A Time to Kill and The King of Torts, by John Grisham and Michael Beck (Narrator)
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This is a two-book package by John Grisham, and
it would be difficult to say which book is the better of the
two. In A Time to Kill, the main character, Jake, is
a young, small-town lawyer in a predominantly white Mississippi
town. He must defend a black man, the father of three young
boys and a 10-year-old daughter. The girl was repeatedly raped
and beaten and left for dead in a marsh field. Found and recognized
by some fishermen, she is able to get enough words out to
tell what had happened. Her words describe a couple of redneck
men who are later arrested in a saloon while boasting about
what they had done. The father knew that there was no way
the men would receive proper punishment in this town, so he
kills the rapists on the courthouse steps. The politically
minded district attorney, who plans to run for governor in
the coming months, is vocal in saying he will seek the death
penalty for the father, Carl Lee, because nobody has the right
to take justice into his own hands. Jake knows he has no chance
to get Carl Lee freed, but he takes the case. What progresses
from that point on will keep your interest and surprise you
in its conclusion. There will, however, remain the question
"When is right wrong and wrong right?"
The story of The King of Torts is quite different.
It involves a public defense lawyer who after 44 years is
making only $40,000 and is at a point where he hates his job.
A stranger offers him an opportunity to make over a million
dollars if he represents a pharmaceutical company in a class
action suit. The company wants to settle quietly and not let
the world know of their mistake with a drug. Clay Carter accepts
many millions and decides that is the way to go. He starts
his own company and takes on other class action suits. Using
every angle and underhanded measure available to achieve his
goals, he becomes one of the most successful class action
attorneys and is proclaimed King of the Torts by his peers.
The conclusion is a shocking surprise and shows that greed
has its limitations, but one must know what they are.
The reader of both books does a remarkable job
in creating each character is a manner evocative of the location
and action. He is able to suggest the passion, tension and
frustration of the various characters as they work toward
their goals. Each of these books warrants recommendations
on its own. Together they are great.
John
Mormon
8/26/07
