Name: The Guardians
ISBN: 9780385544184

John Grisham

Twenty-two years ago, ruthless people framed Quincy Miller for the murder of attorney Keith Russo, and they will kill another lawyer without a second thought to keep Miller behind bars.

The Guardians

Sonia Grgas

The Sunday Times bestseller from international bestseller John Grisham. 'Grisham at his passionate best' - Daily Mail He was framed for murder. Now he needs a miracle. 22 years ago Quincy Miller was sentenced to life without parole. He was accused of killing Keith Russo, a lawyer in a small Florida town. But there were no reliable witnesses and little motive. Just the fact that Russo had botched Quincy's divorce case, that Quincy was black in a largely all-white town and that a blood-splattered torch was found in the boot of Quincy's car. A torch he swore was planted. A torch that was conveniently destroyed in a fire just before his trial. The lack of evidence made no difference to judge or jury. In the eyes of the law Quincy was guilty and, no matter how often he protested his innocence, his punishment was life in prison. Finally, after 22 years, comes Quincy's one and only chance of freedom. An innocence lawyer and minister, Cullen Post, takes on his case. Post has exonerated eight men in the last ten years. He intends to make Quincy the next. But there were powerful and ruthless people behind Russo's murder. They prefer that an innocent man dies in jail rather than one of them. There's one way to guarantee that. They killed one lawyer 22 years ago, and they'll kill another without a second thought. Praise for John Grisham's THE GUARDIANS: 'A canny and engrossing blend of two types of Grisham novel: enough of the familiar formula of a single lawsuit in a single town, mixed with a more picaresque and multistranded approach that has the significant advantage of taking in a wider swathe of America' - The Sunday Times 'Delivered with all his signature easy, flowing style. A past master at the art of deft characterisation and the skilful delivery of hair-raising crescendos, Grisham makes this a deceptively easy read' - Irish Independent 'This is typical Grisham: speedy, gripping, very good at conveying the complexities of the law in a digestible way' - Sunday Express 'Speedy and gripping' - Daily Mirror ************ THE INNOCENT MAN by John Grisham is now a major six-part documentary series on Netflix ************

The Sunday Times Bestseller

Melissa Palmer

Good

Good read. Interesting legal book about the guardians, a legal firm that fights to free innocent men on death row.

Kristen Claiborn

Grisham is certainly not the first to tackle the subject of an unjust judicial system, and likely won't be the last. I enjoyed this one, written in true Grisham fashion to keep the reader on the edge of their seat. You will find yourself cheering for the protagonists and openly celebrating the fall of the bad guys. As much as I am tired of endless series, I would love to read more about this group.

In the small north Florida town of Seabrook, a young lawyer named Keith Russo was shot dead at his desk as he worked late one night. The killer left no clues behind. There were no witnesses, no real suspects, no one with a motive. The police soon settled on Quincy Miller, a young black man who was once a client of Russos. Quincy was framed, convicted, and sent to prison for life. For twenty-two years he languished in prison with no lawyer, no advocate on the outside. Then he wrote a letter to Guardian Ministries, a small innocence group founded by a lawyer/minister named Cullen Post. Guardian handles only a few innocence cases at a time, and Post is its only investigator. He travels the South fighting wrongful convictions and taking cases no one else will touch. With Quincy Miller, though, he gets far more than he bargained for. Powerful, ruthless people murdered Keith Russo, and they do not want Quincy exonerated.

A Novel

Nathan Besch

Don't get me wrong, the book is good, well-written and very concise with a realistic plot and great characters. However, I personally found that it lacked something that makes amazing books incredible. For instance, the characters stay very simple and true to their emotions: there is very little variations in their behaviours throughout the whole story which makes the plot quite plain overall.

I liked the story, although there was no real twist nor thrill to it which displeased me a lot as I was expecting a bit of tension and suspense at some point in this "thriller". Renewed discoveries of evidence dictated the plot, but it never was surprising and always ended up helping the protagonists in their exoneration. This resulted in the effect of me never believing the case to be hopeless, although it was sometimes described as such in the book. 

On the other hand, the justice dimension of "The Guardians" was wonderfully written and very pleasing to read, never once have I felt overwhelmed with legal jargon and everything was explained clearly and concisely. It drew a picture of justice being at once deeply corrupted and widely hopeful. The Guardians' organisation really struck me as singular and selfless in helping wrongfully convicted innocents. Post's character adds up another layer of good and hope inside the story, and one wishes there would be more people like him among this planet.

If you are interested in crime-related books or legal fiction, I strongly suggest you read "The Guardians" as it will surprise you in its unique nature and refreshing style, primarily made up by its good-natured characters. Otherwise, if you are in search for a good thrill before going to bed I would rather suggest other books by the same author.

Cindy

This is all about miscarriages of justice that happen to the people of the world  that have no resources but The Guardians, a secretive group that works to right the wrongs that have been done to people wrongfully convicted, work to make justice happen for them. With all the usua suspense and twists , turns and surprises, I enjoyed listening to this tale. The narration was top notch, the narrator did a fantastic job of making me feel like each character was completely their own. Cullen Post is a very believable character, a burnt out lawyer turned minister, not exactly down on his luck more so tired from the life that he had before he started his work with The Guardians.

I could not ask for a better tale by this author to keep me on the edge of my seat as to what would happen next. This story is full of suspense and will have you asking yourself does this really happen more often that not?

This subject and book were well researched you can tell just by listening to this book. I was completely involved in this story and recommend this for fans of Suspense/Thrillers.

This review was originally posted on Cindy’s Book Stacks

Lori Keenom

Was just ok for me. Not one of my favorites by Grisham.

Kosidinna Umeigbo

Austin Wagner

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Korey

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Caitlin Snyder

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Terrific . . . affecting . . . Grisham has done it again.”—Maureen Corrigan, The Washington Post In the small Florida town of Seabrook, a young lawyer named Keith Russo was shot dead at his desk as he worked late one night. The killer left no clues. There were no witnesses, no one with a motive. But the police soon came to suspect Quincy Miller, a young black man who was once a client of Russo’s. Quincy was tried, convicted, and sent to prison for life. For twenty-two years he languished in prison, maintaining his innocence. But no one was listening. He had no lawyer, no advocate on the outside. In desperation, he writes a letter to Guardian Ministries, a small nonprofit run by Cullen Post, a lawyer who is also an Episcopal minister. Guardian accepts only a few innocence cases at a time. Cullen Post travels the country fighting wrongful convictions and taking on clients forgotten by the system. With Quincy Miller, though, he gets far more than he bargained for. Powerful, ruthless people murdered Keith Russo, and they do not want Quincy Miller exonerated. They killed one lawyer twenty-two years ago, and they will kill another without a second thought. “A suspenseful thriller mixed with powerful themes.”—Associated Press “[John Grisham’s] authorial prowess glows again in this riveting tale.”—Fredericksburg Free Lance–Star