The Holdout by Graham Moore

"Still, in a room full of lawyers, the last thing she thought someone was going to get was truth. No one was here for justice."

If you enjoy a good murder mystery or legal drama with some courtroom action, this is one that will tick all the boxes while also providing some behind-the-scenes peeks into the activities and discussion in the jury room. If, however, you have preconceived notions about the justice system, the role of lawyers, and the value of jury service, I think you will find quite a few surprises. It's best if you go into this without knowing too much about the story and, most importantly, if you have the ability to suspend disbelief and just go with it.

The premise: ten years ago, Maya Seale served on a jury during the trial of Bobby Nock -- a part-time English teacher who was accused of murdering a student he was involved with, Jessica Silver. Maya is notorious for swaying the jury to a not guilty verdict and has been vilified for it since. In the ensuing years after the controversial acquittal, Maya has gone on to become a defense lawyer. She's had no contact with the rest of the jurors from that events that transformed her life, but now "Murder Town" wants them all to reunite for a docuseries that will be adapted for Netflix. Although Maya definitely doesn't want to go back and face the whole drama and fellow jurors, the one person she once truly cared about (another member of that jury), Rick Leonard and her boss convince her it's the right thing to do. Since Bobby Nock went free, no one has ever found out the truth of what really happened to Jessica Silver and, now, Rick says he has found some explosive new information. Despite her misgivings, Maya turns up at the Omni Hotel where they'd all been sequestered during the trial and, at the end of that evening, a fellow juror turns up dead -- in her room. Now, not only does she have to defend herself with regard to her swaying the jury 10 years ago, she has to prove her innocence in this murder charge. NO SPOILERS.

This is not just a legal thriller but also has elements that discuss themes of race, social standing, law enforcement and the role of the lawyer. The maneuvering in the adversarial system is described and I found the overall implications quite chilling. This was a very quick read and I was unable to put it down so finished it in one sitting. The writing is good even if, at times, I found the totality of it quite hard to believe as it all played it. I have not read any other books by this author, but will look for them in the future. The characters were all a mix of good and bad and the reader gets to know them a bit as the narrative shifts between points of view of various jury members and shifts back and forth in time. The climax was a bit of a surprise though some might see it all coming. I just read that this legal thriller is going to be adapted for the screen and I can't wait to see it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this e-book ARC to read, review and recommend.

This is a standalone and is not part of any series.
Genre -- legal thriller, suspense, courtroom drama