A Time for Mercy

Five years after his monumental win in the Carl Lee Hailey trial, Jake Brigance now finds himself unwillingly assigned to the case of a young man who shot and killed his mother's deputy boyfriend. The boy claims he shot the man to stop the physical abuse of his mom, his 14 year old sister, and himself. Taking the case puts Jake at odds with most of the residents of Clanton, as well as the local law enforcement community (including his longtime friend Sheriff Ozzie Walls). At the same time, he's also working a tort case against a railroad after a young family is killed in a collision with a train at a poorly maintained crossing. When the hostilities in the shooting case threaten the potentially huge settlement with the railroad, his co-counsel Harry Rex even begins to turn on his pal Jake. With clients and friends alike abandoning Jake, he sees his practice slipping away. Can he save his young client...against all odds (as he did Carl Lee)? Surprise help from a witness might just deliver the not-guilty verdict.

With this story set in Clanton, expect appearances from many of the characters introduced in Grisham's earlier novels "A Time To Kill" and "Sycamore Row".

• Jake Brigance
• Drew Gamble - a timid sixteen-year-old boy
• Portia Lang - Jake's law clerk and aspiring lawyer
• Harry Rex Vonner - Jake's co-counsel on a potentially large tort case
• Ozzie Walls - the High Sheriff of Ford County
• Lucien Wilbanks - Jake's mentor and former boss
• Judge Omar Noose - Respected Circuit Court Judge who is hearing both of Jake's cases