The Chamber

Reading has been my passion ever since letters and words become decipherable to me. I usually read books about courtroom trials and those that include mysteries and unsolved cases. I really love guessing and anticipating upcoming events of the novel. Romance novels, on the other hand, are boring and senseless for me. They all have the same plots and endings. On mystery and courtroom trial books, one will really find the brilliance of the author. Those with unexpected endings are what I like the most.

When I was younger, I usually read The Hardy Boys' adventure novels and Nancy Drew's mysteries. Now, I already go for Sidney Sheldon, John Grisham, and David Baldacci's works. Right now, I am reading another one of John Grisham's books, The Chamber. Here is a book review I found at Shelfari.



"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.

What I like about this book, is that, it shows the pros and cons on the death penalty issues. I am so glad that it is not really quite an issue here in the Philippines. I don't believe in that "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth" logic of some people. For me, killing somebody for his past mistakes cannot do any good to him, to the government, nor to the aggrieved party. Killing criminals through the electric chair, gas chamber, or some other sorts is senseless. As a Christian, I believe that a man has no right of taking away the life of another human being. Only God has the right of giving and taking away His most precious gift to us.