Rating: 
Summary: A Thriller Without the Thrills.....
Review: Paul Madriani and his partner, Harry Hinds may have finally met their match. Their client, Dr David Crone, is very secretive and seems to be doing everything he can to stonewall his own defense. When the strangled and dismembered body of Crone's colleague, Kalista Jordan, is found washed up on a Southern California beach, the police zero in on Dr Crone, immediately. He had means, opportunity and most of all a strong motive. It seems the very ambitious Kalista was after his job as head of a top-secret genetics research project, had filed a sexual harrassment complaint and was seen arguing publicly with Crone only hours before her death. But when the prosecution's star witness is found dead the day before he's to testify, leaving behind evidence that Crone is innocent, Paul Madriani isn't satisfied with his client's probable acquittal and goes looking for the whole truth..... Though the premise of The Jury is promising and provocative, Steve Martini doesn't deliver. The plot has a few good moments, but for the most part just plods along very deliberately and is neither tense, nor compelling. You're always waiting for something exciting to happen to get the story moving along. Mr Martini's writing is uninspired and awkward, at times and his characters, usually so well drawn and developed, are flat, lifeless and one dimensional this time out. For those who are fans of the Paul Madriani series, there isn't much to recommend in this book. For those new to author Steve Martini, skip this one and read some of his great earlier thrillers, Compelling Evidence, Prime Witness or Undue Influence. The Jury is disappointing and a legal thriller without the thrills.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointed, as well
Review: Having read and enjoyed all of Martini's earlier efforts, I have to say, this one let me down. The plot is boring and predictable, there is no real interaction between the characters, and absolutely no subplot to maintain interest. As has been mentioned earlier, there is also no "Jury".I had been looking forward to this one, and noticed that the release date was delayed several times. Now I see why. It seems time to give this character a rest.
Rating:
Summary: "The Jury" is a tepid and disappointing legal thriller.
Review: Steve Martini delivered genuine thrills in two of his early novels, "Prime Witness" and "Compelling Evidence". What those books supplied were engrossing characters, interesting legal maneuvers and mysteries that kept the reader guessing until the end.Unfortunately, Martini's latest novel, "The Jury," supplies none of these elements, and as a legal thriller, it is a dud. The victim in this book is a gorgeous African-American woman named Kalista Jordan, who is also a brilliant research scientist. She is brutally murdered after exiting her hot tub. Paul Madriani is hired to defend the accused killer--Jordan's boss, David Crone. Jordan and Crone have worked together on some cutting-edge research involving genetics, and their working relationship was marred by serious disagreements that may have led to murder. "The Jury" has numerous flaws. Martini brings none of his characters to life. Crone and Jordan are little more than cardboard cutouts, and Madriani has very little to do in this novel, other than stand up in court and parry with witnesses. The mystery itself is not compelling in the least. Even the title is problematical, since it implies that the book has something to do with jury deliberations. It doesn't. "The Jury" has very little action and the conclusion is out of left field and unsatisfying. This novel is a real disappointment to those of us who have enjoyed Steve Martini's legal thrillers in the past.
Rating: 
Summary: Chris Noth as Madriani
Review: I have always loved Martini's Madriani character. I was looking forward to reading The Jury and was very pleased by it. Although I have a bit of a problem with the title (the Jury wasn't a big part of the book) Martini can tell a courtroom story with the best of them. Of course, the fact that my favorite actor Chris Noth portrayed Madriani in a recent TV mini series just increased my love for this character. A must read if you are a fan of the legal thriller.
Rating:
Summary: Where's the Jury?
Review: Having read and thoroughly enjoyed all the Paul Madriani books, I looked forward to The Jury as another tight, well-written legal thriller. In addition, what has always separated the Madriani character from the rest of the fictional lawyer crowd was his connection to his family and struggle to win the case and not lose the family. In The Jury, there is a strong element of the personal side of his life with the commitment to the young girl Penny Boyd, which is a compelling storyline. The courtroom and legal battles are only OK, with not much extraordinary happening, always a Martini trademark. Overall a good story, with Harry and Paul clicking as a team. However, I am still left to wonder, why in the world is this book called The Jury? (The Judge, The Attorney and now this...?)
