I started reading John Grisham's books when the paperback for Theodore Boone came out. I liked the Runaway Jury, but A Time To Kill got me hooked. Of the seven of his works that I have read, four were set on the town of Clanton, Ford County, Mississippi. I just fell in love with the place.
If I had my way though, I wish I would have read them in the following order. I read The Summons first and was surprised to see a familiar face when I read A Time To Kill. I loved Clanton by then so I bought a copy of The Last Juror, then the Ford County short stories, waiting to see a different story of a different person on the other side of town.
The Last Juror (2003)
In this novel, we see the town of Clanton, Mississippi in the 70's. We follow the story told by Willie Traynor on how he acquired the local newspaper, The Ford County Times, and how it flourished as the town was rocked by a single case. A single mother was raped and murdered in her own home, the police arrested a solid suspect, and a trial was conducted. The jurors came up with the verdict, the people were outraged by it, and the jurors swore not to tell a soul on what happened in the jury room. Years later, as Willie narrates it, the jurors served on the trial started to die off one by one, as the killer gets revenge.
In this book, take note of the lawyer who befriended Willie: Harry Rex Vonner. He looks like a nice guy, offering Willie some legal and moral advice along the story. We are also introduced to Lucien Willbanks, the defense lawyer of the accused and the type of character that we can't help but hate. Also look out for a brief appearance of Judge Reuben Atlee at the party.
A Time To Kill (1989)
Around the mid-80's, Clanton was once again shook by another crime that led to another. A ten year old black girl was raped by two rednecks, and her devastated father took the law in his own hands. We follow the story of Jake Brigance, a defense lawyer and how he tries to justify the case that caught the attention of the whole country in favor of his client, Carl Lee Hailey.
This book tackles incredibly sensitive issues such as murder, child rape, and racism, all of which gripped the town of Clanton. There were cross burnings, sniper fire, huge rallies, and even the national guard coming in and they kept the town on its heels, all because of the trial. Along the trial, Jake will get a lot of help from two of his friends: his heavy-drinking former boss Lucien Wilbanks and the sleazy divorce lawyer Harry Rex Vonner. Yep. They're back.
Ford County (2009)
Because of the issue of AIDS and the use of gas chambers, I think these short stories were set around the mid-80's, more or less around the same time as A Time To Kill. One of them contains an Easter egg, a familiar character from the other books. The compilation contains seven short stories, all set in the county:
A road trip of three Ford Countians to Memphis goes wrong; a final visit of a family to its youngest member on death row; a drastic change in a life of a lawyer made by a phone call; a gambler's revenge on a Casino owner and his ex-wife; a kidnapped lawyer who saw the consequences of his lies to win a case years earlier; a caretaker on new job at another nursing home with a hidden past and ulterior motive; and an outcast son of a prominent family returns home from San Fransisco with AIDS who finds a new friend as he dies from the disease.
The Summons (2002)
Back at the Last Juror, Judge Reuben Atlee made a cameo and was shown as a well known judge. Now at The Summons, he is dying. He summons his sons, Ray and Forrest, back to Clanton to discuss his will. However, before the meeting took place, the judge died too soon and Ray discovered a secret that could change his life. As he try to figure out what to do with the secret, he also looks for answers on how his father acquired it, and discovers in horror that there may be just another one who knows about it.
In this book, Harry Rex Vonner gets bigger role than just the average lawyer, acting as one of Ray's best friend. According to the other reviews that I've read, a character from The King Of Torts, another Grisham novel, appears on this one but I've yet to read it.
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These novels and short stories give you the sense of how a neighborhood goes on its day to day lives. We see the different main characters and how they meet the familiar people and go to familiar places which the other characters also met and visited some point. One of the amazing things about it is we see Clanton, Ford County react to the big events as a community, and even when it was divided in some issues we see the different point of views. With all three novels and seven short stories, we see how the community change, or in some cases stay the same, overtime.
