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

Pleasant Surprise

I am a Grisham fan, but heard mixed reviews about this book. I found it to be a very powerful story and very engaging from start to finish. I had a hard time putting it down with anticipation of what would come next, but more impressed with the powerful message from so many viewpoints. I am not very religious, find myself reconsidering my position.

John grisham

John Grisham does it again. Another enjoyable book to listen to over & over again!!!!!

Profound read

I really enjoyed listening to this book. It keeps you on the edge of your seat and it caused me to re-consider my opinion of the death penalty. It's worth the time.

kept my interest 100% of the time

I really liked this story. the performer did a great job. the story was captivating. I highly recommend it.

Couldn’t take my ear buds out of my ears!

I am a huge John Grisham fan! In my opinion, this should be made into a movie! It made me angry, it made me cry. Good story!

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.

Well written but not best story

As always, John Grisham doesn’t disappoint with great characters and story plot. But this story just wasn’t as good for me as most his other books. Not sure why, just maybe the topic wasn’t as interesting to me as others.

Excellent

I just want to leave five stars and audible is making me type out words.

Twist and turns, sadness and justice

I always enjoy John Grisham books. This is turning out to be one of my favorites. Scott Sowers does an excellent job narrating the story. I like in Texas and this book is spot on about our Governor and a lot of the politicians and law enforcement. So many say they are Christians, yet see nothing wrong with the death penalty. WWJD? Not the death penalty.

The best Grisham in years.

Excellent work - - great characters and a real message - - whether you believe in the cause or not. Very well written and the reader is pitch perfect.