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed
Review: I have read all of martini's books and enjoyed all of them. This one left me waiting for something to happen. The title, "The Jury", oh well, where did that come from. The books was indeed about a murder trial, but the jury was definitely NOT in the plot. they never appeared except to enter and leave the jury box maybe twice in the whole book. It was short, predictable and not worth the money. will be careful before I purchase another one of his.
Rating: 
Summary: A GREAT LEGAL THRILLER
Review: Paul Madriani is back, facing his most challenging case yet. When the body of Kalista Jordan is found mutilated floating in a bay, all fingers point to well respected researcher, Dr. David Crone. Crone, who was working with Kalista on a project involving the mapping of the human genome, claims he is innocent, even after the police have found crucial evidence in his garage, and several co-workers witnessed him and Kalista arguing. Madriani steps up to the plate to defend Dr. Crone, but this will prove to be a difficult task, as information about a sexual harassment suit, filed by Kalista, surfaces. A hidden scandal from Crone's past comes to light. And, Crone's colleagues are hiding parts of this mysterious puzzle. Madriani is left with many unanswered questions, until all is revealed with a stunning revelation. 'The Jury' is a first-rate legal thriller. With it's page-turning plot, explosive twists, and shocking climax, the novel speeds along at a break-neck pace. Fans of legal thrillers are in for a real treat with this one, it begs to be read in one sitting, and even after it's finished you are craving more. Steve Martini has created a great legal series with the Paul Madriani novels, and after several disappointing outings, he returns to top form with one of the best books in the series....
Rating:
Summary: Another slow one for Martini
Review: What happened to the first 150 pages. Martini tells you 3 times who the killer is. Just like his last book, the killer is given away in the first 30 pages. I thought I got a book that had lost the first 150 pages. It's listed at 448 pages, and it comes out with 291. One must wonder if Martini has gotten bored with the Madriani character.
Rating:
Summary: Exciing legal pocedural
Review: While floating in the water near San Diego, research scientist Kalista Jordan contemplates what she can do next to get ahead in her profession. The intelligent African-American physicist knows all the angles and is setting in motion her plan to replace her boss Dr. David Crone. However, she runs into her apartment when she hears a frightening noise only to have someone choke her to death. Attorney Paul Madriani feels frustrated as his stubborn client David, on trial for Kalista's murder, refuses to cooperate in his own defense. Wondering if he represents a guilty person, Paul concludes that he will do his job in spite of his brilliant clients' efforts to stubbornly block him and try to win an acquittal from the jury. THE JURY reads like a modernized and updated Stanley Erle Gardner Perry Mason legal thriller. The novel treats the readers to a daily account of the trial and when court is not in session readers get an insider's look into hard to enter legal circles. The story line is very vivid, especially when Steve Martini describes the courtroom scenes. They feel so authentic the audience will feel they sit in the docket. Clearly, this novel is in the running for best legal procedural of the year, sending readers seeking running for more Martinis. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Good book makes you think
Review: This is a great book. Martini, writing in the first person through his attorney narrator, Paul Madriani, is engaging and colloquial. Paul is a likable person, even though he is an attorney, and so is his sidekick, Harry Hinds. In fact, there really are not any despicable people here in this novel, and that is what is so great, for a novel. Most novels have to ride on the back of some villain. Martini has not done that. There are no real villains in this story.
The perpetrator is a sick man, but he is not evil. In fact, he is an artist, of a sort, a carpentry artist. That is somewhat unusual, too, because usually artists are intropunitive, like Van Gogh (cutting off his own ear, and all that), not extropunitive and murderous, blaming others for their problems. It makes you think.
Anyway, Frank Boyd, the killer in question, is not evil. He is deeply troubled, by the life-threatening illness of his own daughter. Who can't relate to this paternal love?
There are no villainous people here. Tannery, the prosecutor, and his boss, Tate, the head D.A., are somewhat misguided in their goals and objectives, and that's where the real conflict comes into Martini's story. Tannery is prosecuting the wrong man, and is doing so for what appear to be partially self-serving reasons, to further his own career.
Martini has done a lot with a little here, and he therein shows himself to be above the rest of the crowd of novelists, but about at the same level as some of his attorney-novelist cohorts. Attorneys do seem to make good novelists, now that they have seen fit to pass through that gate, following Grisham, Turow, et al.
I highly recommend this book. You'll enjoy it and learn some things at the same time (for instance, what is molecular computing?).
Diximus.
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