The Confession by John Grisham

Synopsis at www.goodreads.com

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

My Comments:

Bought this from BookXcess last week. I can say that I am some sort of a fan of John Grisham despite some of his recent books were a miss for me. 

Anyway, just finished reading this book yesterday. Not bad. I like it although the story seems just barely touching the surface. Did not really whet my appetite. 


Plot and pace of the book was fast enough. However, there was a lacking of "feel" when I was reading it. I did not get the "rush" when reading it. 


Anyway, it's still a good read for those who likes story about law and the chase against time.


I wonder why he wrote this book. From what I see it seems that this book is written to advocate against the law of Death Penalty. It centered around how the Death Penalty could be missed handled and that innocent man could be executed. For this I applause his efforts. 


I am no angel if you are thinking, "oh ..that's good. She is against Death Penalty". Nope, for me, it's better for the criminal to rot in behind bars rather than adding sin of killing to our life. We have enough burdens on our shoulders as it is. 

Yes, "life time" does not really mean the criminal will be jailed till the day he die but maybe the juries or judge could make it a few life time imprisonment that runs consecutively instead of concurrently?

Anyway, good job to John Grishan. 

 

The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Summary from www.goodreads.com

A reimagining of the world-famous Indian epic, the Mahabharat—told from the point of view of an amazing woman.

Relevant to today’s war-torn world, The Palace of Illusions takes us back to a time that is half history, half myth, and wholly magical. Narrated by Panchaali, the wife of the legendary Pandavas brothers in the Mahabharat, the novel gives us a new interpretation of this ancient tale.

The novel traces the princess Panchaali's life, beginning with her birth in fire and following her spirited balancing act as a woman with five husbands who have been cheated out of their father’s kingdom. Panchaali is swept into their quest to reclaim their birthright, remaining at their side through years of exile and a terrible civil war involving all the important kings of India. Meanwhile, we never lose sight of her strategic duels with her mother-in-law, her complicated friendship with the enigmatic Krishna, or her secret attraction to the mysterious man who is her husbands' most dangerous enemy. Panchaali is a fiery female redefining for us a world of warriors, gods, and the ever-manipulating hands of fate

My Comments : 

Bought this book from BookXcess at Amcorp Mall last month. It was a day before their World Book Day promotion. If I had know earlier, I would have waited for the promotion coz then I would get extra 20% off the shelf price.

Nevertheless, I am glad I bought this book. To me this is indeed an interesting and engrossing read.

But I have to caution you that this book is not for everybody. Some knowledge of Mahabharata is required for optimum enjoyment of the book. Those who have no knowledge about Mahabharata would find it hard to understand some of the things mentioned.

This is not the first book of Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni which I have read. All a long I have liked her books but up to now this is the book that I like the most.


The story is unusual as is it being told from the point of view of a woman. It saws Draupadi as a girl/woman/wife with feeling of her own instead of a single dimensional character. Some would say this book is too slow or too much female wails but to me these wails and woes are what made this book interesting.

Overall, I rate this 5 stars out of 5.