american-literature best-selling bestseller bestselling bestselling-author betrayal blackmail book-club capital-punishment cat-and-mouse catholicism character-driven compelling compelling-characters compelling. complex-characters complicated confession confessions confrontation conscience consequences conspiracies conspiracy contemporary-fiction contemporary-setting corrupt corrupt-legal-system corrupt-system corruption courtroom courtroom-drama courtroom-suspense courtroom-thriller cover-up crime crime-and-punishment crime-drama crime-fiction crime-investigation crime-novel crime-thriller criminal-justice criminal-justice-system dark dark-secrets death-penalty death-row death-row-inmate deceit deception drama emotional escape ethical-dilemma ethical-dilemmas ethics faith false-confession family family-bonds family-drama family-dynamics family-relationships fast-paced father father-son-relationship fiction forgiveness friendship greed gripping gripping-narrative gripping-plot gripping-twists grisham guilt guilty guilty-conscience guilty-plea hidden-secrets hidden-truth high-stakes historical incarcerated injustice inmate innocence innocent innocent-man intense interrogation intrigue intriguing investigation investigative investigative-journalism john john-grisham judgment judicial-system justice justice-system law law-enforcement lawyer lawyer-protagonist lawyers legal legal-crime-mystery legal-drama legal-ethics legal-fiction legal-injustice legal-manipulation legal-mystery legal-novel legal-profession legal-suspense legal-system legal-thriller legal-thriller-novel legal-thriller-suspense lies love manipulation memoirs mistaken-identity moral-ambiguity moral-choices moral-dilemma moral-dilemmas morality morally-complex murder murder-mystery mystery page-turner past-mistakes personal-struggle plot-twist plot-twists political-corruption political-influences political-intrigue power powerful-storytelling prison psychological psychological-suspense psychological-thriller punishment race-against-time redemption religion religious-faith religious-themes repentance revenge riveting secret secretive secrets secrets-and-lies sin small-town small-town-atmosphere small-town-lawyer small-town-setting society storytelling surprising-twists suspense suspenseful suspenseful-plot texas the-confession the-confession:-a-novel thought-provoking thrill-ride thriller thriller-novel thrilling true-crime trust truth truthful-testimony twist-ending twists twists-and-turns unexpected-twists unpredictable vengeance well-written whodunit womeninhistory world wrongful-conviction wrongfully-accused