Scan barcode
A review by rebecca_oneil
A Time for Mercy by John Grisham
2.0
My first-time read of book 1, "A Time to Kill," was fresh in my mind when I read this 2020 title in Oct-Dec of 2021. See my review for details of why I wasn't a big fan of that one.
This one was interesting to read through the lens of "only 5 years have passed in the book's world, but over 30 have passed in the publishing world." Like the first book, this one opens with a harrowing scene of abuse meant to justify a murder. This book still feels patronizing toward its women characters. Jake's secretary is now a Black woman, Portia, who provides a rather convenient reason for the book's white characters to, literally, "sip their coffee and think about the n-word" (p. 70) while they apologize to her for having to hear it from others. It's both awkward and tokenizing, but I'm glad Grisham acknowledged it. His continued use of "the blacks" as a collective noun felt cringeworthy still. The abuser who is murdered is a cop; once or twice I thought the book was going to bring up police brutality, but it stops short, keeping it the problem of just one man who is also an alcoholic. Abortion comes up. There is a very interesting conversation on p. 438-439 where Portia asks Jake why he's no longer for the death penalty.
As with the first book, I was surprised by the theater of the courtroom, all the way down to how Josie was intentionally dressed ("attractive enough to please the men but simple enough not to threaten the women") and the behind-the-scenes drama (Harry Rex dressed as a local and mingling with those summoned for jury duty to listen to the gossip).
This did feel like it ended abruptly and unsatisfyingly. Several plot threads basically got a "to be continued." And then, in the Author's Note, I read this: "Here, as before, I have changed laws, twisted them, even fabricated them, all in an effort to drive the narrative." Say what, John? I thought I was at least getting a basic understanding of the legal system from legal fiction, but I think I need a huge grain of salt with that assumption.
This one was interesting to read through the lens of "only 5 years have passed in the book's world, but over 30 have passed in the publishing world." Like the first book, this one opens with a harrowing scene of abuse meant to justify a murder. This book still feels patronizing toward its women characters. Jake's secretary is now a Black woman, Portia, who provides a rather convenient reason for the book's white characters to, literally, "sip their coffee and think about the n-word" (p. 70) while they apologize to her for having to hear it from others. It's both awkward and tokenizing, but I'm glad Grisham acknowledged it. His continued use of "the blacks" as a collective noun felt cringeworthy still. The abuser who is murdered is a cop; once or twice I thought the book was going to bring up police brutality, but it stops short, keeping it the problem of just one man who is also an alcoholic. Abortion comes up. There is a very interesting conversation on p. 438-439 where Portia asks Jake why he's no longer for the death penalty.
As with the first book, I was surprised by the theater of the courtroom, all the way down to how Josie was intentionally dressed ("attractive enough to please the men but simple enough not to threaten the women") and the behind-the-scenes drama (Harry Rex dressed as a local and mingling with those summoned for jury duty to listen to the gossip).
This did feel like it ended abruptly and unsatisfyingly. Several plot threads basically got a "to be continued." And then, in the Author's Note, I read this: "Here, as before, I have changed laws, twisted them, even fabricated them, all in an effort to drive the narrative." Say what, John? I thought I was at least getting a basic understanding of the legal system from legal fiction, but I think I need a huge grain of salt with that assumption.