Product Description

In 1970, a young mother was brutally raped and murdered by a member of the notorious Padgitt family. Local newspaper editor Willie Traynor reported the details of the horrifying crime. The murderer, Danny Padgitt, was tried before a packed courthouse in Clanton, Mississippi, threatening revenge against the jurors if they convict him, but guilty he was found and sentenced to life in prison. In Mississippi in 1970, "life" didn't necessarily mean "life," and nine years later Danny Padgitt gets parole. He returned to Ford County, and the retribution began.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #308075 in Books
• Published on: 2004-02-02
• Released on: 2004-02-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 372 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Like many of John Grisham's better books, The Last Juror is at its best when evoking the past--Mississippi in the early 1970s--and less effective when constructing the bait-and-switch plotting with which he establishes a pointed argument about the law. When Danny Padgitt, part of a family of bootleggers who are effectively a large criminal conspiracy, is convicted of rape and murder, the jury cannot agree on the death penalty--and life sentences in this time and place are liable to be as little as nine years.

Padgitt threatened the jury and when, once he is out, the jurors who heard his case start being executed, conclusions are there to be jumped to... Grisham is arguing that justice has to be seen to be done, rather than specifically for the death penalty or even life-means-life sentencing. Though his case is loaded, it is never entirely sentimentalised partly because these events are seen through the eyes of one of his most engaging narrators--a young Northern newspaper editor out to make a name and a fortune for himself, but also committed alike to the truth and a saintly African-American matriarch who serves on the Padgitt jury. This is a deeply populist book, but never a stupid one. --Roz Kaveney

John Dugdale, Sunday Times
"…Grisham is as good as ever on colourful Southern types…taut thriller…"

T J Binyon, Evening Standard
"…wholly engrossing…"

Customer Reviews

Maybe Grisham's best work
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.

Good, but not the best
Not the best book I have ever read from Grisham - largely because the plot never really came together, the title was misleading, he rambled on for to long about irrelevant plot intricacies, promised much but delivered very little. Dont get me wrong, if he had pitched the book at a different level, it would be a masterpiece - it is well written, full of interesting characters, but not entirely plot driven.
I was expecting a taut legal thriller - basic plot is this: a yng guy who is a member of a well known criminal family gets convicted of the rape and murder of a local single mum. He doesnt however get the death sentence, but still threatens the jurors in front of a packed courthouse that he will kill them all if he is found guilty. So, here the stage is set for a suspense filled story, but then it all kinda goes it a bit wrong after that, and loses its way. I am not going to say too much more - if you like a good read, then this is classic Grisham, but dont get it just to read a legal thriller, cos you wont get one

brilliant... as expected
In his latest novel we find Grisham on top form- as he usually is. His ability to intertwine exciting and gripping plots and appealing characters and then deliver all this with aplomb and narative skill has secured his reputation as a top author. Grisham sticks to the formula and pulls off another brilliant story.
The plot follows a convicted murderer who escaped his life sentence and returns to his home town to begin his retribution. It's as inticing as it sounds. Here, as in A Time to Kill, Grisham is able to populate Clanton with flesh-and-blood characters and make readers care about them, which only heightens concern after a renegade Padgitt begins "pickin' off the jurors." The Last Juror does not need to coast on its author's megapopularity. It's a reminder of how the Grisham juggernaut began
The novel will undoubtedly satisfy those with an appetite for legal thrillers and those who believe Grisham possesses more talent than those breathless page-turners sometimes reveal. It ranks among his best-written and most atmospheric novels.