Rating: 
Summary: Much Relieved
Review: Thanks goes out to John Grisham for a great book. I've read all of his books before, and of lately they have been only so so. Grisham wrote a great book after what I consider to be a slump. THE LAST JUROR is a good read, a page-turner, and the John Grisham book we all love. I suggest buying and reading this book.
Rating:
Summary: Back to basics
Review: This plot and the fully-realized characters bring back the basics of good storytelling at which Grisham excelled in his earlier work. An example of the reason we all flocked to buy his work once upon a time. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Book
Review: This book is fantastic. I loved everything about this book, and it reminds me of one of Grisham's first book. The characters were so real and well-developed. There were really two plots going on in this book, and Grisham does a remarkable job of weaving these two plot lines together.
The author's sense of humor is sharper than ever. The author here in true form doing what he does best, and you get the sense of an author who has all the confidence in the world. There are few contemporary authors in pop literature to compare to this author.
Rating:
Summary: One of Grisham's best!
Review: If you crossed "The Painted House" with "The Firm", you'd get a book like this one. I thought it was one of Grisham's best ever. I haven't cared for Grisham's latest mysteries - they've merely been vehicles for his heavy-handed and probably recently-discovered social conscience. Only the newly-saved get that preachy. I surprised myself by enjoying 'Painted House', though it's not the kind of book I read for pleasure very often. I'm fully aware of how grim reality is and tend to look for entertainment that let's me escape from the brutality & tragedy of real life. In movies, if it has explosions, I'll probably like it. Now you know where I'm coming from. "Last Juror" had just enough literary "merit" to make the characters come alive. But, it still had good guys and bad guys and action and all the other stuff that make it a fun read. And, it kept me up late, on the edge of my seat.
Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly enjoyable!
Review: The 1970s . . .a small town in the South is the setting for this latest Grisham novel. That, plus the colorful cast of eccentric characters might be dangerously cliched material in any other author's hands, but not in Grisham's. This book is like a cross between "A Painted House" and some of his better known courtroom books. It's actually not so much a "mystery" as it is just a good story, interestingly told. Also recommended: The Firm, Bark of the Dogwood, Capital Crimes
Rating:
Summary: sad it had to end....
Review: This is one of his better books, and I was sad to see it end...it definitely needs a sequel. It has been a while since he wrote a book where you truly cared about the characters. This is a must read for Grisham devotees.
Rating: 
Summary: Mailed It In
Review: While Grisham's description of small town Southern America might make for an interesting read as a New Yorker piece, in this alleged 'mystery' novel, it becomes tedious and a bore. Has anyone born since 1960 not read or heard all of this before ? If the background patronizes us, then the plot insults. Anyone moderately well read mystery reader will call this one about 100 pages before the finish line. Mr. Grisham, take a year off.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant and mature
Review: Grisham has tried his hand at most genres: thrillers, mystery, literary, writings with an obvious legal bent. And it seems that all of his experimentation and soul-searching has finally come to fruition, for THE LAST JUROR is somewhat a combination of all of his styles, settings, and talent. As with all novels set in the South, THE JUROR is full of colorful characters, great atmosphere, tension, and a sense of intrigue. But while the characters are colorful and easily identifiable, they're not cardboard cut-outs--they're real people with depth and feeling. Grisham has always been one of the best writers out there, but this time he's surpased anything done so far. This is a fine book, full of mature writing by one of America's best-known authors. It should not be missed. Also recommended: The Life of Pi, Bark of the Dogwood, The Five People you Meet in Heaven
Rating: 
Summary: Part sociology, part mystery (4.5 stars)
Review: Probably the best part of "The Last Juror" is the author's capture of life in the deep South in 1970: its slowness, the bypassing of modernity, the overindulgence in good bourbon to get through the day, the corrupt political system, the influence of powerful families, the racial divide, etc. But this placid way of life is harshly disrupted when a son, Danny, of the powerful, insulated crime family, the Padgitt's, that has dominated rural Ford county for decades, is accused of rape and murder. It is also the opportunity for the newly arrived Willie Traynor, fresh from dropping out of an "Ivy League"college after five uninspiring years and the surprising new owner (even to him) via his kindly grandmother of the county newspaper in serious decline, to make something of himself. The Ford County Times dramatically increases circulation as it follows the Padgitt affair. The author follows Willie and his ad hoc assemblage of employees and his dealings with courthouse hanger-ons. By far the most interesting part of the book beyond the murder and its fallout is the relationship that Willie developes with the Ruffin family of the Lowdown section of town, especially with the matriarch, Miss Callie. Willie draws strength from the resolve of that family in overcoming the racial barriers of the South in those times. The last chapter of the Padgitt affair begins with the release of Danny after only serving nine years of a life sentence. Everyone's worst fears are realized when a series of what seems to be revenge murders begins. The author brings the threads of Willie's newspaper ownership, the Ruffin family, and the Padgitt situation to an agreeable conclusion.
Rating:
Summary: What a disappointment!
Review: John Grisham should stop churning out a book a year and focus on regaining the skills he had when he wrote A TIME TO KILL. Each "novel" has become progressively less satifying. I barely skimmed the last hundred pages of THE LAST JUROR.That's it for me with Grisham books.
| 
