The Reckoning

I started reading Grisham recently and it seems like I can't put down one of his books, but with this one I wish I had. This was one of the most depressing books I've read. Grisham's writing was excellant as usual and kept me reading hoping for an ending that was different from the overall feeling the book gave me. I won't stop reading his books because he's such a good writer, but I will read more reviews to try to avoid his other books like this one.

I read the first half of this book, but when the second half opened by going back deep into the past and retelling much of what we’d already learnt, I bailed and skimmed ahead to where the story resumed. Even so, for a thriller it wasn’t very thrilling and for a suspense novel it didn’t have nearly enough suspense to last for a whole book.

I found it difficult to remember the name of the book. Starts with RE. Reiteration? Re-enactment? Regurgitation? Repetition!

It’s not a bad book, just very much not exciting. Grisham does a commendable job of depicting the relationship between the races in postwar Mississippi, and that’s a good reason to read at least some of the book.

On the surface it doesn’t seem like there should be much mystery or suspense or action in The Reckoning. Pete Banning is a war hero, one day he shoots and kills the local pastor, he won’t speak in his own defense, so he is facing the death penalty. He placed his wife in an insane asylum, but he won’t talk about that, either. So it all seems pretty cut and dried. All the action has happened in the past or is a foregone conclusion, and although it might be very interesting, it probably won’t be very exciting.

Wrong. John Grisham is a master and this is another masterpiece. It is full of suspense and mystery and dread, first page to last. It was haunting. I couldn’t put it down. Even as I read about things that I knew for a fact show more had happened, I found myself hoping for another conclusion.

The Reckoning says a lot about the time it is set in, people’s place in society in that time, and their belief in the structure of that society. It also says a lot about how experiences change people, and even when they are loving and caring they can be hard. Very, very hard. And sometimes when forgiveness is needed, love is just not enough to make it happen. show less

Clanton, Mississippi’s favorite son, a decorated hero of the Second World War, is the patriarch of a prominent family. He’s a father, a brother, a neighbor, a farmer, a faithful member of the Methodist church. Yet, one October morning he walks into the church where he shoots and kills Reverend Dexter Bell, a man he claimed as both his friend and his pastor.

Pete Banning’s only response? “I have nothing to say.”

Separated into three sections, this compelling narrative offers readers, along with the legal intrigues, a family drama filled with mystery and anguish. Moving from the 1946 present of the story back to the Philippines and the Bataan Death March of the Second World War, it concludes with Pete’s family dealing with the show more aftermath of his actions and, in a twist that readers may not see coming, finally divulges the mysterious reason that Pete so steadfastly refused to reveal himself.

The narrative’s racist rhetoric and odious treatment of some townspeople would never be acceptable today but it is spot-on for 1946 Mississippi. The southern setting is a perfect fit for the unfolding of the tale; the characters are multifaceted and believable. The story itself is riveting and complex. As the suspense builds, readers will find it difficult to set this one aside before turning the final page. Don’t miss this one.

Highly recommended. show less

Many years ago I read my first Grisham, A time to kill and followed that with The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, The Chamber and The Runaway Jury. I began to feel that later novels were losing the impact that those earlier thrillers so brilliantly portrayed. A Painted House proved somewhat of a disappointment and so my reading journey into the legal mind of John Grisham came to a close…...until now. By pure luck I picked up “The Reckoning” in a charity shop, liked the synopsis on the back cover and started reading, and could not stop! The Reckoning is nothing short of brilliant; it combines the qualities of a thriller with vivid courtroom scenes that Grisham is renowned for.
Pete Banning returns home to Clanton Mississippi, a show more war hero, a man respected and loved dearly in his community. One morning in October 1946 he rises early, drives into town, attends the local Methodist Church and shoots dead the popular Reverend Dexter Bell. He refuses to speak or comment on the killing and seems content to have a trial that will surely find him guilty and death by electrocution. The first part of the book deals with the murder followed by the trial and then the author tells the back story of Pete Manning his heroic war record, his capture, escape and fight back against the Japanese. In the final part we are observers to the repercussions that the murder has on Manning’s family; the children Joel and Stella and his wife Liza confined to a mental hospital. The writing is taut, the story brilliantly executed and I found it impossible to put down until completed, until the final question was answered….What happened on that October day that caused Pete Manning to act in the way he did and by doing so altered the lives and futures of so many. Welcome back Mr Grisham what a fantastic read...highly highly recommended. show less

THIS was one very long John Grisham novel and I have read almost all of them. It really did come to an ending, and a surprising one at that, at least to me. This was less of a legal novel and more of an almost memoir of horrible parts (what WASN'T horrible) of World War II. Yes, I too, would like to know if this was something that actually happened or really just a story---as Grisham, telling it, wonders. Grisham knows how to give you a powerful picture in words...his continuing talent.

The author's description of struggles of Americans captured in the Philippines in WWII was well done, but its mix with the murder by the ex-soldier from this war just didn't add up. The main story - the murder in the small southern town - seemed to go nowhere and ended in whimper.