Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, July 17, 1994                   TAG: 9407100076
SECTION: HORIZON                    PAGE: E-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By MIKE MAYO Book page editor
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

SOUTHERN FICTION ON THE BEST SELLER LIST IN `THE CHAMBER'

"The Chamber" is an unconventional best-seller.

Unlike "The Firm" or "The Pelican Brief," it's not lightweight escapism. It shouldn't be; it's about an unpleasant subject - the death penalty.

The thriller aspects of the plot are thin and secondary to Grisham's real purposes. The core of the novel is a fairly detailed examination of the hard truths of state-sponsored killing. It's also a thoroughly Southern story about a young man's coming to terms with his past, his family and his home.

The protagonist is Adam Hall, fresh from law school and employed by a prestigious Chicago firm. His future appears to be solid until he asks to be assigned to a difficult pro bono case, the death row appeals of Klansman and murderer Sam Cayhall. Why would a rising star be interested in such a matter? Because Adam Hall is Sam Cayhall's grandson.

The simple outline of Cayhall's case is not in dispute. At the beginning of the civil rights movement, he took part in the bombing of a Jewish lawyer's office where two little boys were killed. But despite repeated trials and investigations, Adam is not convinced that the conspiracy was as limited as everyone believes. Did Sam act on his own, or was he helping someone else? It is an important question, but first Adam has to convince Sam to accept his representation. In the years he has been locked up, Sam has become an accomplished jailhouse lawyer and he recently fired Adam's firm. He may not be interested in a new relationship with an estranged relative.

That's the premise. The rest of the novel explores the physical and legal realities of execution. Grisham makes it clear that he's opposed to the death penalty, and builds a strong case for life sentences without parole as an alternative.

The personal side of the novel is as important as the political. In that regard, "The Chamber" is a traditional Southern story about a family and a region facing the sins of their past. Grisham doesn't make it easy. He faces the many evils of racism squarely. There's no sugar-coated nostalgia about the proud heritage of the South, no clever revisionism of the subjugation of black people by white people.

At the center of the story, Sam Cayhall is a compelling, fully developed and deeply flawed character. On the most basic level of page-turning entertainment, Grisham succeeds in making the reader want to know what's going to happen to Sam - will he live or die - without diminishing or excusing the horror of his crimes.

It's a difficult trick for a best-seller to pull off these days. Grisham handles it remarkably well. "The Chamber" may not satisfy the expectations of some of his fans, but it is a fine, challenging novel with a serious purpose.