A Time to Kill:
The life of a 10-year-old black girl is shattered by two drunken and remorseless young men. The mostly white town reacts with shock and horror at the inhuman crime, until her father acquires an assault rifle and takes justice into his own outraged hands.
For 10 days, with burning crosses and the crack of sniper fire spreading through the streets of Clanton, Mississippi, the nation sits spellbound as young defense attorney Jack Brigance struggles to save his client's life...and then his own.
The King of Torts:
When Clay Carter of the public defender's office reluctantly takes the case of a young man charged with a random street killing, he assumes it is just another of the many senseless murders that hit D.C. every week. But as he digs into the background of his client, Clay stumbles on a conspiracy too horrible to believe. He suddenly finds himself in the middle of a complex case against one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, looking at the kind of enormous settlement that would totally change his life - that would make him, almost overnight, the legal profession's newest king of torts.
A Time to Kill ©1992 John Grisham; (P)1992 Random House, Inc.
The King of Torts ©2003 Belfry Holdings, Inc.; (P)2003 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.
"Lively voices tell gripping plot"
Recommended for the reading by Michael Beck, who applies a seemingly endless variety of voices to characters in these intentionally-shocking tales of cold-blooded acts and even more frigidly sanguine lawyers. Grisham has a keen eye for what people do; and chooses not to often describe how they feel or what they themselves believe motivates them. "Irrelevant!" his storytelling seems to shout. If you can't parse it out from actions, you're not ready for Grisham. Most of us are ready.
Shocking events told in a style that's matter-of-fact, making them somehow more shocking.
I don't have as many "voices" in my head as Beck has in this throat. Great fun.
"Two great books!"
The narrator does an excellent job, I wish all of Grisham's books were narrated by him, his characters are very clear and unique which makes it easy to follow. A Time to Kill is of course one of Grisham's best. The King of Torts was also well narrated, however the story isn't quit as good as A Time to Kill but still not a bad book. It was well worth the money and I found them both enjoyable and entertaining.
"racist trash"
weak story with all characters stereotypes, ambitious macho lawyer, weak sexually available women, and dull witted violent blacks.
No more Grisham for me.
no. awful.
not if there are black characters.
"Excellent storey line and voice over"
YES
YES, however, it had a few slow parts that did not have to exist.
Excitement, one of the best Voice over
Verdict
no
Woody
"The Best ... And the Not So Much"
A Time to Kill is REAL Grisham. It's a good story that makes one think about his position on important issues ... and then re-think it. I don't always arrive at the same conclusions the author leads his readers to, but I do appreciate the exercise. Michael Beck did a masterful job of bringing this tale to life.
The King of Torts is such a letdown that it's hard to believe Grisham actually wrote it. Please tell me he didn't! The dialogue is blah, blah, blah. The characters are just blah. The only redeeming quality is Beck's narration.
"Great books"
I'm a Grisham fan and have read all his books. Listening to them makes for a pleasant commute. Anyway, anyone that enjoys legal novels will enjoy these.
No one single moment jumps to mind. I enjoy the novels in their entirety.
Very good narrator. Enjoyed his tempo and the way he creates the voices of the characters. Makes keeping track of whos saying what.
Dont have enough time in a day to do so.
"Entertaining Reading"
The stories were very different, and evoked different emotions, and thats what I like when reading a book...becoming intimately involved with the characters and the story.
In a Time to Kill, the beginning scene that described the horrible act that took place set the scene for the rest of the book. Strangely enough, I enjoyed the ending of The King of Torts...I don't think many people would like the ending.
Yes, Mr. Beck narrated another Grisham book that I listened to...he does a great job.
In The King of Torts, I was quite taken aback with the greed. At least for the time being, I am thinking differently about the pursuit of wealth. Without purpose beyond oneself, what is the point of accumulating more money than one can sensibly spend?
"Not so gripping"
These stories move along, but in both cases the plot-line lacks believability. King of Torts in particular seems an unrealistic journey. Somewhat entertaining - but I was glad when it was over.
"Good combo"
Two solid Grisham books. Although neither is one of my favorites by this great author, they are both very good. The narrator also does an excellent job.