I've read a couple of Grishams that had very rich and exciting plots, only to end abruptly, leaving the reader wanting for more.

I'm happy to say that that's not the case with The Chamber. This story has both the thrills and the heart and it carried through to the end. It was an exciting read, and tugs at the heart at the same time; I almost cried in some of the scenes.

I admire the character of Adam Hall, I wish there were more people like him in real life - those who would put the good of the family first, no matter what the price. I also admire the character of Sam Cayhall. Observers would say he deserved what he got (and maybe he did, who can really tell), but only he would know that he had made peace with himself and with God somehow before his end; and Sam did not see the need for this to be publicized. It's a sad story, but there was redemption at the end. Something good was borne out of something bad; and that's not a lesson to be ignored.

There was no need to give so much detailsss of each and every instance..he tried to maintain the thrill but i got very disappointed in the end..
At some points i felt that i was able to guess what wud happen next..
Not at all woth reading..

4 1/2 stars, "The Chamber" tells the story of Adam Hall, young lawyer with a year of practicing under his belt. His ulterior motive of being employed by a prestigious Chicago law firm: they represent, pro bono, his grandfather, on death row for the bombing deaths of two young Jewish boys in 1960s Mississippi.

I've been for the death penalty for years, but this book gave me pause to re-examine my long-held beliefs. I was able to see the angry, racist Sam, looking at the end of his appeals after 10 years on death row. Adam, who'd never met his grandfather until allowed to represent him after firing the rest of the firm. Lee, Adam's aunt and Sam's daughter who's been an alcoholic for decades.

Published in '94, I got to know these people and wondered if Adam would be successful trying to redeem his dysfunctional family.

What a powerful story, Grisham delivers with this heartwrenching and thought provoking insight into the death penalty, and even though it's purely fiction, you just can't get past the realism of it.

In the 1960's, Greenville Mississippi, the law office of a Jewish lawyer is bombed, killing his two sons, in retaliation with the office's involvement with the Civil Rights Movement. The authorities #1 Suspect is Sam Cayhall, a longtime member of the Ku Klux Klan. Sam is brought to justice, and 20 years later, put on death row, awaiting his death sentence by the gas chamber.

Enter Adam Hall, a young attorney moving up in the world in the biggest law firm in Chicago, now he is about to take his most trying and personal case yet, his grandfather whom he's never met, Sam Cayhall. Adam travels to Mississippi to meet his long lost grandfather, who is now weeks away from his death sentence, with Adam hoping to dig deeper into Sam's past, believing he wasn't acting along during the bombing, and digging into his own dark families history.

Very lengthy and descriptive, at first after about maybe 3 quarters of a way through it I didn't intend to give it a 5-star rating, because at first I felt some of the lengthy descriptions were a little unnecessary and the story could've been dimmed down a bit, but the ending changed my mind. Definitely a winner by Grisham, and doesn't focus too much on the courtroom, but the family past, emotion, and as I said up above, it'll give you a whole new insight on the death penalty.

Unbelievably good! This is the best John Grisham book I have ever read and one of the top books I've read last year. The story was fantastic and so incredibly moving.

This is really a book that stays with you long after you read it!

Today I read in the news about  the first woman put to death in the US since 1953 . Every time I read about death penalty anywhere in the world, it reminds me of 'The Chamber.' I have read this twice before, over a decade ago.
This is a book I had thought I would never read, as the subject was too touching and I read to escape reality. But then I had read some of John Grisham's court room drama then and had become his fan.

This is a book that I will never forget for the raw emotions it generates. The narration leaves the reader in tears. I could sense how passionate Grisham is about death penalty. He puts forth his beliefs seamlessly into the narrative. There were lots of details. Any other author would have bored me, if I had to read long winded description. But Grisham's story telling skills kept me hooked. I hated Sam for his deplorable act. And then started feeling pity for him, though there was no excuse for whatever he did, and made me question if anyone deserves death penalty at all.

He has touched this subject repeatedly in his other books. I can't bring myself to read The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town. When a fictional book could trigger so many emotions, I don't know what a non-fiction on the same subject would do.

It was a good read, a good story, and a bit of an unexpected ending. A young lawyer named Adam Hall defends his grandfather, Sam Cayhall, who's on death row - that's the gist of the story. What unfolds over nearly 700 long pages is Adam's efforts to get Sam freed, all the while trying to learn about his family's hidden past. Like some of Grisham's other early works, The Chamber is filled with racism, the KKK, and lots of legal jargon. We learn a lot about Sam and his motivations for committing murder way back when, and the relationship he builds with Adam is fascinating. However, even despite Grisham's best efforts, I didn't find Sam particularly sympathetic. He was genuinely sorry for what he'd done, and he tried to make amends throughout. Even still, I didn't find myself rooting for him either way, and didn't much care if he lived or died. Adam connected more with me - learning about his grandfather's past and what he'd done, and learning how to deal with it - so I was rooting for a victory in that sense. But because of my lack of sympathy for Sam and feeling the way I did about him, The Chamber is only mediocre. I was curious how it ended and it kept me reading, but I've read better stories from Grisham. Not bad, though. 200 pages too long, perhaps. 3.5 stars.

Grisham seems to not disappoint and so with this novel. A subjective and objective look at the death penalty comes in to prospective from all angles. What, I think, is a comprehensive approach to describing an abstract and visceral solution to what is called murder or taking of a life either morally or justifiable.

3.5 STARS

"In the corridors of Chicago's top law firm:

Twenty-six-year-old Adam Hall stands on the brink of a brilliant legal career. Now he is risking it all for a death-row killer and an impossible case.

Maximum Security Unit, Mississippi State Prison:

Sam Cayhall is a former Klansman and unrepentant racist now facing the death penalty for a fatal bombing in 1967. He has run out of chances -- except for one: the young, liberal Chicago lawyer who just happens to be his grandson. While the executioners prepare the gas chamber, while the protesters gather and the TV cameras wait, Adam has only days, hours, minutes to save his client. For between the two men is a chasm of shame, family lies, and secrets -- including the one secret that could save Sam Cayhall's life...or cost Adam his." (From Amazon)

Hate crime, death row, family history...south...so Grisham! I really liked the novel but the movie fell flat.

Only Grisham could write a novel that would entertain me about prison (my least favorite subject) and a defense attorney (not in my top 10 favorite's either). Brillant dialogue as always and a mysterious accomplice make this a solid 4-star novel.
The number of appeals filed became monotonous and the ending did surprise me.

Една от по-добрите и смислени книги на Гришъм.

Може би и защото е писана още в началото на кариерата му на писател, когато е още гладен за успехи и признание.

Too long, too technical (and I'm a lawyer). How do other readers feel about the loose end? It did make me think about the death penalty.