Good book. | The Last Juror

Justice and journalism | The Last Juror | John Grisham

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	• The Last Juror John Grisham Delta, 2006 - 416 pages average customer review:based on 551 reviews view larger image
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One Small Town, Another Tale

Grisham strikes again, but not as hard as usual. In this book, he just does not offer as much of a puzzle to be enjoyed by the reader as he usually does. The story does not really capture you, and as a result, leaves you wondering why you are trying to get through a book that really is not as good as it could have been. It just kind of drones on and on for a while before it gets to be the least bit interesting, but when it does it can draw you in. However, that is only the last forth of the book. Otherwise, it is very, very slow. If you are a fan, you can expect enjoy this book, but if you are not you might be bored. This may even lead you to question why you are reading this author, but you should try other titles before you jump to the conclusion that he is overhyped. Anyway, get it if you are a real Grisham fan, but try another title if you are not.

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Good book.

For the most part a very enjoyable read. There were parts that were a little slow but overall I enjoyed the book. Great ending.

Justice and journalism

The year is 1970, and callow college dropout Will Traynor, with six months of journalism experience, buys the local newspaper in Clanton, Mississippi. The business is moribund until a woman is raped and murdered, handing Will the opportunity to triple its circulation overnight. What follows is the story of the trial and its aftermath ten years later, when murderer is paroled. Along the way, Will, who has morphed into "Willie", makes some good friends and some colorful ones, learns about and finds gradual acceptance in town, and chronicles the changes that rock the Clanton's foundations: the decade ushers in racial integration, the residents face up to the outlaw Padgitt clan, big box retailers change the face of Main Street, and the controversy over Viet Nam grows ever hotter.

The plot of the Last Juror evolves slowly, although the intermittent violence that erupts prevents the development of ennui. This novel's strength lies in its characters, particularly those of Will and Miss Callie, who comes to serve as a moral beacon in the young man's life. But all of the characters ring true, from the shady lawyer to the newspaper's redneck photographer. Grisham has become a master at evoking the atmosphere of the deep South, and a sense of nostalgia pervades throughout. But this is a story of change, its central issues revolving around questions of integrity and honor. It opens and closes with the writing of obituaries, but the Will who is writing the last one has come a long way. So has Clanton.

Memorable, and highly recommended.

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John Grisham at his Best

Willie Traynor, a long-haired twenty-three-year-old, who drives a Triumph Spitfire, arrives in Clanton, Mississippi in 1970, with the bright idea of buying the Ford County Times with money he'd borrowed from his grandmother. According to one of his friends the paper would be a gold mine as long as he stayed away from controversy and just covered local news and local events, like church socials, basketball games and obituaries.

But controversy comes calling when a young widow is stabbed and bleeds to death, naming Danny Padgitt as the man who raped her in front of her children before she dies. The Padgitt clan is a corrupt and vicious group of former moonshiners who've shifted the family business from booze to drugs.

When Padgitt is convicted and sentenced to life, he swears revenge on the jurors and under Mississippi law, a life sentence can be as short as 10 years. In less than a decade, Padgitt is released and the first two jurors are killed.

The juror of the title is Miss Callie Ruffin, an elderly black woman who takes a liking to Willie and begins inviting him over at mealtimes. She is the matriarch of a black family and is the last juror picked for the trial. Willie is worried about all of the jurors' safety, but he is particularly worried about Miss Callie, who in the years Padgitt had been in prison, had become a very close friend.

Not only is THE LAST JUROR filled with the tension and suspense you'd expect from a book by Mr. Grisham, it also paints a detailed portrait of a small southern town, peopled with residents readers can't help but like. By the time you finish the book, you'll feel like you've been reading about family.

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cheap trick at the ending

I really wanted to love this...his books are usually so good. The beginning started off great, just like his old thrillers. Then the middle third drifted off into character portraits. But the ending....SPOILER ALERT....blaming violent crimes on a mentally ill man?? Cheap trick.

In 1970, one of Mississippi s more colorful weekly newspapers, The Ford County Times, went bankrupt. To the surprise and dismay of many, ownership was assumed by a 23-year-old college dropout, named Willie Traynor. The future of the paper looked grim until a young mother was brutally raped and murdered by a member of the notorious Padgitt family. Willie Traynor reported all the gruesome details, and his newspaper began to prosper.

The murderer, Danny Padgitt, was tried before a packed courthouse in Clanton, Mississippi. The trial came to a startling and dramatic end when the defendant threatened revenge against the jurors if they convicted him. Nevertheless, they found him guilty, and he was sentenced to life in prison.

But in Mississippi in 1970, life didn t necessarily mean life, and nine years later Danny Padgitt managed to get himself paroled. He returned to Ford County, and the retribution began.

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