There are some cases you have to take.

Adam Hill is a rookie lawyer at a top Chicago firm. The world is at his feet.

So why does he volunteer to represent a KKK terrorist under threat of execution?

And why is the defendant happy to put his life in a novice’s hands?

The answer lies twenty years in the past, but there are darker, more shocking secrets to be uncovered…

If you like legal thrillers, John Grisham is for you. I’ve read some of his other works and this one just didn’t do it for me. John Grisham * The Broker was amazing.

 At the centre of the plot is an aged Death Row inmate convicted of bombing a Jewish lawyer’s office and killing his two five-year old twin boys and causing the lawyer to lose his legs below his knees. The death row inmate’s lawyer is his grandson, a rookie who is desperately going through the procedures to attempt a stay of execution in the last four weeks before the execution date. One of the original prosecutors is now the Governor (who can reprieve).

At the same time, this story is dark and depressing, in places interspersed with hope and goodness. It’s a criticism of the death penalty and the particular way it’s undertaken here (by gassing). It’s also a study of the condemned man and how, despite having committed some terrible crimes, he is human, has good qualities and with whom the reader can (mostly) sympathise.

I would have called the book an open and shut case and the fact that it went over 200 pages in small print it just made me wonder if some people just really like to hear their own thoughts a lot. Kindle version has 647 pages in slightly bigger print than what I had.. It’s repetitive and the constant drumming on made me want to abandon the book mid-way through.

“Look at me,” he said, glancing down at his legs. “A wretched old man in a red monkey suit. A convicted murderer about to be gassed like an animal. And look at you. A fine young man with a beautiful education and a bright future. Where in the world did I go wrong? What happened to me?
I’ve spent my life hating people, and look what I have to show for it. You, you don’t hate anybody. And look where you’re headed. We have the same blood. Why am I here?” 

Because the trial stretched over three decades Sam is now a old 70 year old man looking at the death penalty and soon. Can his grandson save him from this fate! Nobody deserves this!

This book REALLY pushes the anti-death penalty message down your throat. The trouble is every character that is against the gas chamber is the most annoying kind of person you can encounter in fiction.

Adam the grandson. Doesn’t talk but rather snaps at people. Try talking to your superior like this

The Boss “You withheld vital information regarding your background. Why didn’t you inform us that you were related to one of our clients! This might be considered a conflict of interest.”

Adam “You didn’t ask.”

Try that in Real life and lets see how long you get to keep that job. Adam’s entire dialogue tree is like this. It’s snappish and something you’d expect an emo teen to say. Oh you’re asking how I am NOW? How dare you! You didn’t ask before so let me needle at obvious wounds until I make you cry aunt who lives in another part of the county and was estranged by my father and mother so discouraged from visiting.

You also have hipster lawyer, because of course you do. Charity do-gooder lawyer and … you know what you get the picture. It’s either Stereotypes or the worst kind of people out there.

The book’s argument is that we are too civilized for the gas chamber. I’d argue that if they had chopped his head off immediately rather than drag this out for 30 years it would have been better for everyone including the family where the next generation must face the shame anew.