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Summary: After a couple rough books, Grisham gives us a gem
Review: John Grisham returns and shows us why he's the most popular American writer ever with "The Last Juror." The book is filled with colorful people from fictional Ford County Mississippi; learning more about each one is a delight. After three less than exceptional books that left me a little disheartened, Grisham returns to the place where his books started, the setting of the great "A Time to Kill." In this book, though, the main character Willie Traynor befriends a sixty-year-old black mother of eight in 1970. That year, the town was rocked by the brutal death of Rhoda Kasselaw; and Traynor, as newspaper editor, was set to benefit from the sensational details. Grisham is highly adept at character development and keeps the reader interested in and caring for each colorful character. Don't miss the ending! Welcome back, John.
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Summary: Back and at 'em
Review: I have read all of John Grisham's books to date and he is certainly one of my favorite authors, however, for a while there he was scaring me. Not to say his non-legal books were not good or well written, but I guess they were somewhat of a shock to me and as a result I did not appreciate them or his change of style that much. Well, he came back with a bang with his new book "The Last Juror" and I fell right back in awe with his unique style and readability. All in all, I highly recommend this book to old and new Grisham fans alike
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Summary: Grish still riding the hot streak...
Review: First let me say how glad I am that finally the Da Vinci Code is knocked out out of the #1 spot. I knew it wouldn't stand a chance against the new Grisham. Secondly, I've become a huge fan of how Grisham's characters pop up in more than one book. This seems to be a new thing that he started with The Summons, where the main character in that book met (one of my favorite characters in any Grisham book) Patton French who later showed up in The King of Torts. Harry Rex from The Summons now shows up in The Last Juror. This guy is another one of my faves, absolutely hilarious: "Just a roll in the hay". Everyone should be so lucky to have an aquaintence like Harry Rex. As far as this book, its fantastic. I'm a huge Grisham fan, but I'd say one out of every 4 books of his is a miss for me. It seems, however, that ever since The Testament this guy cannot be stopped. Here in his latest book his sense of humor is even sharper than ever. There isn't a 30 page span where I didn't laugh out loud, which is something I rarely do with a book. Grisham your making an idiot of me in public places! The man is here in true form doing what he does best, and you get the impression of an author who has all the confidence in the world. There are few contemporary authors, especially those in 'pop literature' to hold a candle to this man. Keep it up my man!
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Summary: The real John Grisham is back!!!
Review: I loved everything about this book, and it reminds me of one of Grisham's first books, A TIME TO KILL. The characters were so real and well-developed. His books are always so full of rich detail that I just sink into the words and almost become a participant in the plot. There were really two plots going on in this book. The first one was the murder and rape of a young mother in the small town of Clanton, Mississippi and the subsequent arrest and trial of Danny Padgitt. The second plot was the friendship between Willie Traynor, the newspaper owner,
and Callie Ruffin, the last juror. Grisham does a remarkable job of weaving these two plot lines together and having them mesh at the end. The result was just so good that I savored every word. I really hope that all book-lovers will get a chance to read this wonderful story.
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Summary: Where does he get the names?!
Review: I enjoyed this book more than any other since "The Testament." It seemed like he tried to use more humor here than in his previous legal installments. The scene where Willie is trying to learn how to shoot is hillarious! I just have one question. In every one of his books, it seems that he has a fun time with his characters last names? Am I the only one who notices this? My favorite from this one is "Reverend Clinkscale." Thanks, John, for the good stories without the irrelevant, unnecessary foul language.
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Summary: Maybe Grisham's finest work
Review: In my experience, Grisham either writes excellent books (The Chamber, The Runaway Jury) or very mediocre ones (The Client, which is possibly the most pointless thing I have read in years.) The blurb of The Last Juror - which tells of a small Southern town, a rape and murder trial, a defendant send down despite threatening revenge if the jurors convict him, and a "retribution" 9 years later upon his release - makes it sound a very promising thriller, and I was expecting to read what might be Grisham's best book. However, the blurb is slightly misleading in its focus and its suggestion of time. Indeed, the trial doesn't happen until about halfway through, and the release not until about the final 50 pages. As I realised this, I changed my expectation to disappointment. Big but: I was very wrong. Because, in spite of that, this is STILL probably Grisham's finest novel. While it is partly about the trial and conviction of local boy Danny Padgitt, The Last Juror is actually about the town as a whole and how it changes over time, through desegregation and other social shifts. It's about it's eclectic residents and how they cope with the changes and crimes in the community, as seen through the eyes of the dubiously-named Willie Traynor, one of Grisham's most engaging narrators in years, a 23 year-old journalist who has recently acquired ownership of the Ford Count Times, and gradually turns its fortunes around as he writes with endearing passion about the town, and anger at the corruption in its justice system. The journey Grisham takes us on, through the panorama of 9 years in the history of this town in the seventies, is a wonderful, touching, and also thrilling, and The Last Juror is a wonderful, touching and thrilling book. There is an inexplicable tendency, even among fans of the crime genre, to look down on Grisham and other huge populists, and it is a tendency which is denying lots of people some great reading experiences. His books aren't particularly challenging, no, but he is a brilliant and instinctive storyteller. His prose is so easy and languid, so polished, that it flows past the eyes and invites one simply to be carried along with the ease of the experience. It is remarkable prose, unlike anyone else's. Thus, his books don't require much effort to read, but the rewards of a captivating, entertaining story are copious and potent for the fact that his books asks so little - apart from a little emotional investment in his characters - and give, comparatively, so much.
