The Chamber (Mass Market Paperback)

by John Grisham (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
"The decision to bomb the office of the radical Jew lawyer was reached with relative ease." So begins Grisham's legal leviathan The Chamber, a 676-page tome that scrutinizes the death penalty and all of its nuances--from racially motivated murder to the cruel and unusual effects of a malfunctioning gas chamber.

Adam Hall is a 26-year-old attorney, fresh out of law school and working at the best firm in Chicago. He might have been humming Timbuk 3's big hit, "The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades," if it wasn't for his psychotic Southern grandfather, Sam Cayhall. Cayhall, a card-carrying member of the KKK, is on death row for killing two men. Knowing his uncle will surely die without his legal expertise, Hall comes to the rescue and puts his dazzling career at stake, while digging up a barnyard of skeletons from his family's past. Grisham fans expecting the typical action-packed plot should ready themselves for a slower pace, well-fleshed-out characters, and heavy doses of sentimentalism.

From Publishers Weekly
Tie-in edition with the forthcoming movie starring Gene Hackman and Faye Dunaway.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 676 pages
• Publisher: Dell; First edition (April 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440220602
• ISBN-13: 978-0440220602
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 3.8 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (283 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #472,814 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This will raise questions about right and wrong, May 12, 2005

By	Jessica Lux (Rosamond, CA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

At first, I thought the title referred to a judge's chambers, but this is actually a book about the gas chamber. It took me a litttle while, but after the halfway point I was really connected with the characters and involved with the book. Grisham manages to make the reader just as torn as the other characters about whether Sam deserves to/should die in the gas chamber for his crimes. I got totally immersed in the book, and spent a lot of time contemplating the death penalty in general. This is a masterful story and a good book for anyone who wants to look at the grey areas of the law and what is right and wrong.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting story, but..., April 24, 2000

By A Customer

This was the first Grisham book that I've read, and I have some mixed reviews about it. While the plot and the story line are interesting and really makes you want to find out what happens next, the way the author presents the story, I feel, is a bit lacking. His writing style is plain and strictly to the point, and I personally enjoy reading novels that tend to be more emotional, elaborate, and powerful in the usage of language. Grisham presents the story, I guess, as a lawyer would, getting right down to the meat of the matter, but I feel he could make it just a bit more enjoyable to read. Also, it feels as if the story could be condensed into a somewhat shorter book; some of the material does seem a bit superfluous. I guess overall, his books are for the story (The plot of The Chamber is actually pretty good) which make for good movies, but if you want to really enjoy a book for it's artistic and literary merit, I'd suggest trying a different author.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A very emotional book, August 13, 2001

By	"playfullycute2000" (Cedar City, UT USA) - See all my reviews

While reading The Chamber i cried many times. Sometimes this book will make you smile, other times it will make you cry, and other times it will make you cry out in anger. Sam Cayhall is on deathrow because in the sixties he was in the KKK and bombed a jewish lawyer's building. But something went wrong when he bombed the building;instead of it going off at 5 in the morning when it was vacant, it went off at 8. Unfortunately, it the lawyer's two five-year old sons were in the building and the bomb killed them. Now, his only chance is his 26-year old grandson lawyer who will try everything to help him, and to keep him from getting gassed in the Gas Chamber.

Before reading this book, I was stongly opposed to the death row, but after reading it, well, it makes you think about that. I highly recommend this book.