Review: A Time For Mercy by John Grisham

 Dear Lit Loves,

Greetings!  It's been a couple of months since I last posted a review thanks to my own health issues, the Covid pandemic, holidays, and completing final edits on a manuscript before its submission.  When I want to take a break from memoir (which is rare), I turn to fiction.  When I want to read a book that keeps me turning the pages and makes me stop to think what I would do if I were in a particular character's shoes, I turn to John Grisham.  It never hurts that Grisham generally places his book settings in the south as well.  The most recent book of his that I just finished reading is titled A Time For Mercy.  This book for me was like driving a loaded Mustang GT.  Right out of the starting gate, I've got the pedal to the metal and it's not long before I am cruising in first place while listening to AC/DC.

First, if you can't take an author who tackles big issues in a southern setting, this might not be the book for you.  If you're like me and love books set in the south that address the big issues we as a society are dealing with today then reading this book is almost like having a winning lottery ticket. (Almost), 

The book opens with lawyer Jake Brigance in Clanton, Mississippi who is called by a judge on a Sunday afternoon and handed the legal defense of a sixteen year old who everyone in Clanton appears to want dead.  Why?  Because he killed an off-duty police officer.  You then get a play by play narrative of the circumstances that led to a sixteen year old male teenager murdering a police officer who was dating his mom.  Next, we discover the police officer is not the upstanding man people think he is.  Stuart Kofer, the police officer, has more problems than he can count.  He served in the military, but was abruptly discharged.  He has been married twice and divorced twice.  He has a McDaddy drinking problem along with brutish behavior and gambling problems as well.  He has his own home and has recently invited sixteen year old Drew's mother to come with her kids and live with him.  Drew's mom, Josie, works multiple part-time jobs, has served time in prison, and lost custody of Drew and his younger sister, Kiera, twice.  

The problem is Stuart Kofer has a truly dark side and he can be brutal after an entire day and night of drinking and carousing.  He frequently returns home at night to beat Josie.  He's also berating Drew and when no one's home, Stuart Kofer rapes Drew's sister, Kiera, on multiple occasions.  He tells Kiera that if she tells her mom or anyone about it, he will be forced to kill her, her mom, and her brother.  Drew and Josie have no idea about Stuart raping Kiera.  So one night Josie is waiting for Stuart Kofer to return home at two in the morning while Drew and Kiera are upstairs behind a locked bedroom door with furniture shoved up against it.  Drew and Kiera hear commotion downstairs and then they hear Stuart Kofer ascending the stairs to the room in which they've locked themselves.  When Stuart is unable to get inside the room to reach Drew and Kiera, he goes to his bedroom and passes out cold.  

After it has been quiet long enough, Drew and Kiera venture out of a bedroom looking for their mom and wary that Stuart Kofer could be lurking somewhere around the house.  They find their mom, Josie, unconscious on the floor of the kitchen and neither one can detect that their mom is breathing.  Both kids assume Stuart has killed their mother.  While Kiera is downstairs attempting to rouse her mom, Drew goes upstairs and finds Stuart passed out in the bedroom.  He then calls 911.  Kiera is still trying to rouse her lifeless mom when she hears a gunshot.  Drew comes downstairs and Kiera asks him if he shot Stuart Kofer which Drew answers in the affirmative and then sits down on a couch and appears to descend into a catatonic state.

The Clanton, MS police arrive to Stuart Kofer's house, detect a pulse after examining Josie, and then run upstairs to find Stuart Kofer dead from a bullet discharged from his own Glock which is lying beside him.  Kiera rides with her mom as emergency personnel take her to the hospital and after informing the Clanton, MS police that Drew shot Stuart Kofer. Drew is put in handcuffs and placed in a cell in the Clanton, MS jail.  This is the case attorney Jake Brigance is given by the judge in this case, Omar Noose.

The rest of the book covers what happens to Drew as he is tried for capital murder as an adult.  His mom is taken to a hospital where she suffers from a broken jaw.  Kiera learns she is pregnant and is forced to tell her mom.  Stuart Kofer's family wants Drew to be given the death penalty.  Jake Brigance is a small town attorney who is barely making ends meet and must defend Drew on a shoestring budget along with the fact that this area of rural Mississippi is highly conservative.  

I know an author is good when I start considering from each character's perspective what I would do in a given situation.  How will Jake Brigance defend Drew Gamble?  Will he claim Insanity,?  Self-defense?  Will Kiera choose to keep the baby, have an abortion, or give the baby up for adoption? Will Josie be able to recover not just from the beating, but having no place to live and being in debt along with the duress of discovering all the trouble she has brought on herself and her children via bad decisions?  How will Drew cope sitting in a jail cell for months waiting for a trial?  Will the officers who worked with Stuart Kofer admit that they knew about his seriously problematic drinking and the two previous 911 calls Josie made regarding abuse by Stuart Kofer?  What will the Kofer family do to see justice served?  And what will the Kofer family do if or when they discover Kiera was raped by Stuart and is now carrying his baby?  And just as importantly, what would you do if you were selected as a juror in the trial of Drew Gamble vs. the state of Mississippi whereby the charge is capital murder?

