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Hello everyone! Welcome to the Book Nook. Today we are going to be doing a review on A Time for Mercy by John Grisham. This is another book of of my TBR list and it is also the third book in the Jake Brigance series. The first is A Time to Kill (review here) and the second is Sycamore Row. I like Grisham but I stated in my review of The Whistler that his earlier works are better than his later works; in my opinion. A Time for Mercy wasn’t bad…but it didn’t hit like it was suppose to.

Before we get started, I encourage you all to comment down below and tell me your thoughts. Also, make sure you are following the Book Nook on WordPress, Instagram and YouTube; that way you don’t miss any of my reviews in the future. So, without further ado, lets get into it.

*Disclaimer: spoilers ahead*

16 year-old Drew Gamble is sent to jail for the murder of his mother’s abusive boyfriend, Stuart Kofer. Because Kofer was a decorated police officer, the prosecution is out for blood. In comes Jake Brigance; the hotshot lawyer who defended Carl Lee Hailey on a murder case 5 years earlier. However, Jake does not want the case but is forced to take it because nobody else will. As Jake becomes more invested in the case he soon finds out there is more to the situation than meets the eye. Jake risks his family’s safety, his financial well-being and his status in town while trying to prevent Drew from going to the gas chamber.

There were two things in this book that really bothered me. One, Jake’s commitment to Drew was costing him money. Money was already tight because of the low amount Jake made off the Hailey case. Jake was also working on another case where he borrowed money from the bank. He thought there was going to be a big payout but the case ended up blowing up in his face and he owned more than he borrowed. In addition, the Gamble family didn’t have a lot of money themselves and Jake took it upon himself to loan them some knowing he would never see that money again. Now, I’m not trying to be heartless but this was too much. I understand Jake being down on his luck while still trying to do the right thing but this seemed excessive. This man had to take out a second mortgage on his house and take money from his firm’s account just to stay afloat; and that was barely enough. I felt like Grisham maybe overdid it.

My second issue was Jake and his wife, Carla, wanting a second baby. It’s revealed that Drew’s 14-year-old sister, Kiera, was repeated assaulted by Kofer and was carrying his baby. Her mother wanted an abortion but was told by their pastor he would kick them out their home/church if they went through with it. So, the next logical step was adoption. At some point, Carla announces that she was thinking about possibly adopting Kiera’s baby as her and Jake were having trouble getting pregnant again. Carla even says, “Someone, some lucky couple somewhere will get the magic phone call. They’ll drive to the hospital and leave with a little baby boy…Why can’t it be us, Jake?”

This rubbed me the wrong way.

People adopt for many reasons; one being that the couple has trouble conceiving. As I mentioned before, the Brigance’s have been having difficulty producing another child. However, they already have a beautiful 9-year-old daughter. I felt as though they were potentially depriving another couple of adopting a child and that, to me, was selfish. Furthermore, these people were pretty close to being bankrupt and they thought bringing a newborn baby into the mix would be ideal? Nope. I’m not having it. They do end up adopting Kiera’s baby because, of course. I honestly wished they didn’t.

In conclusion, the book was just okay to me. The pacing was good but I was annoyed by Jake’s constant financial problems and Carla’s insistence on adopting a baby. The trial at the end wasn’t thrilling like in A Time to Kill. It was pretty uneventful.

Overall, I give it s 3/5.

Until next time!