Religious Convictions

Gideon Page #3

by Grif Stockley

The action occurs in Arkansas, but this novel's spiritual territory is Graham Greene country: the plot involves religion, murder, suicide and pornography. The two writers also share a preoccupation with their characters' moral dilemmas. Stockley's hero is Gideon Page, a struggling attorney and lapsed Catholic living in a community where nearly everybody else belongs to the fundamentalist sect, Christian Life. Page is approached by the area's most powerful lawyer to assist in the murder trial of Leigh Wallace, daughter of Christian Life's leader, who is accused of killing her husband. As he tries to get information from an uncooperative client and witnesses who are either lying or stonewalling, Page gradually realizes that he has that he has been lured into a case that is not at all what it seems.

Genres: Legal Thriller, Mystery

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Stockley is the author of several books, including Race Relations in the Natural State; Daisy Bates: Civil Rights Crusader from Arkansas, winner of the Ragsdale Award from the Arkansas Historical Association and the Arkansiana Award from the Arkansas Library Association and Blood in Their Eyes: The Elaine Race Massacres of 1919, winner of the Booker Worthen Prize from the Central Arkansas Library System and recipient of a Certificate of Commendation from the American Association for State and Local History. An attorney who has worked with the Center for Arkansas Legal Services, the Disability Rights Center, and the Arkansas branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, Stockley completed Ruled by Race while serving as a historian and curriculum specialist at the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies in Little Rock.

Reviews

[Ken Heard · Rating 5 out of 5]

All of Grif Stockley's Gideon Page novels are amazing reads that capture the heart of both attorney Page and his family and co-workers and the culture of Arkansas and the south in the early 1990s.

Although, he refers to Page living and practicing in Blackwell County, it's obvious he's in Little Rock by references to the nearby Arkansas River and "St. Thomas" hospital (as opposed to its real counterpart in the capitol city as "St. Vincents."

The plot centers around the arrest and defense of the daughter of one more popular humans, let alone evangelists, in Arkansas. She's charged in the slaying of her husband and has top attorney Chet Bracken defending her. Bracken is dying of cancer and hires Page to help him, but Page soon sees evidence that Bracken may be withholding some information to help the case and point the killing on the father, who is the pastor of Christian Life, a megla-church attended by thousands.

While Leigh is breaking away from the church as a result of her husband's insistence, Page is losing his daughter, Sarah, and friend/girlfriend Rainey to the church. Therein lies a subplot source of conflict. Page is skeptical of a higher being; the two women in his life, along with Bracken and his family, are all members of Christian Life and are pretty adamant about their beliefs. Even Bracken's young son, upon meeting Page for the first time, asks him if Jesus is his Lord and Saviour.

The story is somewhat ladened with the religious conflict to the point almost of saying, "Okay, we get it." Stockley uses a lot of the machinations of the church, including a long sermon during a funeral, to build the irony of Page's own life.

But, there's also the trademark observations that Stockley has shown in all his work that makes this a great read. It's written in first person, present-tense, which I really like if done well. Stockley does it well.

In real life, Stockey is an civil rights attorney in Little Rock who has focused on racial discrimination. His Page novels reflect his own political beliefs and his life. Stockey was raised in Mariana, Ark. Page was raised in "Bear Creek," a fictional town noted to be in Lee County where Marianna is the county seat.

As a sidenote, and something I mentioned in my review of his first book, "Expert Testimony." Stockey's daughter was my editor when I worked for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette newspaper. I told her about how good his books were, not knowing their relationship. She set up a lunch with him in downtown Little Rock in 2001 and I found Stockey to be a gracious, humble person and I became an even bigger fan of his work.

There are five novels in the Page series. Each explores the culture of Arkansas, race, politics, sports and mental illness. They are all worthy of the readers' time.

[Eryn-Ashlei · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a Christian from a more conservative church background, this book hit home in a lot of ways. The author captures the unhealthy Dynamics that can plague "churches" that stop worshipping God and start worshipping their pastor. I've experienced a situation where "family secrets" were hidden from the congregation, but the church largely suffered after everything was outted. For that, I like this book. I look forward to reading more from the author.

[Tom Newboult · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written, showing the battle between the sacred and profane, fundamentalism and reason, all with a surprise ending. Worth the read.

[Laura Rittenhouse · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book wasn't bad. The writing was okay and it moved along pretty well. The setting of a murder in the heart of a fundamentalist religious group made it more interesting than a run-of-the-mill murder mystery. But basically it was a legal murder mystery where an enthusiastic lawyer gets called in to help a top-gun lawyer defend a young woman accused of shooting her husband. There are just enough suspects to keep you from knowing with any certainty who did it, though my first guess was the right one so it isn't that much of a shocking ending.

[Carlos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good, hard to put down

[Loralie · Rating 1 out of 5]

quit reading it. kind of a snore.