The Confession

A Novel

De: John Grisham

Narrado por: Scott Sowers

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

Thought provoking and heart breaking

Grisham writes another great story that has you look at old systems in new perspectives. Just the right amount of detail, with the narrators skill for believability. I recommend this story if you are looking for historical fiction but not if you are looking for mystery and intrigue.

Gripping story. Very enjoyable

Great Grisham book once again. The story is painful and very emotional. However, it is a very enjoyable listen and makes you think about death penalty really hard. Highly recommend.

A Wonderful Story!

I use the audio books to exercise by. I don't let myself listen any other time. This story is so captivating, I couldn't wait to get on the treadmill!

Gripping from beginning to end

Any additional comments?

Grisham is amazing with his editing to the story that leaves on just the right notes that make you sway before landing on what happens next. The situation is near impossible, but just crazy enough to be seen happening now. This book was captivating and leaves a clear picture in your head while everything plays out. How this book unfolds makes you want to hold on to something for stability. The ending was perfect and made me smile in a horrible way. I won't ruin it, but it's nice to read something so relatable, and foreign. Truly entertaining.

Exciting, intelligent, moving

I thought Grisham was an airport novelist, but I was astounded by how great this book is. The plot is smart and gripping, the characters are vivid, and a thoughtful, tough critique of the death penalty is compelling and appropriate to the story. The performance is superb.

His Best Work?

I am not usually a Grisham fan. His books have always seemed beach reads and not really anything of substance. Enter The Confession. This book uses fiction to take a long hard look at the death penalty and its ramifications. While I'm pretty neutral on the death penalty, this book did what good fiction should do. It made me connect with real life problems and ponder the rights and wrongs of the issue. I HIGHLY recommend this book. Not your normal Grisham but I think it's his best work ever.

Entertaining and Poignant

First of all, I agree with the abolition of the death penalty so the politics of the book not only did not bother me but actually bolstered my beliefs. The story is very well crafted and although there are quite a few stereotypical characters, those characters accurately reflect the culture of that region. I grew up in East Texas and, trust me, the attitudes and prejudices of the people are real. The book did seem to go on when it could have ended, but overall, I was thoroughly entertained and at times, touched.

Excellent as always

Would you listen to The Confession again? Why?

Yes, Grisham always has a good story line with twists and turns along the way.

Enjoyed story; sped up the narration

I enjoyed the story - Grisham really humanized the various people involved in a murder crime that seeks capital punishment as redemption - the accused, the guilty, the murdered victim, families of all, and the peripheral folks - families, lawyers, etc. I feel like the book provided great insight into complex issues.

The reading was a bit slow for me - I listened via an Android phone and I was very grateful that the Android audible app allowed me to increase the speed of the narrator's speech! That being said, I am generally a fast reader and speaker. The audio book is also ~15 hours so there's a lot to get through. The narrator's speed matches the tone of the book well and the setting - much of the story unfolds in Texas and the thought patterns of the characters are necessarily slow and reflective. I just wanted to get through the book faster.

Enjoy!

A Compelling, Poignant Story

The Confession: A Novel, seems more like a documentary than a novel. Its very serious subject(s) come alive in this thrilling and heartbreaking novel. Grisham has captured many points of view regarding the death penalty in a finely-woven and sensitive narrative. This was a compelling 'listen' from beginning to end, and I rushed out to purchase the book in print so that I could savor some of its most poignant vignettes at my leisure.