Sycamore Row

Jake Brigance, Book 2

By: John Grisham

Narrated by: Michael Beck

Length: 20 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

Fight them, Mr Brigance. To the bitter end. We must prevail.

In the long-awaited successor to the novel that launched his phenomenal career, John Grisham brings us the powerful sequel to A Time to Kill. As filled with twists as it is with legal mastery, Sycamore Row proves beyond doubt that John Grisham is in a league of his own.

Jake Brigance has never met Seth Hubbard, or even heard of him, until the old man's suicide note names him attorney for his estate. The will is dynamite. Seth has left 90 per cent of his vast, secret fortune to his housemaid.

The vultures are circling even before the body is cold: the only subject more incendiary than money in Ford County is race, and this case has both.

As the relatives contest the will, and unscrupulous lawyers hasten to benefit, Jake searches for answers to the many questions left by Seth Hubbard's death.

What made him write that last-minute will leaving everything to a poor black woman named Lettie Lang?

Why did he choose to kill himself on the desolate piece of land known as Sycamore Row?

And what was it that Seth and his brother witnessed as children that, in his words, 'no human should ever see'?

©2013 John Grisham (P)2013 Random House Audio

Grisham is all about the craft

People often dismiss Grisham as lightweight airplane novel material, but after years of listening to some pretty dismal storytelling, my return to Grisham reminded me of what an incredibly skilled writer he is. Admittedly, Jake's wife is a bit of a prop to show he's a family man, but on the whole, his characters are meaty and challenging. The plot is solid and well-constructed and gripping and his pacing is absolutely immaculate.

At no point did I do what I usually do these days, which is groan and wish the writing had been better edited. There's no fat on this story. It's all lean, page-turning (pod-listening?) goodness.

In an era of a lot of self-published, unedited, badly finished fiction, John Grisham is a long, tall drink of cool water.

Excellent read

I have listened to this book twice now and I am sure I will do so again in the future.

Thrilling courtroom drama

A well written and interesting court drama, with transparent narration. Themes include racism, testamentary legalities, humility, justice, compensation and forgiveness.

I love the way the story comes full circle, the end meets the beginning, and the loose ends are all neatly tied up. Very satisfactory, especially after staying awake through the night, unable to turn it off!

This is my first Grisham book, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I cant seem to find the (unabridged) prequel, "A Time to Kill", on Audible but maybe that's only due to where I live. I would've liked to have listened to that as well.

John Grisham's yarn has always been my favourite

Where does Sycamore Row rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

top 10

Who was your favorite character and why?

Jake. Cool headed Lawyer..

Have you listened to any of Michael Beck’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

love Beck's narratives and looking for books that were narrated by him.

A towering epic. Grisham at the top of his game.

Wow! This story and the fabulous characters provide some insights we can only hope are purely fictious - yet the gnawing knot in our gut tells us that this is how the law can be used or abused - to dispense or deny justice. Absolute edge-of-the-seat stuff! Magnificently narrated (I'm tempted to say 'acted').

Good Book A Bit Too Long

n Sycamore Row, Grisham returns to the setting and brings back several of the memorable characters first introduced in A Time To Kill that helped establish him as one of the most popular storytellers writing today.

Be aware, however, If you pick up Sycamore Row because you anticipate it to be as entralling and exciting as A Time To Kill, you are liable to be a bit disappointed. The plot of Sycamore Row is built around a handwritten will prepared shortly before a very ill, very wealthy man from small town Clanton, Mississippi kills himself and leaves the vast majority of his large estate to his African-American maid and nothing to his children and grandchildren. Lawyer Jake Brigance, the hero from A Time To Kill, is hired as the lawyer for the estate to make sure that the dead man's directions are carried out exactly as instructed. This is definitely a challenging case for Brigance as, expected, each of the children and grandchildren hire their own lawyers to contest the will. While this plot is interesting and Grisham does a good job in making the reader feel a sense of "being there'' throughout the book, Sycamore Row does not have the thrills often evident in a Grisham legal thriller, and certainly not like in A Time To Kill.

Further, while never boring to me, I felt that the pace of the book slowed down more times than I would have liked during a good portion of the middle of the book. I felt that if the book was 50-75 pages or so shorter, my attention span would have always stayed at a high level, rather than fluctuating as often as it did. Nevertheless, Sycamore Row is an entertaining read worthy of your consideration -- as long as you don't expect a book filled with non-stop thrills and surprises.

Michael Beck was excellent with the delivery of the story

Brilliant..John Grisham is back!!!

What did you like best about this story?

Good humour and the play on characters…almost everyone had a 'bag of tricks'. It was about 20hours but didn't feel like it. I've listened to some books that were just 6hours but absolutely exhausting

Which character – as performed by Michael Beck – was your favorite?

Harry Rex!

Good Grishan

Where does Sycamore Row rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

one of the best

Who was your favorite character and why?

all good characters

What does Michael Beck bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

he differentiates the characters perfectly

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

could

Any additional comments?

great story with interesting characters very well recorded

Our heritage is an important driver in our present daily lives

I am loving Grisham's books old and new. The flow of the story is so amazing and I can relate to all the characters in the book.

the best story ever

I enjoyed reading this novel, and it mind-blowing story ever also the reader did a great job🔥🔥🙏🏿 thank you Grisham for this amazing work may God continue to bless your pen.