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SYNOPSIS:
One juror changed the verdict. What if she was wrong? It’s the most sensational case of the decade. Fifteen-year-old Jessica Silver, heiress to a billion-dollar real estate fortune, vanishes on her way home from school, and her teacher, Bobby Nock, a twenty-five-year-old African American man, is the prime suspect.
The subsequent trial taps straight into America’s most pressing preoccupations: race, class, sex, law enforcement, and the lurid sins of the rich and famous.
It’s an open-and-shut case for the prosecution, and a quick conviction seems all but guaranteed—until Maya Seale, a young woman on the jury, convinced of Nock’s innocence, persuades the rest of the jurors to return the verdict of not guilty, a controversial decision that will change all their lives forever. Flash forward ten years. A true-crime docuseries reassembles the jury, with particular focus on Maya, now a defense attorney herself. When one of the jurors is found dead in Maya’s hotel room, all evidence points to her as the killer. Now, she must prove her own innocence—by getting to the bottom of a case that is far from closed. As the present-day murder investigation weaves together with the story of what really happened during their deliberation, told by each of the jurors in turn, the secrets they have all been keeping threaten to come out—with drastic consequences for all involved.
My Thoughts:
I loved this book.
From the moment I saw this book circulating the social media pages I knew it was a book I just had to get my hands on. And so when I received that special DM...I had to stop and pinch myself. To say I was overjoyed is an understatement.
The story begins in the present day, ten years on from the original trial where 12 members of the public decided the fate of Bobby Nock and acquitted him for the murder of school girl Jessica Silver. This caused an uproar in the community and no juror's life was the same after the trial.
Ten years on, Rick, one of the jury, now believes he holds important information/evidence to prove that they gave the wrong verdict and they let a killer walk free. He calls all the jury back together to feature in a television documentary and to reveal his news. However, on the night they arrive at the hotel Rick is found murdered. Maya, believes she is being framed for his murder and desperately seeks to find out the truth of what new evidence Rick had, whether Bobby Nock was guilty of killing Jessica and who killed Rick.
Maya, the holdout in the trial, was a strong female lead character with so much guts and enthusiasm. You couldn't help but route for her in tracking down Bobby and clearing her own name from Rick's murder. I actually thought that all the female characters in this novel were strong, fiery women which I adored. The male characters, on the other hand, were flawed and in my opinion, seemed to required sympathy from the reader rather than holding their own within the story.
There was a lot going on in this book with the different story lines, characters, crimes and lines of inquiry. However, it never felt disjointed; the story flowed brilliantly and was very well written. What I particularly loved was hearing the Bobby Nock trial unfold through the different viewpoints of each of the jury. The courtroom drama made this book stand out for me. The themes of race and prejudices within society are brought together through the complexities and injustices surrounding the legal system which was extremely thought-provoking.
I thought the ending was very fitting and cleverly thought out. This book did not disappoint. It was my most anticipated read of 2020 and I have to say it completely lived up to it. If you love crime and thriller novels you will love this legal thriller which has to be on your list this year. I read it in 3 days which is unheard of when juggling work and family life. I just had to pick it up at every opportunity, it is that addictive.
Many thanks to Alex Layt at Orion Publishers for my gifted copy.
AUTHOR:
Graham Moore is a New York Times bestselling novelist and Academy Award-winning screenwriter.
His screenplay for The Imitation Game won the Academy Award and WGA Award for Best Adapted Scrrenplay in 2015 and was nominated for a BAFTA and a Golden Globe.
The film directed by Morten Tyldum and starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Kiera Knightley, received 8 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture.