The Last Juror

……………barely passed muster. I bought it basically because it was a ‘John Grisham’ novel and his books have a certain palpable excitement to them. This one though boasted of a slow humdrum. Set in the 1970’s, it tells the tale of Willie Traynor, a 23 yr old college dropout who assumes ownership of a bankrupt newspaper. A brutal murder occurs in the town and with the paper reporting it all, it begins to rake in the moolah. The murderer is tried before a jury who convict him and he swears revenge against them all. After a couple of years, he gets paroled and retribution begins. The book isn’t a complete washout and is extremely readable in parts. You even begin to connect with Willie & his struggle and feel warmly for Miss Callie, a maternal figure to Willie. It’s a slight drift from the usual Grisham and though this lullaby is soothing, it’s for the adrenalin that I thrive.
[No. of pages: 505]