The Last Juror

Rating:
Summary: Interesting characters make for a good read.
Review: John Grisham's "The Last Juror" is a great book and one of my Grisham favorites.

In "The Last Juror", we learn about living in a small southern town during the 1970's. As we get to know the various characters in the story, many components of individual life, family life, community life, and small town life are revealed. It is through the owner of the local, weekly newspaper, and the newspaper itself that we learn of the town's many lives.

The work ethic surrounding the local newspaper appears to be lax, but in spite of individual shortcomings, the job gets done. The editor, reporters, photographer, and others all do their part to get the paper out on time. One particularly interesting aspect of the paper is the importance and detail placed on the obituaries, a carry-over from the previous owner.

Murder happens in small towns, too, and this Mississippi newspaper covers the trial with ardent abandon. Among the jury members is one black, the first to ever serve here on a trial jury. You will enjoy knowing this juror, who, outside the trial, shares family, religion, friendship, input on segregation and integration, and much more. In fact, before the jury selection took place, readers of the newspaper were presented with a detailed, two-part biographical look at this person.

As serious as this story is, Grisham still manages to include humor throughout the book. Political events occur and are ones that make you wonder about "the system". The community, businesses, and individuals are faced with change that affects all these lives.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic! An intense page turner!
Review: The Last Juror is one of the most intense of John Grisham's works. It keeps you riveted every step of the way. I couldn't tear my eyes from the pages for more than a second! This book is expertly written and meticulous in its genius. John Grisham shows off his definitive writing style with every turn of the page. He keeps you wondering and wows you with a final twist that is sure to please.

Rating:
Summary: Easy Reading
Review: I found this to be another of John Grisham's interesting easy to read books.

With the help of a rich relative, Willie Traynor buys the paper where he is employed in Clanton, Mississippi. From there he observes and participates in the story surrounding a rape-murder and its aftermath. This is another story of good versus bad. The Padgitt family living on a small island near Clanton represent the bad. Their activities over the years included stealing, counterfeiting, moonshining and gunrunning. They have pretty much "owned" the county sheriff for a number of years and have been left free to pursue their own activities. Danny Padgitt is charged with rape-murder as the victim has accused him by name just before her death. He is tried and convicted in Clanton. He leaves the courtroom with a threat to the convicting jury. The good is represented by the Ruffin family. This is a colored family living "across the tracks" so to speak, in a part of Clanton called Lowtown. The mother, Callie, was a member of the Danny Padgitt jury. The Ruffins had seven children and six of them had earned a PhD. Willie Traynor spends considerable time with Callie and her family and often enjoys her sumptuous southern cooking.

After a few years in the state prison Danny Padgitt is released and jurors begin to meet untimely deaths.

Through Willie Traynor the author weighs in with opinions on a number of social/moral issues. These include segregation in Mississippi, prohibition, and the impact of powerful discount stores on businesses of small towns.

Rating:
Summary: Good story
Review: It was a good story and creative presentation, but the character portrayal and depth missed the mark a bit imo.

If you loved A Painted House...you'll be disappointed if you look for more of it here. Willie Traynor is a good (albeit fairly smug) storyteller, and is a long ways from the genius portrayal of Luke Chandler.

Its still worth the read tho, my sister really loved it and said she couldn't put it down.

Rating:
Summary: Grisham does ok with this one
Review: Grisham is a pretty good novelist, and I've read some other stuff, but I was a little disappointed with this one. It seems to drag on a bit and the ending is a bit predictable.
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Rating:
Summary: A culmination
Review: Set in a small Mississippi town in the 70s, this latest Grisham novel is a culmination of everything that has come before. We often complain when our favorite authors get in a rut, producing the same story over and over, then we complain when they change styles.

But the most interesting aspect of THE LAST JUROR is the fact that Grisham has managed to combine the best of his legal thrillers with the down-home feel of other books like SKIPPING CHRISTMAS or A PAINTED HOUSE.

THE PELICAN BRIEF, this book is not, but then that wasn't what Grisham intended. Instead, it is a more literary attempt to meld his styles and it works wonderfully.

Also recommended: McCrae's BARK OF THE DOGWOOD and POMPEII

Rating:
Summary: Pretty good
Review: I found this book to be entertaining, but not nearly worthy of some of Grisham's earlier works....still worth at least checking out of the library.....a good read....

Rating:
Summary: John Grisham batting a thousand.
Review: In 1970 a woman gets brutally raped and murdered. He is sentenced to life in prison instead of the death penalty. At the end of his trial he threatens the jury that he will get them back. One year later there is a massive shooting in the Ford County. Everyone thinks that it is one of the Padgitts but is it. After four years in prison he is seen in another city with a parole officer. Why is he let out of prison after only four years?
This book is set in Mississippi.
It is like a lot of other John Grisham books but it doesn't have a lot of Lawyers in it. John Grisham makes this sound like a real life story that could happen at any time. He keeps the suspense going throughout the whole book with something different in each chapter.
Every book of John Grisham's that I have read I just can't stop reading it and this book does not change that either. I hope John Grisham keeps writing and makes the books better and better.

Rating:
Summary: Where is John Grisham?
Review: Will the real John Grisham stand up please! This makes 3 in a row...surely he is on vacation and this is written by someone else. Where is the wonderful detailed stories of the past.

Rating:
Summary: Grisham story-telling talents on best display, with a twist!
Review: We've sometimes complained one doesn't know what to expect from Grisham: long-winded drama ("Chamber"); gripping suspense ("Pelican Brief"); humor and whimsy ("Skipping Christmas"); or just plain yarn-spinning ("Painted House"). To us, he nearly perfectly combines all these elements in "Last Juror". Really two-thirds of the book is a charming and often funny account of how recent college graduate Willie Traynor buys the Mississippi small-town weekly, the "Clanton Times" (setting for "Time to Kill"), ingratiates himself with the residents, including those on both sides of the tracks (white and black), and both creates a winning business and brings new life to the otherwise fairly sleepy little burg. When a sensational rape-murder occurs, ostensibly by a member of a reclusive family that owns their own nearby island, on which they pursue any number of illegal businesses, Traynor gets into the fray with headlines and editorials. When the Padgitt kid is convicted, but eight years or so later gets paroled, and jurors start to die (as threatened by the convict at the trial), the intensity of current affairs reaches new heights as the remaining jurors, one a steadfast personal friend of Traynor, fear for their lives. The ultimate outcome was a huge surprise. And the death of Traynor's black friend at the end is nothing short of evocative and emotional -- and more than one crocodile tear ran down our face at the conclusion.

So while we are never quite sure what to expect from our prolific popular novelist, and while we often find fault with his boring dialogue or weakening plots, we shall be among the lavish praise-givers for this fine book. It touches almost all our senses and feelings, and leaves us highly satisfied and entertained. Enjoy!