The Confession (2010) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Summary edit see section history

Characters edit see section history

• Robbie Flak: Lawyer in Slone interested in civil-rights cases, and is Donte Drumm's lawyer.
• Keith Schroeder: The 35 year-old Lutheran pastor working in St. Mark's. Married to Dana.
• Dana Schroeder: Pastor Schroeder's wife.
• Travis Boyette: He's a registered sex offender who tells Dana and Keith (the pastor) he is suffering from terminal brain cancer.
• Donte Drumm: The 18 year-old local football star who was accused of killing Nicole Yarber.He was said to have an affair with Nicole and later charged with her abduction and murder.
• Roberta Drumm: Donte Drumm's mother
• Nicole Yarber: The 17 year-old senior at Slone High and the captain of the cheerleading squad, who vanished and was never seen again.
• Joey Gamble: Nicole's boyfriend in high school and now working as an assistant manager at an auto parts discount warehouse.
• Drew Kerber: Detective investigating Nicole Yarber's disappearance.
• Paul Koffee: The district attorney who prosecuted in Nicole Yarber's case
• Reeva Pike: Nicole Yarber's mother.
• Martha Handler: A freelance investigative journalist interested in Drumm case and writing a book on it.
• Dr. Kristina Hinze: The clinical psychiatrist hired by Robbie Flak to evaluate Drumm.
• Fred Pryor: Private investigator working for Robbie Flak
• Sean Fordyce: A talk-show host from New York who is in Slone to interview Reeva Pike
• Matthew Burns: Pastor Keith's friend who is an assistant prosecutor in Topeka.
• Vivian Grale: The judge at Donte Drumm's trial.
• Elias Henry: A judge in East Texas who was a friend of Robbie Flak's father.
• Gill Newton: The governor of Texas
• Carlos: one of Robbie Flak's assistants
• Brother Ronnie: Reeva Pike's church pastor

Quotes edit see section history

• “Innocent people are much likelier to waive their rights during an interrogation. They know they are innocent, and they want to cooperate with the police to prove their innocence.”

• “I'm a criminal defense lawyer, Judge. Optimism is not in my DNA.”

  Robbie Flak

• “...there are no rich people on death row.”

  Robbie Flak to Martha Chandler

• Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers

• He’s a two-faced, cutthroat, dirt-dumb, chickenshit, slimy little bastard with a bright future in politics.”

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• Martha Handler. She was an investigative journalist, a freelancer who worked for no one but was paid occasionally by the big magazines.

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• Reeva Pike was Nicole’s mother, a stout, boisterous woman who had embraced victimhood with an enthusiasm that often bordered on the ridiculous.

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• Sean Fordyce was a New York–based talk-show host who’d found a niche on cable sensationalizing murder cases.

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• Robbie Flak’s father purchased the old train station in downtown Slone in 1972,

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• Aaron Rey, a former gang member who’d served time for drug distribution and was now gainfully employed by the Flak Law Firm as a bodyguard, runner, driver, investigator, and anything else Robbie might need.

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• “Travis Boyette.” He instinctively spelled his last name for her. “Date of birth, October 10, 1963. Place, Joplin, Missouri. Age, forty-four. Single, divorced, no children. No address. No place of employment. No prospects.”

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• The district attorney was a man named Paul Koffee, a tough career prosecutor

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• Donté Drumm?” he asked as he handed the paper to Keith. “No.” “Black kid, small town in East Texas, convicted of murder in 1999. Said he killed a high school cheerleader, white girl, body’s never been found.”

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• eviscerated on cross-examination by Robbie Flak, who at one point demanded to have the dog brought to the courtroom, sworn in, and put in the witness chair.

  Highlighted by 27 Kindle customers

Setting & Locations edit see section history

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• Slone: small town in Texas, main setting for story
• Topeka: city in Kansas where St. Mark's church was
• Houston
• Joplin
• Austin
• Wichita
• East Texas
• Huntsville: prison where executions take place
• Joplin
• Arkansas
• Oklahoma
• Longview High School: rival football team's school
• Dallas
• Civitan Park: white neighborhood park
• Washington Park: black neighborhood park
• Anchor House: Halfway house for released convicts on parole
• Main Street
• Lansing
• Fallujah
• Mountain

Organizations edit see section history

• TCCA: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
• AADP: Americans Against the Death Penalty
• TALK: Texans against Legalized Killing
• ATeXX: Abolish Texas Executions
• Execution Watch: Add a description of this organization.
• Texans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
• Texas Defender Service (TDS): A non-profit organization established in 1995 by experienced death penalty attorneys. TDS aims to improve the quality of representation afforded to those facing a death sentence and to expose and eradicate the systemic flaws plaguing the Texas death penalty.

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Series & Lists edit see section history

Preceded by The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, and followed by The Help.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. John Grisham (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: PS3557.R5355 C66 2010
• Dewey: 813.54

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Violence and language.

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Mystery & Thrillers › Authors, A-Z › ( G ) › Grisham, John
• Books › Mystery & Thrillers › Thrillers › Suspense
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Contemporary

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

• John Grisham: Author's wbsite

More Books Like This edit see section history