I'm not giving away what anyone does or what happens as the story continues to unfold.  Let's just say that this book will make you think about domestic violence, extreme alcoholism, race relations, murder committed by a minor, chaotic childhoods, police loyalty, and how the choices people make can lead to dire circumstances not just for themselves but others as well.  

I absolutely loved the book.  I highly recommend it.  And I can't wait till  I find another book by John Grisham and have the time to kick back and read it!

All Best,

Grace (Amy)

Review: Diary of a Detour by Lesley Stern

 Dear Literary Loves,

Greetings!  I've been away from my book reviews recently taking care of family illness and my own chronic illnesses.  I truly miss my local book club meetings, but since we are in the midst of a pandemic and the book group meets on Zoom, it has just not been my cup of tea.  

In recently weeks I had a family member diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia which is a blood and bone marrow cancer.  Her initial symptoms appeared to be fairly mild with swelling in the legs and ongoing fatigue.  Obviously, I felt for this family member as I lost my father to a rare subtype of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.  He battled that disease for twelve years.  Naturally, I was quite interested in putting my eyes and hands on reading material regarding Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia in hopes of not only better understanding it myself, but also so I could potentially pass along helpful information and advice to my relative.  During my search, I came upon a memoir that was soon to be published by a professor who was diagnosed with CLL and subsequently wrote about her experience.  The key word in that last sentence is "experience".   When I write or read a memoir I expect to at least be able to plot a time sequence particularly if it involves a serious illness.  So I just want to establish from the beginning that I never found any kind of sequencing and very little communication of the CLL experience in the book titled Diary of a Detour by Lesley Stern.  

Here's what I did glean from Ms. Stern's book:  She was diagnosed with CLL and evidently did not immediately require treatment.  This appears to be a slow-growing cancer.  Mainly, the author discusses how she distracts herself from concentrating on the disease in many creative forms.  First, she has a group of chickens, all of whom she names and can detail their personalities for you.  She has a cat named Elvis who actually brings her great comfort, but in the latter portion of the book, the cat's demise is brought about by the author's neglect of having the cat treated for a recurrent tumor on his leg.  Was it related to her perhaps not wanting to know the status of her own cancer or live in denial of it??  I could never clearly tell.  She is wildly fascinated with chickens in Mexico and the differences between chickens in Mexico and the United States.  

Next, the reader does hear about the author receiving immunoglobulin treatments inside a cancer center, but not to the degree necessary, in my opinion, to be able to explain to a fellow patient what to expect should they face similar treatment.  At this point in the book, I was totally frustrated.  And I am a former English teacher who had to make a concentrated effort to force myself to continue reading this memoir.  The middle portion of the book has the author taking a trip to Australia against the advice of her own oncologist.  And I believe she calls a friend who knows a physician and she goes with his recommendation to take a different medication during her trip and get on with the trip.  I admired the author's spunk, but at times I felt it was to her own demise.  She appears fascinated with Aboriginal art caves in Australia and the landscape, but I still was left wanting to know more about the CLL experience.  

I really became frustrated and flabbergasted when upon returning from Australia, the author decides she is going to take up the fermentation of cheese.  At some point during this portion of the book, she makes a reference to comparing cheese and death.  I think it had something to do with eating that which is decomposed (cheese/death) and then finding something wonderful eventually through the cheese's flavor (the afterlife}?  Interestingly, she does convey the frustration of losing someone you once knew who now lives in another part of the world.  When that person died, a part of her that had experienced life with that person also died.  And she felt losing those closest to us might just actually be harder for us than facing our own death.  Interesting and valid points I must say.  

At the end of the book, she hints at her cancer returning in a major fashion and delves into some detail about treatment of CLL with monoclonal antibody treatment vs. CAR-T therapy.  At that point I felt I needed to go find the Duke University Medical Library and just teach myself all the potential treatments should I or anyone I know ever become diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia.  At the end of the book, the chickens she loves begin to die, the cat Elvis has expired, she worries about the person with whom she is most close (I assumed her significant other) and then basically signs off with the expression that everyone should get on with living and maybe we'll all meet in the afterlife??

I am not one who requires fancy, poetic, or singing prose on the page.  I do not require over glorified, elegant writing,  I do look for some communication of the experience about which you are writing and hope to be able to, after having read the book, to also be ready to recommend it to others.  Sadly, I am unable to do that with this book.  I hope to find a memoir about CLL that leaves me more knowledgeable about the subject and grateful for the way the author clearly communicated the experience and also inspired me in the process.  It was most definitely not the case with this memoir.