Grisham's books tend to be very plot driven, but this one also puts a bit more focus on characters; a quirky and warming bunch. The town colourful inhabitants are drawn, on the surface, wonderfully, even if there is no real depth to some of them. They are an unthreatening, entirely innocuous group, a personification, almost, of Grisham's approach to his books. It's sometimes remarkable to think that in the gratuitous world of crime writing, Grisham's books are never ever brutal, and in all his back-catalogue he's only ever "murdered" about 7 people. In the end, this is a great legal thriller with some nice twists, but more than that it is a compelling meditation on the life of a small American town in the 70's. In the very moving final chapter, Grisham's message seems to be that the only person who sits in on our final judgement, our own last juror, is ourselves. Or God, depending upon what you believe, I suppose.
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Summary: insightful look at social relationships in 1970s Mississippi
Review: By 1970 the Ford County Times went bankrupt sped up by local boycotts when the owning family began adding obits of Negroes to the newspaper. Former cub reporter Willie Traynor, who went north for college, drops out of school, takes over the troubled paper from the aging Caudle family to the dismay of most of the white populace of the Mississippi County. Willie's paper gets a circulation boost when the police arrest Danny Padget for the vicious rape murder of Rhoda Kasellaw, a widow mother of two young children, who identified the culprit before she died. Being a spoiled member of a prominent family, Danny threatens the jurors if they convict him, which they surprisingly do as the evidence besides the deathbed statement of the victim is overwhelming. Less than a decade later, Danny is freed and the jurors are being killed off one by one. Willie, who admired the first black juror in the county's history, Miss Callie Ruffin, risks his life to keep her safe, but retribution is coming. The insightful look at little things that add up to major social relationships in 1970s Mississippi during a time of revolutionary change is John Grisham at his best. Those minor items like an obituary for a deceased black person or the first black juror brings the era into stark reality. However, when the tale twists into a serial killer storyline, that subplot is very exciting, but also takes the focus away from the social lens of change and upheaval. Still John Grisham entertains his fans with a terse suspense tale that is
quite as superb as A TIME TO KILL, thus pleasing his vast readership. Harriet Klausner
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Summary: Who is the last juror?
Review: In my opinion, this is by far Grisham's best since The Testament. What I loved about this was that it had a very suspenceful story (Danny Padgitt's), a rather touching story (Callie's), a bit of a legal story, but best of all underneath everything was a very meaningful one that I wonder if anyone else saw. In my opinion, this book was not about a killer, not about racism, not about the law, not about religion, not about careers and not even about the press. I feel that this story was about life in general. That was why all of the above were included. It started with Willie Traynor finding a job, and ended with his retirement. Just as he went through this, the writing of the story (not just the story itself) continued to get faster and faster, just as life seems to move faster as we grow older. I thought the way it was written was brilliant. So, who is the last juror? At the beginning of the book you assume it is the last juror to survive. At the end of the book most, and I partly agree them, would probably say that it is Callie. However, I also think that there could be another possible way of seeing this. If you notice, the last word in the book is "obituary". Everyone is on trial, everyone is afraid of death, and wondering when it will come. Throughout our lives, the jury is always out making its decision. In other words, I think the last juror is referring to God, or (if you refuse to believe in that "garbage") possibly death itself. Have I got this right? I don't know, all that I can know for certain is that what I did get from it has been incredible for me. And I can be sure that you will get quite a bit out if it as well. p.s.-by the way Mr. "poo", which book are you trying to review?
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Summary: A different angle.
Review: Yes, this is another lawyer story...but Grisham expands the parameters this time, giving more focus on characters and their development. A nice leap forward for the writer. As a fan, I've waited for him to break out of his usual shell, and he has certainly done so with "Last Juror." On a more tenuous note, "A reader from New Orleans" should concern him/herself with more important things. Nobody likes a whiny little narc.
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Summary: Made me really understand why I like Grisham's stories
Review: I had expected this to be yet another good-lawyer vs bad-lawyer/law but though it was about the law, it was more, at least for what I enjoyed, about the characters. Grisham's Novels seem to have such colorful participants in them and this book, does not disappoint or detract from that. Yes, this is a different type of book from what has been published in the past, but it is none the less, a very entertaining addition to his body of work.
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