The Confession by John Grisham

 Keith Schroder, minister in a small town in Kansas, had a routine life.  He gave sermons, counseled his flock, visited the sick and grieving, performed funerals and weddings.  He thought he had seen most of life until the day Travis Boyette walked in and asked to see him.  

Travis had a huge confession to make.  Nine years ago, he had kidnapped, raped and killed Nicole Yarber, a seventeen year old cheerleader in Sloan, Texas.  Now he had an inoperable brain tumor and didn't have long to live so he wanted to set things straight.  Keith wasn't sure he believed him but was willing to listen.  The police had arrested a black teenager named Donte Drumm.  After hours in a police interrogation room, Donte had confessed and that confession put him on death row even though he renounced it the next day.  Now he was to be executed in a few days time.

Keith asked for proof.  Travis said he could take law enforcement to the grave and showed Keith what he said was Nicole's class ring that he wore around his neck.  Keith started to make phone calls.  Donte's lawyer, Robbie Flask, was working hard that week to try to stay the execution.  He didn't believe Keith's story at first but when Keith said he would bring Travis to Sloan, Robbie thought it might be the key to stopping Donte's death.  Along with that, the only witness at the trial was about to recant as well.  Could a minister and a lawyer find a way to stop a terrible miscarriage of justice?

John Grisham has written a heart-stopping novel about a race against time to stop an injustice.  Grisham was a lawyer for over a decade, writing before and after work until his books started selling.  Now he is a bestselling author and this book is one of the reasons.  It explores all the facets of a death penalty trial and the appeal work afterwards as well as the effects an execution has on all who know the victim and the accused.  This book is recommended for legal thriller readers.