Product Description

A chilling and pacy thriller from internationally bestselling author James Patterson - it will keep you up all night.

It’s the trial of the decade – Dominick Cavallo, the modern-day Godfather, has finally been put in the dock, and there’s enough evidence to convict him. Heavy security surrounds the courtroom, and Nick Pellisante, the FBI agent who helped to nail him, keeps a close eye on proceedings.

But things quickly start to go wrong. Faced with anonymous threats, the jury is sequestered. Then the bus taking them to their hotel is blown up, and only Andie DeGrasse survives. Andie’s child was on the bus: she is adamant justice must be done, not to Cavallo alone, but to whoever planted that bomb. She and Pellisante both know that will be difficult, but they can’t foresee just how difficult.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14156 in Books
• Published on: 2007-06-28
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 448 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
And still they come, the James Patterson novels written in tandem with Andrew Gross--the latter a writer we’ve only heard of because... he writes novels in tandem with James Patterson. But as Judge and Jury proves, this is a team that breaks all the rules of these double novels (in which a top writer’s synopsis is worked up by another writer lower down the feeding chain). The Patterson/Gross books are often as compulsive reads as Patterson's solo efforts, and while the tagline of this one ('the ultimate legal thriller') may be optimistic, it's still a pretty pacy piece of work, with a strong central premise.

Struggling actress Andie DeGrasse is finding her acting career in low gear as she copes with the demands of being a single mother. When she finds herself on jury duty, she hopes that she can shuck her responsibilities by telling the judge that she's played a stripper in The Sopranos. But she still finds herself as juror number 11 in a highly important trial involving a mob boss with a really nasty reputation. Bringing Mafia Don Dominic Cavello to trial has been the crowning achievement of senior FBI agent Nick Pellisante, who has been on Cavello's tale for years. The Don, known as ‘The Electrician’, is famous for his many grisly crimes, but this time it looks like he's about to go down for good. But as the jury moves towards a verdict, the Don does something that throws everything into chaos--including the life of actress and reluctant juror Andie. A bitter battle ensues, in which Andie and Nick Pellisante are obliged to form a partnership that will either save both their lives--or end them.

What makes this one particularly diverting is the canny juggling of a variety of elements, all of which are granted equal emphasis by Patterson and Gross. As always with the team, no effort is wasted on elegant writing--this is rigorously functional stuff, designed with one purpose: to keep us reading. And that task the authors pull off with very little effort.

--Barry Forshaw

Synopsis
A chilling and pacy thriller from internationally bestselling author James Patterson - it will keep you up all night.It's the trial of the decade -- Dominick Cavallo, the modern-day Godfather, has finally been put in the dock, and there's enough evidence to convict him. Heavy security surrounds the courtroom, and Nick Pellisante, the FBI agent who helped to nail him, keeps a close eye on proceedings. But things quickly start to go wrong. Faced with anonymous threats, the jury is sequestered. Then the bus taking them to their hotel is blown up, and only Andie DeGrasse survives. Andie's child was on the bus: she is adamant justice must be done, not to Cavallo alone, but to whoever planted that bomb. She and Pellisante both know that will be difficult, but they can't foresee just how difficult.

About the Author
James Patterson has written numerous international number one bestsellers including the Alex Cross series and the Women's Murder Club series. He lives in Florida and New York.

Customer Reviews

A decent beach read
This is a bit like The Jester, which was also written by this partnership. It's a fast, no frills, full of thrills, actiony thriller type romp, which you can imagine a Bruce Willis type starring in. It worked well for me on holiday when you don't need nor want to necessarily dwell on the details of the plot or characters. Someone described this as a tabloid thriller and I'd endorse that analogy. If that's what you need to read at the moment, then this book won't disappoint.

not as bad as i was expecting!
having read all of Pattersons earlier, solo work, and his more recent collaborations, i wasn't really expecting very much from this one... and was pleasantly surprised! This is nearly Patterson back to his original form, with characters you actually care about, and shocking violence that you don't see coming (well, i didn't anyway!). Yes, it's a bit morally ambiguous but having said that you can see why the lead FBI character did what he did at the end.

Yet Another
James Patterson is one of my favourite crime writers.

He uses short, meaningful sentences, to put his point across. He uses short chapters, making you think 'just one more chapter' and before you know it the books finished.

This book is no exception.

Judge and Jury is a book which allows us to see behind the scenes of a courtcase, but with an added twist. The courtcase is dangerous, and full of meaning.

In many of James Pattersons books we hear about the Jury, but never really get to learn about who they are. In this book we follow one particular character through the pain which being in this particular Jury brings to her. But in the end it brings something good as well.

James Patterson allows us to follow a member of the Jury of a tough courtcase.

If your a James Patterson fan like me, or just after a good easy crime book to read, with a few hidden twists. This books your answer.