A TIME FOR MERCY by John Grisham

I count myself as a John Grisham fan, as I’ve read many of his books and really liked most of them.  The Street Lawyer is still my favorite, and I may reread it one of these days, but I rate this as one of his best.  Jake Brigance, from A Time to Kill and Sycamore Row, is back, reluctantly defending a prepubescent 16-year-old boy, Drew Gamble, for the murder of deputy Stuart Kofer in Clanton, MS.  Drew’s mother is Kofer’s frequently abused live-in girlfriend, and Drew and his sister have lived in fear of Kofer’s temper.  Kofer is something of a Dr, Jekyll and Mr, Hyde, in that his fellow officers like and respect him, but he is a violent drunk.  Saddled with Drew’s case, Jake is barely scraping by, financially speaking, and another indigent client is not making things any better.  He foolishly derails, pun intended, his lawsuit of a railroad company, which he had hoped would get him out of debt.  Jake’s money problems, however, have to take a backseat to preparation for Drew’s trial, and he has a few surprises in store for the prosecution.  For one thing, although being tried as an adult, Drew looks like he is about twelve.  The trial itself, of course, lives up to its buildup, providing a gripping finale.  However, the ending feels like a setup for a sequel, as there are some loose ends, although Grisham may feel that the Jake Brigance narrative has run its course.  His paralegal, Portia, could probably carry her own novel, despite the fact that Grisham’s protagonists are generally male.