Pete Banning was Clanton's favorite son. Then one morning he got up, went to Church, and calmly shot and killed the Reverend Dexter Bell. JohnGrishamreturns to Clanton, Mississippi, to tell the story of an unthinkable murder, the bizarre trial that follows it, and its profound and lasting effect on the people of Ford County.
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “An original, gripping, penetrating novel . . . Grisham is not only the master of suspense but also an acute observer of the human condition.”—David Grann, author of Killers of the Flower Moon and The Wager
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, and committed a shocking crime. 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 The Reckoning, 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 Southern Gothic storytelling and layered with Grisham’s signature legal suspense, The Reckoning delivers on every page.
