Like all Grisham's books this one is very enjoyable but ...
593957
Like all Grisham's books this one is very enjoyable but except for a few twists it is totally predictable.  An easy read, well written.
820052
as usual, this Grisham novel was very well written and the story-line throughout held the reader's interest. Without giving anything away I would only say that after reading the final chapter, the reader will feel CHEATED!
1225753
This book is very enjoyable I loved it and did not want it to finish
I love all of john Grisham's books
You feel like you are right there when you read his books and you don't want to put the book down but you also don't want it to end
350079
AFTER JOHN GRISHAM'S FIRST 3 NOVELS, I THOUGHT HE COULD BECOME ONE OF THE GREATEST AUTHORS EVER.  HE THEN WENT DOWN HILL AND COMPLETELY DISAPPOINTED ME, EVEN THOUGH I CONTINUED TO READ EACH NEW RELEASE.  THE PARTNER WAS A TURNAROUND.  AS WITH ALL HIS NOVELS IT MOVES VERY FAST AND KEPT MY ATTENTION.  I LIKED THE STORY LINE MUCH BETTER, ALTHOUGH IT DID BECOME PREDICTABLE. THIS BOOK WAS GOOD, BUT COULD HAVE BEEN GREAT.  THERE IS NOT A TON OF CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT BUT THE STORY WAS GREAT.  A GOOD FAST READ.
23602
If you like Grisham's early stuff, I bet you will like this one, a lot.  Thin, almost stick-like characters, framed very much as black versus white, good versus bad.  Quite preachy in places.  I am not sure how much it adds to the debate over judicial elections/nominations.  John Edwards would love it.  In fact, one might guess that Grisham is a big Edwards supporter.  Still, excellent plotting, fast read, can't put it down.  Grisham gets lots of details correct, but others, including legal details, not so correct.  I guess that makes it fiction, so it is okay.  I am not a huge Grisham fan, at least as to his recent stuff, but this seems like his earlier books, and I got a lot of entertainment value out of it.
3578818
In typical Grisham fashion the story kept you wanting to find out more. The twists and turns as the story develops, however, became quite predictable. Grisham is a terrific storyteller and while the book was an enjoyable read, it was too predictable to warrant more than three stars.
2080191
I have read all John Grisham's books and liked many of the others better than this one but still I enjoyed the story.  It's complicated and a bit far fetched but a good read.
3137697
Fortunately for Grisham he can really create prose that hooks his readers.  He can take the most mundane events and make them fun to read about.  Unfortunately he takes us down a lot of different paths that we believe will all come together at the end but he leaves a lot of loose ends.  I keep wondering why he introduces us to several characters.  But in his defense it was still a wonderful read and I'll continue to read his stuff.
4975490
Good story and I enjoy Grisham novels.  The characters are people you care about and like but this novel lacks the suspense of other novels he has written .  There is never one of those moments where you can't sit the book down because you are afraid what will happen to the characters like exist in The Firm, The Client, A TIme to Kill and some of his other books.  Still if you are a Grisham fan you will enjoy the read.
786857
I enjoyed reading this book as I usually do with Grisham's new novels.  Though I read it in one day, and though the characters were described in a way that I felt like I got to know them, the plot and ending wasn't as developed or memorable as The Brethren or The Firm.  As I came to the end of the book, I wondered if there couldn't be something that culd have been added to it.  I felt that the mystery and ending intrigue could ahve been drawn out or further explained.  I was just amazed as I came to the last twenty pages that it was all going to be wrapped up in that short amount of material.  Sadly it was.  I'd have given this book five stars had the ending been more developed.
3572081
Overall, I enjoyed the book. I love Grisham, and it had been a while since I last read one of his books.

On the positive side, its typical Grisham writing. Engaging the reader from the outset. Interesting characters that you want to learn more about. A storyline that moves along at a good pace. "cliffhangers" at chapters ends.

On the negative side, too many of the characters are one dimensional. Of the few we get some insight to, Grisham seems to abandone reality.

!!SPOILER ALERT!! Why in the world did Travis come forward after nine years if the tumor was benign? The entire story was predicated on making peace with himself before dieing!! SPOILER ALERT!!

