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  • The Reckoning

  • A Novel
  • Written by: John Grisham
  • Narrated by: Michael Beck
  • Length: 17 hrs and 36 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (573 ratings)

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The Reckoning cover art

The Reckoning

Written by: John Grisham
Narrated by: Michael Beck
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Publisher's Summary

Number-one best-selling author John Grisham's The Reckoning is his most powerful, surprising, and suspenseful thriller yet.

"A murder mystery, a courtroom drama, a family saga…The Reckoning is Grisham's argument that he's not just a boilerplate thriller writer. Most jurors will think the counselor has made his case." (USA Today)

October 1946, Clanton, Mississippi

Pete Banning was Clanton, Mississippi's favorite son - a decorated World War II hero, the patriarch of a prominent family, a farmer, father, neighbor, and a faithful member of the Methodist church. Then one cool October morning he rose early, drove into town, walked into the church, and calmly shot and killed his pastor and friend, the Reverend Dexter Bell. As if the murder weren’t shocking enough, it was even more baffling that Pete's only statement about it - to the sheriff, to his lawyers, to the judge, to the jury, and to his family - was: "I have nothing to say." He was not afraid of death and was willing to take his motive to the grave.     

In a major novel unlike anything he has written before, John Grisham takes us on an incredible journey, from the Jim Crow South to the jungles of the Philippines during World War II; from an insane asylum filled with secrets to the Clanton courtroom where Pete's defense attorney tries desperately to save him.          

Reminiscent of the finest tradition of Southern Gothic storytelling, The Reckoning would not be complete without Grisham's signature layers of legal suspense, and he delivers every minute.

©2018 John Grisham (P)2018 Random House Audio

What the critics say

“In this saga of love and war, John Grisham has given us a sprawling and engrossing story about a Southern family, a global conflict, and the kinds of secrets that can shape all of us. From the courtrooms and jails of rural Mississippi to the war-torn Pacific, Grisham spins a tale that is at once entertaining and illuminating.” (Jon Meacham, New York Times best-selling author of The Soul of America)

“John Grisham is not only the master of suspense but also an acute observer of the human condition. And these remarkable skills converge in The Reckoning - an original, gripping, penetrating novel that may be his greatest work yet.” (David Grann, New York Times best-selling author of Killers of the Flower Moon)

“John Grisham is the master of legal fiction, and his latest starts with a literal bang - and then travels backward through the horrors of war to explore what makes a hero, what makes a villain, and how thin the line between the two might be.” (Jodi Picoult, number-one New York Times best-selling author of A Spark of Light and Small Great Things)

“The quest for justice is only the beginning in this Southern-family saga.... Grisham does so much more this time around.” (Associated Press)  

What listeners say about The Reckoning

Average Customer Ratings
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Boring

First part was good and I was listening intently. Then it turned into a war story. No thanks. Then when the so-called mystery was finally solved... I literally said “who really cares about that boring mystery.”

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9 people found this helpful

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  • K
  • 2018-11-16

Torturous

If you like reading about the horror and depravity of WWII then read this book. I waded through most of it, although I skimmed through part 2 of the book because of its endless torturous, excruciating description of the main character's experience during WWII. The ending was a big disappointment and I kept thinking, "That's it? That's why he did it?" OMG! That's 17 hours I'll never get back.

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6 people found this helpful

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disappointed

I've always thought of John Grisham as a good storyteller, but for me, this one falls far short of the mark.

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3 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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Disapointed

I've waited 17 hours for something to happen but nothing. Ending was predictable, no suspense.

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2 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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Where was the editor?

This is far and away the worst Grisham book I have read (listened to). The plot premise is weak, the ending is more or less known a few chapters in, the reason for the protagonist’s ‘reckoning’ actions (or which resulted in his reckoning) which is the basis for the whole book is not believable and part II in the Philippines is excruciating. It deserves one chapter at most. Where was the editor?I have enjoyed all of Grisham’s other books but this one lost me early on and was not up to his usual standards.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Amazing book!

Interesting and heartbreaking story. Didn’t expect this kind of a end. Honestly teared up in the end.
Tragedy of the war and the times.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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WOW! What a story.

I am sitting here stunned as I just finished reading The Reckoning. I expected the obvious but was not prepared for the reality.
Mr. Grisham is an amazing author and I have read most of his books, some more than once, but I don't think any have left me feeling the way I do right now. I look forward to a possible followup to the Bannings.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

beautiful book

had me on the edge of my seat the entire book strongly recommend this listen

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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Highs and slows

Part 1 Engagjng. Leaves the reader with lots of questions. Part 2 . Best part of the book. Details about the Battle of Bataan, Death march, POW camps fascinating. I had to read around the history of this battle. Part 3. Moved to slow. Anticlimactic. I was begging Joel to just investigate why his Dad did what he did.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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Boring and predictable

This is not typical of a John Grisham novel.
Very disappointing, I'm not sure I will read another by this author for a very long time, if ever. His first number of novels were absolutely fantastic, this one a very pale imitation.

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