The Chamber »

The master of the legal thriller, John Grisham was a criminal and civil lawyer in Mississippi when his first book, A Time to Kill, was published. But it was his next book, The Firm, that became a blockbuster and established him as king of the genre.

In the corridors of Chicago's top law firm:

Twenty-six-year-old Adam Hall stands on the brink of a brilliant legal career. Now he is risking it all for a death-row killer and an impossible case.

Maximum Security Unit, Mississippi State Prison:

Sam Cayhall is a former Klansman and unrepentant racist now facing the death penalty for a fatal bombing in 1967. He has run out of chances -- except for one: the young, liberal Chicago lawyer who just happens to be his grandson. While the executioners prepare the gas chamber, while the protesters gather and the TV cameras wait, Adam has only days, hours, minutes to save his client. For between the two men is a chasm of shame, family lies, and secrets -- including the one secret that could save Sam Cayhall's life...or cost Adam his.

Walter Goodman

So, let's begin with a word of reassurance. If you find your fingers racing through these 486 pages, it may signify merely that few of them demand close study. And as for putting the book down, I managed to do it without pain a score of times....Mr. Grisham has no pretensions to being a stylist. As with most other popular novels, the language does not bear inspection. Its main function is to deliver information, and you don't have to read absolutely every word, because all significant facts are repeated, usually more than once. Everything is made explicit; one's imagination is never imposed on. -- New York Times