A Time to Kill

"A Time to Kill" is the first and most shocking novel by the master of the legal thriller John Grisham. When Carl Lee Hailey deals with the violent criminals who killed his daughter, the residents of the small town of Clanton, Mississippi, see it as justice done, and call for his acquittal. The national media circus descends on Clanton. As tensions rise, Hailey hires the inexperienced Jake Brigance to defend him. This is one of those cases that can make a career for a young lawyer, but it's also a case that could get a young lawyer killed. The novel was successfully adapted into a film starring Samuel L. Jackson and Matthew McConaughey.