The Confession is a legal thriller by an accomplished writer, John Grisham, one who became famous by writing legal thrillers.

John Ray Grisham, Jr. (born February 8, 1955)] is an American lawyer and author, best known for his popular legal thrillers. As of 2008, his books had sold over 250 million copies worldwide.] A Galaxy British Book Awards winner, Grisham is one of only three authors to sell two million copies on a first printing, the others being Tom Clancy and J. K. Rowling. Grishams The Confession is a masterpiece in suspense. The narrative is taut and has a wonderful flow and pace from beginning to end. An innocent man is days from execution. Only a guilty man can save him. That is the premise behind the story. The story is centered around one hot issue: the death penalty

The Confession is the story of an innocent man, Dont Drumm who is on death row for the last nine years and is facing execution in a few days for the abduction, rape and murder of a high school cheerleader, Nicole Yarber. The real killer, Travis Boyette, is the only man who can prove that Dont is innocent and save him. The story starts very interestingly , with a man named Travis coming to a church in Kansas and confessing that he raped and murdered a girl in Slone, Texas about a 9 years ago. The pastor, Keith, is unsure whether or not to believe him, but some online research reveals that Travis has a long record of sexual crime. The authenticity of Travis confession is especially important because Donte, a classmate of the victim, had already confessed to the crime and convicted nine years ago, and will be executed in Slone in a couple of days. Travis isnt allowed to leave the state, yet Keith cant let an innocent man die either. A major portion of the book describes Robbie Flak's (Dont's lawyer's) race against time to prove his innocence by filing last minute appeals the pastor keith also helps Robbie by bringing travis all the way from Kansas to texas by violating the travis parole rule to save the innocent man from execution The rest of the book is centered around the question of how Robbie and keith tries to convince a court system and prosecution that they have the wrong man.

The story has an interesting plot, and one which keeps the reader on the edge of his seat from the start to finish

After finishing this book I understood that Grisham is an opponent of the death penalty. For me, the best part of the book was from the time Robbie and Keith visited Donte to the time of his execution. Emotions were high, but love prevailed. I could not believe that in Dontes dying moment, he never failed to thank and appreciate Robbie. The most tearfully part of the book was when Roberta was facing his son lying in the funeral home. She was able to gather all the strength needed in bathing his son while crying and thinking how better her sons future could be. For a mother, it was so difficult to see his son dead when he was young and healthy. In the novel grisham also tries to familiarise the readers the truth about death penalty and the legal system really works in the US. In the novel Grisham very clearly shows his strong opinions against the death penalty.The book takes you from one suspense to another. It touches themes on the death penalty, racism, and the corrupt system. Overall I greatly enjoyed the book. It was a very fun as well as an exciting read. It contains 43 chapters which are very interesting and fasinating. Even though the novel is a thriller specifically a legal thriller but it had the right combination of all the emotions such as anger, sorrow, revenge, hatred etc the Chapter 26 and 29 in the book was heart breaking for me.it was very emotional the last speech of Donte and her mothers deeds on the chapter 29 almost made me cry. Apart from entertaining me for the whole week which took me to finish the book and it made me to sympathise and empathise with the characters, and admire Dont Drumm for his courage, Robbie Flak for his dedication, Pastor Keith for his struggle between letting an innocent man die or breaking the law; and some times I even wanted to kill Travis Boyette with my own bare hands. And if a book can do all that and bring tears to your eyes, I would say it's doing a very good job. My rating : Excellent (4/5)

List of characters Dont Drumman a young black kid who is on death row just days away from his execution date

Roberta Drumm The long-suffering mother of Dont who is convinced her son is innocent and prays constantly for a reprieve. Nicole "Nikki" Yarber A high school cheer leader who was abducted, raped and murdered Reeva Yarber The girl's mother. Travis Boyette The real killer. He is a serial rapist and he is suffering from terminal brain cancer and carries a cane because of an apparent limp. Robbie Flak Donte's lawyer keep fighting for the freedom of his client and whose aggressive little law firm "became the destination for those considered even remotely slighted by society. The abused, the accused, the mistreated...." Reverend Keith Schroeder The Kansas based Lutheran pastor, Judge Elias Henry This judge is the only one who gets on well with Robbie. He is well respected although in the past he had lost out to politics and suffered a nervous breakdown.

Joey Gamble Gamble's false testimony was crucial in the prosecution's case against Dont. Detective Drew Kerber The detective who arrested and questioned Dont during the case. He is a cruel, evil and selfish character Prosecutor Paul Koffee The prosecutor presiding over the Nicole Yarber case. Both he and Kerber can be seen as the main villains of the story, Gill Newton The Governor of Texas. An extreme supporter of capital punishment who refuses to prolong the execution even after seeing Travis' televised confession.