The Last Juror, John Grisham
The Last Juror, John Grisham
88 Rating(s)
List: $24.95 | Sale: $17.47
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The Last Juror

Author: John Grisham

Narrator: Michael Beck

Unabridged: 11 hr 48 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 02/03/2004


Synopsis

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In 1970, one of Mississippi's more colorful weekly newspapers, The Ford County Times, went bankrupt. To the surprise and dismay of many, ownership was assumed by a 23 year-old college dropout, named Willie Traynor.

The future of the paper looked grim until a young mother was brutally raped and murdered by a member of the notorious Padgitt family. Willie Traynor reported all the gruesome details, and his newspaper began to prosper.

The murderer, Danny Padgitt, was tried before a packed courthouse in Clanton, Mississippi. The trial came to a startling and dramatic end when the defendant threatened revenge against the jurors if they convicted him. Nevertheless, they found him guilty, and he was sentenced to life in prison.

But in Mississippi in 1970, "life" didn't necessarily mean "life," and nine years later Danny Padgitt managed to get himself paroled. He returned to Ford County, and the retribution began.

About John Grisham

John Ray Grisham, Jr. was born in Jonesboro, Arkansas on February 8, 1955. Grisham graduated from Mississippi State University and later from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1981. He was a practicing criminal attorney for over ten years and then served in the House of Representatives from 1984 to 1990. He published his first novel in 1989 after working on it for five years. ‘A Time to Kill’, his first novel, launched his new career and was later made into a major motion picture. His first bestseller, ‘The Firm’, released in 1991, sold over seven million copies and was made into a box office hit starring Tom Cruise two years later. Almost twenty years later in 2012, a TV series was launched and picks up the life of Mitch McDeere and his family ten years after the events of the novel.

John Grisham has had his novels translated into more than forty languages and has sold nearly 300 million copies worldwide. He is a winner of the prestigious Galaxy British Book Award and is one of only three authors (the other two being Tom Clancy and J.K. Rowling) to ever sell two million copies of a first published novel. Nine of his novels (including ‘The Firm and ‘A Time to Kill’ have been made into major motion pictures.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Baba on June 29, 2024

A savage rape of single-mother Rhoda Kassellaw, is perpetrated in sight and sound of her young children, before she is murdered by, rapist-murderer Danny Padgitt, a reckless and callous younger member of the Padgitt crime-family, the dominant and most powerful organised crime gang in the vicinity of......more

Goodreads review by Luvtoread (Trying to catch up) on February 09, 2020

Great read!!......more

Goodreads review by Suz on May 01, 2015

This was my second Grisham novel, but I was disappointed. The storyline was fine, I enjoyed the character of Willie, who saves the local newspaper in Mississippi in the 1970's, then begins to cover a sensational case of the brutal rape and murder of a young single mum. I ended up reading to finish,......more

Goodreads review by Karl on June 28, 2019

A great pleasure to read. A nice story with good atmosphere. As always, Grisham’s writing is witty and down to Earth.......more

Goodreads review by Jay on July 08, 2020

The first half of this book was about a rape/murder trial and conviction. Very well paced. The smaller middle section lacked any intensity and concerned various topics - primarily the workings of a small town Mississippi weekly newspaper. At this point I was on the fence with a 3 or 4 star rating and......more


Quotes

“Never let it be said this man doesn’t know how to spin a good yarn.” —Entertainment Weekly

“John Grisham is about as good a storyteller as we’ve got in the United States these days.” —New York Times Book Review

“John Grisham may well be the best American storyteller writing today.” —Philadelphia Inquirer