Till Next Time,

Grace

(Amy)

  

On The Future Of Print Publishing: Folks, I Have Serious Questions And Concerns

 Dear Readers,

Greetings!  It's been a bit since my last post simply because I had no idea what to do with this new Blogger format!  Personally, I liked the old format better as it was much more colorful and easier to use.  This is the problem with technology; just when you think you are getting an upgraded system, you realize, hell, I liked the last version better!  Note to Blogger:  IF IT AIN'T BROKE, DON'T FIX IT!

Folks, I have serious concerns about the future of print publishing (my preferred form).  I just DON"T DO DIGITAL!  You say you want me to utilize an ipad, nook, etc.   Uh, no.  As stated above, I only do print publishing.  My latest trip to my local Barnes and Noble store totally ticked me off completely.  I along with two other customers were standing in the check-out line and NO ONE WAS AVAILABLE TO RING UP OUR PURCHASES!  Furthermore, the one person on the floor that worked at this Barnes and Noble informed me upon inquiring if someone could ring up my purchases that I would have to check-out in the cafe area.  HEADS UP to Barnes and Noble, the two customers that also wanted to purchase products gave up entirely, put their merchandise back on the shelves, and left the store.  HELLO?  WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?  I'm no nuclear physicist, but I can tell you that having no one at any of your six available registers for purchases IS NOT GOING TO KEEP YOU IN BUSINESS!  

Because I'm the wickedly persistent literature lover that is determined to purchase her books, magazines, etc., I went to investigate what the problem involved.  First, one of the only customer service members on the first floor of the store informed me he did not have time to go to the register for "check-out" because he was busy stocking books.  Regrettably, I wound up in the cafe at Barnes and Noble inquiring as to why I was having to check-out in the cafe when all I needed was to purchase my items at the front of store registers?  The cafe employee informed me there was no one available to work at the front of the store, aka cash registers, until 11:30a.m.    Fascinating!  I had now watched as more people left the store after just putting down their items and getting frustrated that no one was available to tally their purchases.  I left the store with exasperation and ready to go locate the CEO of Barnes & Nobles and give him WHAT FOR!   For heaven's sake, couldn't the store just install some self check-out lanes if you are not going to provide associates to work the registers??  

And now for magazines and print publishing.  Okay, first I witnessed the magazine, Glamour, give up its print publication after I had been subscribing to it since I turned seventeen.  I was not too pleased with the decision and neither was the customer service attendant at Glamour, who when I called to inform her to cancel the rest of my subscription, also informed me she was just informed of the decision and also that she would be losing her job as a result.  Great.  Now, I have learned Oprah Winfrey has decided to stop the print publication of O, The Oprah Magazine.  Now Oprah, obviously it's your magazine and your decision, but I have to say I rather liked the magazine as a twenty year subscriber and well, if your subscription numbers were dwindling, I think I know why.  Several changes to the magazine in recent years have not been impressive.  I thought the recommendations made for fashion, makeup, home decor, etc. were dated.  I did not like the idea of having Martha Beck work with a client regarding a serious life problem and have to wait for the next two issues to arrive in order to read how she helped the individual address the problem.  And frankly, the December issue has become too much about "things" and less about the heart and spirit of Christmas.  Do I think these issues could be addressed and improve the print version of the magazine?  Absolutely.  Do I think you should seriously reconsider doing away with the magazine's print version? Yes; otherwise, I will really miss much of the divine content.    

Next, what in the heebie-jeebies is happening in New York such that magazines are either no longer producing a monthly issue and if they do, it is not arriving in a timely matter.  Look, I realize you all were hit brutally by the Covid-19 pandemic; however, it now appears that the state has its puzzle pieces back together so could we get the show back on the road?  I mean, if not, additional magazines and their respective staffs will be joining the unemployment lines and not many people I know want to see that happen.  

And finally, I keep hearing about diversity in publishing.  Diversity does not just mean nationality or skin color, folks.  It also involves publishing people who have much to say about disabilities and no one in the publishing world that I have contacted appears even remotely interested in investing in those manuscripts or authors.  Today, I read where one prominent literary agent said, "Well, if you can't summarize and pitch your manuscript in 30 seconds then I can't sell it to an editor!"  I'm sorry, but who died and appointed you Literary Goddess?!!  What if I told you that if you can't get your business done in the bathroom in 30 seconds then no bathroom break for you, missy?!  That is how ridiculous this literary agent's commentary sounded to a writer and I might add that unrealistic time frames, bad attitudes, and narrow-mindedness are what's contributing to the downfall of the publishing community.   And let me just say that we print publishing lovers deserve better on all fronts!  So get busy publishing industry!  CHOP! CHOP!  You've lost a lot of ground recently and if you even hope to win the next battle much less the war, you had best not forget about or give up on your print publishing fanatics!

Till my next post,

Grace