A Time to Kill [Hardcover]

BeforeThe Firmand The Pelican Briefmade him a superstar, John Grisham wrote this riveting story of  retribution and justice. In this searing courtroom drama, best-selling author John Grisham probes the savage depths of racial violence as he delivers  a compelling tale of uncertain justice in the small southern town of Clanton, Mississippi.  

The life of a ten-year-old 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 black father acquires an assault  rifle--and takes justice into his own outraged hands.

For ten days, as burning crosses and the crack of sniper fire spread through the streets of Clanton, the nation sits spellbound as young defense attorney Jake Brigance struggles to save his client's life...and then his own..."Grisham's pleasure in relating the Byzantine  complexities of Clanton (Mississippi) politics is contagious and he tells a good  story...An enjoyable book." --Library  Journal.

"Grisham excels!" --  Dallas Times Herald.John Grisham is the author ofThe Brethren,The Testament,The Street Lawyer,The Partner,The Runaway Jury,The Rainmaker,The Chamber,The Client,The Pelican Brief,The Firm, andA Time to Kill.ONE

BILLY RAY COBB was the younger and smaller of the two rednecks. At twenty-three he was already a three-year veteran of the state penitentiary at Parchman. Possession, with intent to sell. He was a lean, tough little punk who had survived prison by somehow maintaining a ready supply of drugs that he sold and sometimes gave to the blacks and the guards for protection. In the year since his release he had continued to prosper, and his small-time narcotics business had elevated him to the position of one of the more al³Y