Unwritten Epilogues – A Time to Kill

Title: A Time to Kill

Author: John Grisham

Publication Date: 1989

Publisher: Wynwood (original); Doubleday (hardcover); Dell (softcover)

Genre(s): Drama / Courtroom / Murder

Grisham’s first novel, A Time to Kill, is one of his best. Slow to take off with publishers, it has now been made into a full length motion picture, which I consider one of the best films I’ve ever seen.

Set in the fictional town of Clanton, Mississippi, the story begins with the brutal  rape and attempted murder of a 10-year old African-American girl, Tonya Hailey. Her father – Carl Lee – determined not to allow the men to go free, shoots the accused as they are escorted from their courtroom appearance. Sophomoric (yet talented) lawyer Jake Brigance is hired by Hailey to take on the most important case in the country in years. The odds are stacked against the defendent and the young lawyer, and if extremist groups have their way neither will live to see the end of the trial.

A racially charged, whirlwind of a novel, A Time to Kill, is an absolute must-read. You will find yourself on the other side of the bar, sitting in the jury box and weighing the facts. A life is on the line…guilty or not guilty?

I recommend John Grisham’s A Time to Kill with a 8.9 out of 10 score.

The Best Words

“HE IS NOT HERE; HE HAS RISEN!”

Snapshots

This is a tweet from Christopher Walken dating from December 10th:
“A man ate from a trash can while tourists clicked snapshots. I gave the guy 15 dollars & told the tourists to get the H*** out of my city.”
I couldn’t help but post this. While it is obviously off-color to a certain degree, doesn’t he have a point? When did people lose every ounce of compassion for people and begin to see “the least of these” as a photo-op?
And is the church anything like those tourists? Are we just looking at the problems? Are we just identifying them or pointing them out? Are we just yelling “Look! A homeless guy!”? Or are we doing something about it?
“Get the H*** out of my city?” Maybe we should be giving our all to get our city out of Hell…and in the meantime maybe we can give somebody a little bit of hope in the God who cares.