6-26-12: I'm about halfway through and trying to decide the merits of continuing. This isn't one of Grisham's better novels. The pace is way too slow.
6-27-12: I just realized this is non-fiction. I just thought it was bad fiction storytelling, which seemed odd for Grisham. Now I actually feel offended that he took a horrendous real life situation and told it in such a way that I don't particularly care about the people or the events. This is poorly written and, in my opinion, is an injustice to the people who lived these events.
6-28-12: Okay, to be fair, now that I know this is non-fiction the writing style makes more sense, though I still think it's poorly written. I feel empathy and interest in the characters and events now, but I'm not sure that is enough to make me want to continue to plod on, I'm trying though.
6-29-12: I'm changing my rating from 1 star to 4 stars. Not so much for the writing but for the subject matter. The last 1/4 of the book flows better and the writing is much more compelling. I could feel the connection and humanity in the last 1/4 that seemed to be missing until then. Maybe Grisham intended that to correspond to the events, but that just made it difficult to engage with the story. I just feel that if the first 3/4 had been edited and revised in some way the whole book could have been more compelling. (In the author's note Grisham says he could have written 5,000 pages, and my thought was, "Thank God he didn't!") I do think that my not realizing it was non-fiction until 1/2 way through may have contributed to my not engaging with the story or the writing until later, so it's possible my early criticism is unwarranted. I think the subject matter is so important, I learned a lot, and was deeply touched by the story and the people who lived it. I'm glad to have learned what I learned from this book and will recommend that my son read it someday. The subject is important for any citizen who cares about fairness and justice, and the fallibilty of people at all levels of society.
Sk
Kristina, USA buyer
Mammaw93