Pete Banning, life-long Ford County resident, family man and decorated war hero, walked into the Methodist church one October morning and shot Reverend Dexter Bell as he sat working on his next sermon. All Pete would say when the sheriff picked him up was, "I have nothing to say". Pete refused to discuss the matter with anyone, not his family or his attorney, who found his hands tied when Pete would offer no assistance with his defense. This book starts out strong with the murder and subsequent trial, which is, of course, where Grisham shines. But then our quest to find out the reason why Pete did what he did follows Pete to war and the atrocities he endured in the Phillipines. That is not the sort of thing I usually read, but Grisham is a good enough writer that I never felt compelled to skim over that part. But then we jumped back to the fallout from the murder and the effect it had on Pete's family and it just seemed a little lackluster. The legal wranglings weren't something we felt we were a part of and we just wanted to get to the point where we found out why Pete killed the reverend. Kudos to Grisham for trying something new and not just sticking with the same formula, but I always enjoy a good courtroom drama and he is one of the best for that.