thread of tension running through the narrative and the book is a pleasure to read. You don’t want it to end. Usually the good guys win and you want them to win but their winning isn’t the payoff of a Grisham novel. The payoff is the journey.
I never don’t like any of Grisham’s books, and this one covers a subject I’m very interested in: innocence projects. I did like this one, too; however, my interest started flagging around the first half or so of the novel and I had to make myself finish it. Seems as if it may be setting up for a sequel. One nit: a copy editor should have caught that Kingsport is in east, not west, Tennessee. And, being 80 myself, I kind of disliked the descriptions of two or three characters in their 70s as being decrepit. John, when you get to that age, you might get it!
I’ve been a Follower if this writer for years, even those novels written for pre-teens! This novel is about a subject I’ve long wondered about—does anyone help those wrongly convicted? Well done!
John Grisham describes his take on another aspect of the legal profession. This time, those lawyers dedicated to exonerating falsely accused individuals in prison for decades for crimes they didn’t commit, based on junk science, lazy police / prosecutors, jail house snitches, and similar. He captures the time, effort, and frustrations of pursuing every avenue of mostly cold-cases to try to win freedom for those falsely accused clients, with sucesses few and far between.
I enjoyed this one! Reminded me of why I love Grisham’s legal thrillers! Good character development and great characters! Hard to believe that this really happens! So sad that it does!
There are two types of John Grisham novels, the preachy ones and the genuine thrillers. I enjoy both, but with shameless irony, this novel falls into the former category – the main character is a preacher as well as a lawyer. He’s on mission to free an innocent man from death row, but places himself in danger when the gang who framed his client has other ideas.
This is Grisham’s third expose of the criminal justice system after The Chamber and the Racketeer, and it is just as scathing. The characters have the same earthy realism that characterizes all of Grisham’s novels, but I couldn’t identify with the main character, Cullen Post, in the same way that I rooted for Rudy Baylor in The Rainmaker or Jake Brigance in A Time to Kill. Those seeking a climax where the outcome hangs on a knife-edge will be underwhelmed, but the die-hard Grisham fans (such as myself) can still wile away an afternoon reading a fascinating indictment on the American justice system.
I you are looking for the pulse-pounding conclusions of Grisham’s earlier books, you won’t find it here. A story of persistence and dedication to righting the wrongfully convicted.
I like Grisham so I liked this.
Lots of info about Innocence Projects. Again, Grisham shines a light on our prison system.
Good read.