When the men appear in court days later, Tonya's father Carl bursts out of the courthouse basement, and executes them with an assault rifle. The rapists are almost immediately caught in a road side bar, where they have been bragging of their exploits. Near the rural town of Clanton, Mississippi, little Tonya Hailey is brutally raped, beaten, and left for dead by two drunken and remorseless men. Originally published in a small print-run in 1989, and for years unavailable in hardcover, Doubleday is proud to publish a new trade hardcover edition of this gripping courtroom drama.

While The Firm first put him on bestseller lists across the country, and The Pelican Brief and The Client confirmed his status as the master of the legal thriller, it was A Time to Kill that launched his writing career. For ten days, as burning crosses and the crack of sniper fire spread through the streets of Clanton, the nation sits spellbound as defense attorney Jake Brigance struggles to save his client's life-and then his own.ĭon't miss John Grisham's new book, THE EXCHANGE: AFTER THE FIRM, coming soon!įrom the Back Cover John Grisham has become, in less than three years, America's most popular author. The mostly white town of Clanton in Ford County, Mississippi, reacts with shock and horror at the inhuman crime-until the girl's father acquires an assault rifle and takes justice into his own hands. The life of a ten-year-old black girl is shattered by two drunken and remorseless white men. 'John Grisham may well be the best American storyteller writing today.'- The Philadelphia Inquirer About the Book Available for the first time in a hardcover edition, this riveting novel of rape, murder, retribution, and justice set in rural Mississippi was Grisham's first novel and led to his subsequent bestsellers The Firm, The Pelican Brief, and The Client.īook Synopsis #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - The master of the legal thriller probes the savage depths of racial violence in this searing courtroom drama featuring the beloved Jake Brigance.

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