In the end, I enjoyed reading the story, but it may be another while before I return to Grisham.
4080570
Another good read by Grisham. It's well written but is a rehash of his lawyer formula. Certainly worth reading, but I think some of his best work has been when he's gotten away from writing about lawyers.
822076
It has been many years since I last read a Grisham novel.  After his initial success I found that he was growing tiresome.  The reviews of this book on Amazon.com convinced me that I should give his newer books a try.  I can say that I enjoyed this book but was not blown away.  It is in some ways, a sequel to "A Time to Kill", because the main protagonist,  lawyer Jake Brigance, is once again up against terrible odds.  Surprisingly, the case this time has nothing to do with murder but rather the seemingly less important issue of whether an old white man was in his right mind when he left his fortune to his Black helper.  His family is, of course, a nasty bunch and they hire expensive lawyers to contest the will.  It is a nice book to pass the time and it was good enough to convince me to try Grisham again.
827794
Grisham is my favorite author.  I like this one, but it seemed to have been written very quickly with different writers.  There were a few grammar errors and the end was not that great in that it is not believable that Bruce would have suspected Mercer (awful name) and then showed her the manuscript.  I hated the epilogue - should have been left out as it was not believable.  Could have been another great (all but The Testament) one by Grisham and his ghost writers if more time was put into it.  I have the feeling they were up against a deadline and just wanted to get this one out before it was ripe.
4074400
I enjoy Grisham's writing and this book is an enjoyable read.  The way the story develops and reaches a conclusion sort of left me hanging, wanting more, but I suppose that is the writer's intention.  The story came to an end while the actual events in Appalachia are ongoing.  The poverty depicted and the actions of "big coal"  destroying the lives of people are real.  There is a depressing portrait of a region of America that is an image of people whose little sustenance and hope is both provided by coal and taken away by coal.  Though I wish the ending had been more climatic the story has me still thinking about what goes on in that area and how large companies can run roughshod over the people.  But then I suppose the very nature of a well told story is to make one think.
2761895
I enjoyed this book....it didn't seem to be the same as most of his books, very untypical of John Grisham....but the story was good.

I felt for the little boy in the story, but he probably didn't know anything else.
3342890
I am a big fan of John Grisham's writing style, and The Confession was the first e-book I purchased for my new Kindle.  Like his previous novels, The Confession is a smooth read; I finished it in just over a day.  Grisham has a knack for interspersing engaging dialogue and narrative, and he knows how to end a chapter leaving you with a desire to read the next.

But with all due respect to Grisham's writing ability, reading The Confession is a lot like riding a carousel.  It has all the expected ups and downs and turns, which sometimes make for a pleasurable experience.  But it doesn't take you anyplace new, and you know how it's going to end.  And all the characters are plastic.

For a subject as complex and multi-faceted as the death penalty, you would expect a little nuance from an author as intelligent as Grisham.  Alas, there is none to found in The Confession.  I would describe the theme of the book as:  "If you support the death penalty, then you are ignorant, racist, and un-Christian.  If you oppose the death penalty, you are a saint and a hero.  Period."  Nearly all the villains in this book work for the government: from the unscrupulous detective to the conviction-hungry prosecutor to the corrupt judge to the uncaring appeals courts to the cocky demagogue of a governor.  Heck, even the front-line police officers and the National Guard are portrayed as Jim Crow-era goons who stand ready to trample the civil rights of the poor townfolk.  I say that "nearly" all the villains work for the government because Grisham saves some castigation for the FAMILY OF THE MURDER VICTIM.  The mother of the victim is portrayed as a fame whore who cares nothing about finding justice but only wants a painful death for the man she's convinced killed her daughter.

On the other hand, everyone who supports the wrongly-convicted Donte Drumm is a martyr and a visionary.  Grisham gives them a pass for their dirty deeds.  Even when they burn the home church of the murder victim and torch the business owned by the victim's step-father.  Even when they throw Molotov cocktails into a widow's Buick.  Even when they pelt police and National Guardsmen with cinder blocks, knocking unconscious an innocent reporter in the process.  An effort to quell the violence with tear gas is viewed as a journey back to Selma in the 1960s.  And a local church leader is portrayed as having quiet courage when he refuses to step in and ask for peace because the cops dared to use tear gas on the community "children."

The caricatures on both sides are drawn so ludicrously that it takes away from the sympathy the reader naturally feels for the innocent Donte Drumm. Grisham's take on the death penalty is so shrill and heavy-handed that he is likely to drive away far more readers than he is likely to win converts to his position.  This book will probably only serve to alienate most police officers, prosecutors, judges, and Texans (and their families) who read it.  Grisham's indulgent tale of government corruption, rife with race-baiting and demonizing of every possible public figure, is an affront to the many men and women in law enforcement and the courts who conscientiously grapple with the hard questions surrounding capital punishment.

Make no mistake about it:  The Confession is a polemic dressed up as a novel.  Those parts of the novel that deal with pastor Keith Schroeder's decision about what to do with the convicted sex offender who's shown up at his church claiming to be the real killer are interesting.  There are enough twists and turns to keep the reader wondering if there is going to be more to this story than an overwrought morality play. And all this is done with the classic Grisham flair for the dramatic.  But in the end, nothing unexpected materializes -- which is a huge disappointment.