Jake sensed that Drew had been traumatized and fought the prosecuting attorney as well as the sheriff to get Drew released from jail for a mental evaluation. Drew also seemed unable to comprehend that his mother was alive. He seemed confused about what had happened and asked Jake several times if Stuart was dead.

He first met Drew, a sixteen-year-old boy who was underdeveloped for his age, in the jail. More than anything, Jake worried that the case would bankrupt him.Įven though Jake did not want the case, he was asked by Circuit Judge Omar Noose to represent Drew until Noose could find another lawyer. He worried taking the case would ruin his friendship with police in the area. He worried that he and his family would be in danger. He worried what people would think of him if he defended a boy accused of murdering a police officer. Jake knew the case would not earn him any money. The teen boy had shot his mother’s police officer boyfriend, Stuart Kofer, after Kofer came home drunk and beat Josie, Drew’s mother, unconscious. In the courtroom drama A Time for Mercy by John Grisham, lawyer Jake Brigance did not want to represent Drew Gamble. Now comes A Time for Mercy.The following version of the novel was used to create this study guide: Grisham, John. There is a time to kill and a time for justice.

The result is a richly rewarding novel that is both timely and timeless, full of wit, drama, and-most of all-heart.īursting with all the courthouse scheming, small-town intrigue, and stunning plot twists that have become the hallmarks of the master of the legal thriller, A Time for Mercy is John Grisham’s most powerful courtroom drama yet. In what may be the most personal and accomplished legal thriller of John Grisham’s storied career, we deepen our acquaintance with the iconic Southern town of Clanton and the vivid cast of characters that so many readers know and cherish. Jake’s fierce commitment to saving Drew from the gas chamber puts his career, his financial security, and the safety of his family on the line. Many in Clanton want a swift trial and the death penalty, but Brigance digs in and discovers that there is more to the story than meets the eye. Jake Brigance finds himself embroiled in a deeply divisive trial when the court appoints him attorney for Drew Gamble, a timid sixteen-year-old boy accused of murdering a local deputy.

Jake Brigance is back! The hero of A Time to Kill, one of the most popular novels of our time, returns in a courtroom drama that The New York Times says is 'riveting' and 'suspenseful.'Ĭlanton, Mississippi.

John grisham books a time for mercy