The Juror

It had been probably ten years, right around the time the book was originally published, that I had first read The Juror. At the time, it was one of the most "grown-up" books I'd ever read, and I immediately fell in love with it. I found it brilliant and would constantly refer to it as one of my all-time favorite books. Very recently the thought occurred to me that I should read it again and have The Juror prove to me that it was still worthy of being one of my "favorites" after all those years. So I began again... And it DID NOT disappoint. If possible, I love The Juror more now than I did back then, reading it with the new appreciation of a person who has lived more of her life and read many, many more books. The raw power and emotion, the thrilling pace, and the pure evil of the character still remained. The power -- that was always what drew me to this book. The raw power. I have often heard books or movies described as "psychological thrillers" and I am always disappointed that they never live up to the name and that they never live up to The Juror. This book truly parallels those words and it never disappoints. It's quick, jumping from scene to scene in sometimes less than two pages. It reads well. It's exciting; it's scary. There is a cutting humor, an intense use of language, and a story that, again, might feel like it's been done, but I assure you, it has not been done like this. The Juror, in short, is a truly brilliant book. If you've seen and enjoyed the movie, I ask you to please read the book. I had read the book first, and while I loved the movie, I of course remained partial to the book. The characters that don't appear in the movie, Slavko and Sari, were always my favorite characters, and remained so in my second read. Amazing characters, and a wonderful plot, with so many twists and turns. I knew the story in advance, and yet I still didn't see everything coming. All in all, I am very pleased to say that upon my second reading - ten years later - that The Juror doesn't only deserve a place in the list of my favorite books, but in fact, it deserves to be in the top five.

THE JUROR is a humdinger of a novel, filled with some really nasty characters, a strong heroine, a gifted young child, a PI with a heart, and several plot twists along the way. Single mother Annie Laird is called to jury duty -- for the trial of a mob leader. An aspiring sculptress in a dead-end job, she sees jury duty as a kind of break from her humdrum life. Then one day she sells three of her sculptures to a mysterious man; he's charming, handsome, rich and sweeps Annie off her feet. He's also "The Teacher" and tells her she can have her career, her life, the safety of her child and friends if she says two words: Not guilty. From there she is thrown into a maze of deceit, lies, and ultimately bone chilling fear. A subplot involves a polish detective helping out the Teacher's girlfriend, who thinks her lover is cheating on her.The pace of the novel is great and even after the trial is over, it's not over for Annie.Fine good thriller.

This novel doesn't pretend to be anything other than a diversion. It gives the reader exactly what he bargained for. Beyond that the book provides a deeper level of characterization than you usually find in such novels. I particularly enjoyed how attractive the author made the villain. It added an element of excitement. I also liked the way the main character faced up to the private quality of her trendy art boxes. On the other hand, I found the young boy's sexual obsession with the juror's girlfriend odd and out of place. It was kind of distateful without contributing anything to the plot. That is just a quibble however, this is a good airplane novel.

A sympathetic, realistic heroine, and a villain perfectly despicable for veiling his every action in metaphysical justification and calling it philosophy... Even Louie Boffano, charming bad guy, looks like Mother Teresa next to his mesmerizing hireling the Teacher

I don't usually read this type of book, but I did not return my card to my book club in time and received it. I could have returned it to the book club but decided to read it. I was terrorized by the reality in this book. I could not put it down. I read until 4:00a.m. when I finished it. Then I went and hugged my child. The author made me feel that this could happen in the tainted world we live in. His characters were so alive. As a single mother, I could identify with the main character. If my child's life was ever threatened, I would do the same thing this mother did. She went from being a civil minded woman to a woman with a vengenance! I cheered at the end but I cried and was scared through most of the book. Sorry but I have to go check on my loved ones now