The Reckoning – John Grisham (2018)

The Reckoning by John Grisham, published in 2018, is a historical legal drama set in post-World War II Mississippi, centering around a seemingly senseless murder committed by a decorated war hero. This intricately layered novel departs from Grisham’s typical legal thrillers to explore deeper emotional terrain, intertwining courtroom suspense with haunting personal tragedy and the legacy of war. The story unfolds in three parts – The Killing, The Boneyard, and The Betrayal – each delving deeper into the mysterious motives behind an act that stuns an entire community.

Plot Summary

On a cold October morning in 1946, Pete Banning, a decorated World War II hero and respected cotton farmer in Ford County, Mississippi, rose from bed knowing it would be the final day of his life as he knew it. For weeks, he had silently prepared himself for an act he considered inevitable. His steps were careful, deliberate. He ate breakfast with his eccentric sister, Florry, and exchanged polite but distant conversation, hiding the weight of the task ahead. Then, with nothing but resolve in his eyes and a pistol in his pocket, he drove to town, walked into the Methodist church, and shot Reverend Dexter Bell three times in his office.

The town reeled. Revered by many, Pete had been thought incapable of such violence outside a battlefield. He made no attempt to flee. When the sheriff came to arrest him, Pete calmly handed over the pistol and offered no resistance. To every question – why, how, what for – he had only silence. Not even his attorney, John Wilbanks, could draw from him a word that might explain the murder. Pete’s only request was to be left alone, as though his reasons were sacred and unknowable.

News of the killing shook Ford County to its roots. Pete’s children, Joel and Stella, both away at college, were summoned through curt letters instructing them not to return home or speak to anyone. Florry, stunned by the bloodshed and the burden of secrets, followed Pete’s instructions and tried to hold the family’s crumbling dignity together. Reverend Bell’s widow, Jackie, shattered by grief, became the emblem of a town now torn between justice and legend.

In court, Wilbanks fought a case he could not build. Pete refused to cooperate, refused to plea, refused to mount any defense. The prosecution, armed with motive-less certainty, moved swiftly. A quiet courtroom watched as the war hero sat stone-faced, the weight of an unspeakable burden carved into his features. The verdict was inevitable – guilty. But the judge, mindful of Pete’s service and standing, spared him the electric chair. Pete was sentenced to life in prison.

Time moved on, but the wound did not heal. Joel, unable to shake the need for answers, left school and began digging into the past. He discovered that his mother, Liza, had been institutionalized months before the killing, withdrawn and emotionally unwell. Whispers had long surrounded her disappearance, but Pete had never explained it. The family had closed ranks, sealing pain beneath silence.

Driven by a hunger to understand, Joel journeyed to the asylum where Liza now lived in medicated isolation. He coaxed out pieces of her story – fractured, trembling, half-lost in the fog of memory. During the war, when Pete had been presumed dead in the Pacific, Liza had grown close to Reverend Bell. They had leaned on each other in grief. Bell had offered comfort, guidance, perhaps more. The rumors of an affair, once spoken in hushes, gained shape and weight in Joel’s hands.

The revelation burned. Pete had returned from the dead to find his wife emotionally elsewhere, his home spiritually hollowed. The war had claimed his body, and now, he believed, his honor. The betrayal – real or perceived – festered in his wounded soul until it demanded reckoning. Yet Pete never revealed this to anyone, never explained, never softened. The truth, whatever it was, died with his silence.

Joel took this fragile knowledge and tried to make peace with it. He sought out Jackie Bell, hoping to bridge the chasm left behind. But her pain was raw, her rage unyielding. She had lost a husband without cause. No apology, no explanation, could restore what Pete had taken from her and her children.

Years passed. Pete, worn by the weight of his own choosing, died in prison, his reasons buried alongside him. The land he once prized passed on to Joel and Stella, a legacy heavy with history. They returned to the farm as heirs to a story they would never fully understand. The fields still bloomed white with cotton. The seasons turned as they always had, indifferent to sorrow and silence.

Ford County carried on, but the name Banning no longer carried pride. It carried myth – a man of war who chose violence not for country, but for reasons he would not share. His story was told in shadows and half-truths, retold over porches and coffee tables, always with the question no one could answer – why?

And in that lingering silence, where motives blurred and grief endured, the reckoning remained incomplete.

Main Characters

• Pete Banning – A stoic and respected cotton farmer, Methodist war hero, and patriarch of the Banning family, Pete is the central figure of the novel. Returning from the horrors of the Pacific front, he is a man changed by war, bearing emotional and physical scars. His shocking decision to murder Reverend Dexter Bell without explanation drives the narrative forward and shrouds him in silence, guilt, and myth.

• Liza Banning – Pete’s fragile and troubled wife, Liza is institutionalized under ambiguous circumstances that are later revealed to be central to Pete’s motivations. Her internal unraveling contrasts with Pete’s outward stoicism and serves as a tragic symbol of the emotional cost of secrets and betrayal.

• Joel and Stella Banning – Pete and Liza’s children, attending prestigious universities at the time of the murder, represent the next generation grappling with the sins of their parents. Joel, in particular, seeks understanding and justice, navigating grief, disillusionment, and family loyalty in the aftermath of the killing.

• Florry Banning – Pete’s eccentric sister, Florry is a reclusive poet living near the family farm. She plays a stabilizing role in the wake of Pete’s arrest, becoming a point of communication and emotional continuity for Joel and Stella.

• Reverend Dexter Bell – The local Methodist preacher and the murder victim, Dexter is portrayed as well-liked and virtuous, which makes his execution by Pete all the more shocking. His past connection to Liza is the novel’s hidden fulcrum.

Theme

• The Haunting Legacy of War – Pete’s time as a POW in the Philippines is a central thread that colors his psyche and decision-making. Grisham explores the long shadow of trauma and how unspoken horrors can devastate a man’s soul and ripple outward to family and community.

• Justice vs. Vengeance – The courtroom drama pivots on questions of motive, morality, and whether true justice can be achieved without full truth. Pete’s silence challenges the legal system’s dependence on transparency and raises ethical questions about retribution.

• Family and Betrayal – Trust and betrayal operate on multiple levels, especially within the Banning family. The emotional core of the novel lies in the devastating choices made to preserve dignity and legacy, even when those choices fracture familial bonds.

• Race and Class in the Deep South – Subtly yet powerfully, Grisham sketches the racial and class hierarchies of 1940s Mississippi. From sharecroppers and domestic workers to the elite landowning class, the societal backdrop enhances the weight of each character’s actions and options.

Writing Style and Tone

Grisham’s writing in The Reckoning is more somber, measured, and reflective than his typical legal thrillers. He blends evocative historical fiction with methodical legal narrative, capturing the era’s social dynamics and personal anguish in vivid, often painful detail. The prose is spare but potent, with a deliberate pace that builds psychological intensity through introspection and unresolved tension.

He uses a third-person omniscient point of view to move between timelines and characters, granting the reader insight into both the external actions and internal dilemmas of his protagonists. His depiction of Southern life is immersive and atmospheric, full of sensory richness and historical specificity. The tone veers from nostalgic and mournful to stark and unflinching, underscoring a story where silence speaks volumes, and truth comes at the highest cost.