The Confession

A Novel

By: John Grisham

Narrated by: Scott Sowers

Length: 14 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

An innocent man is about to be executed.

Only a guilty man can save him.

For every innocent man sent to prison, there is a guilty one left on the outside. He doesn’t understand how the police and prosecutors got the wrong man, and he certainly doesn’t care. He just can’t believe his good luck. Time passes and he realizes that the mistake will not be corrected: the authorities believe in their case and are determined to get a conviction. He may even watch the trial of the person wrongly accused of his crime. He is relieved when the verdict is guilty. He laughs when the police and prosecutors congratulate themselves. He is content to allow an innocent person to go to prison, to serve hard time, even to be executed.

Travis Boyette is such a man. In 1998, in the small East Texas city of Sloan, he abducted, raped, and strangled a popular high-school cheerleader. He buried her body so that it would never be found, then watched in amazement as police and prosecutors arrested and convicted Donté Drumm, a local football star, and marched him off to death row.

Now nine years have passed. Travis has just been paroled in Kansas for a different crime; Donté is four days away from his execution. Travis suffers from an inoperable brain tumor. For the first time in his miserable life, he decides to do what’s right and confess.

But how can a guilty man convince lawyers, judges, and politicians that they’re about to execute an innocent man?

"John Grisham is about as good a storyteller as we’ve got in the United States these days." ( The New York Times Book Review)

©2010 Belfry Holdings, Inc (P)2010 Random House Audio

Totally surprised!

This sat in my iPod awhile before I got to it. I chose it wanting an easy listen. This book has been so thought provoking, so intense that I am listening to it outside my car!! I have cried, cheered and been disturbed with the way those in power abuse it at their will. I am only an hour into part 2 but this was so good I needed to write a review. A must listen to book!

This opened my eyes, made me sad too

So many truths in a fictional story has opened my eyes to the problems with the death penalty. I never knew a lot of the real facts behind investigations and investigators.

Used Headphones to Listen to at Work

This is one of the best books by Grisham and Scott Sowers does a fabulous job narrating the book. Highly recommend for anyone who enjoys legal thrillers or wants to contemplate morals and what they would do if a stranger's life is on the line.

Great story, irritating character voices!

Story was good, keeps you going. Sometimes though it becomes simply unbelievable that there are that many stupid people in the judicial system in Texas! So with that, Mr. Grisham's political views definitely come through in the book.

Scott Sowers is best with the narration portion, however, most of the characters voices he attempts to create are simply irritating to listen too! Overall, worth the credit.

Suspense and intrigue

This book is long but so suspenseful. We listened to it on a long trip, then had to spend two more nights at home to finish it because we couldn't wait to hear the rest. The reader was very good at telling the story.

OUTSTANDING GREAT BOOK GREAT NARRATOR!

This is on of those audiobooks that stops your world and you just have to listen to it all day every day!!!
A+

Heavy handed

Would you listen to The Confession again? Why?

No, old story, heard it before.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

It wrapped things up, but no surprises.

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

Have not listened to him before.

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

no

Any additional comments?

The book had location problems that bothered me and there was a strong bias against Texas.

Typical Grisham

Slow in the beginning and gets better as the characters are developed. All in all worth a read or a listen.

A book that is hard to put down

What made the experience of listening to The Confession the most enjoyable?

The plot and character development and the surprises in the book made it a compelling read.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Yes.

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

He made it more real and more vivid. He did an excellent job of reading it and takes you into the story itself.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Yes, the tension in the prison scenes.

Stellar Huston !

Good to listen to Huston as he changes genre to the Court room. Held my interest thruoghout.

Having been in and around "black ops" over my last 60 years and having held the "Presidential Access" on my security clearance I can honestly say that the plot could happen. Good courtroom dialogs. Well worth the price.