James Patterson is found Guilty - of another fantastic book!! (Judge and Jury - James Patterson)

Member Name: NewYork2006

Product:	Judge and Jury - James Patterson
Date:	02/06/07 (415 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent plot, well thought out characters, fast paced and action packed

Disadvantages: You may stay up till 3am to finish it!!

I love a good book and know I’ve found a good one when I stay up until 3am, even though I know I’ve got an important meeting at work the next morning!

I have no hesitation in saying that James Patterson is undoubtedly my favourite author of all time and even though my passion and love of reading has spanned the past 23 years of my life, I have yet to find another author that wows me as much as he does and explodes with emotion in every chapter – and even after reading all of his books to date, the next still manages to keep me hooked with plot twists and turns that I don’t always see coming!

When the Hardback copy of Judge and Jury hit the shops last summer, I knew I had to have it and luckily for me, my boyfriend actually listens to me when I talk (most of the time!) and knows that if there is a new JP book out then he may as well buy it for me to keep me quiet so I don’t bug him while he is trying to watch the football and so I don’t stop at every book shop we pass just to read the cover! (The paperback copy is now in the shops as it always appears several months after the hardback but I can never wait that long so the majority of my JP books are hardback!!)

Anyway – back to the book I’m reviewing!...

Judge and Jury (co-written with Andrew Gross who also co-wrote The Lifeguard with Patterson) certainly didn’t disappoint and had me hooked from the first chapter. I was uncertain initially what to expect from this book as it stated it as being a ‘legal’ thriller which moves away slightly from Patterson’s normal genre giving room for greater criticism. It all worked very well though and didn’t feel ‘awkward’ or ‘uncomfortable’. He clearly has a great knowledge of the things he writes about as the intricate detail of the plot portrays. He takes on other great authors already acclaimed at this genre and more than delivers. The book has JP’s usual fast pace and deeply drawn characters. The cleverly thought out short chapters of just a few pages, common in his books, means the reader is automatically drawn to the next to see what happens and before you know it, you’ve read the first 50 pages in one sitting!



*** The Characters ***

Dominic Cavello - Godfather of the mafia. He is standing trial for the many crimes he has supposedly ordered. Cavello is a very disturbing character, completely unperturbed by the testimony against him.

Nick Pellisante - FBI special agent, and narrator of parts of the book. Nick holds a personal grudge against Cavello, and is determined to see him put away.

Andie DeGrasse - An actress and single mother selected for jury duty. She is not impressed in the least, and is determined not to be picked for the jury. She has a plan to avoid being picked.

Andie is another superbly portrayed character. She is witty without always meaning to be, and gets along with all sorts of people. She has a kind of "spark" within her, and loves her son Jarrod with all her heart.

Richard Nordeshenko - Outwardly a family man and keen chess and poker player. In actual fact he has been hired by Cavello. We, as the reader, are not told what it is he has been hired to do which makes the story even more intriguing. It is clear that he is really quite cold-hearted and will do whatever he must with no guilt or regret.

*** The Plot *** (excerpts taken from www.jamespatterson.co.uk)

Andie DeGrasse, an aspiring actress and single mom, is not your typical juror. Hoping to get dismissed from the pool, she tells the judge that most of her legal knowledge comes from a bit part curling around a stripper's pole in The Sopranos. But she still ends up as juror #11 in a landmark trial against a notorious mob boss.
The case quickly becomes the new Trial of the Century. Mafia don Dominic Cavello, known as the Electrician, is linked to hundreds of gruesome, unspeakable crimes. Senior FBI agent Nick Pellisante has been tracking him for years. He knows Cavello's power reaches far beyond the courtroom, but the FBI's evidence against the ruthless killer is iron-clad. Conviction is a sure thing.
As the jury is about to reach a verdict, the Electrician makes one devastating move that no one could have predicted. The entire nation is reeling, and Andie's world is shattered. For her, the hunt for the Electrician becomes personal, and she and Pellisante come together in an unbreakable bond: they will exact justice-at any cost.

*** My Opinion ***

I can safely say that Judge and Jury is one of my favourite Patterson’s to date. The characters and plot are interesting which keeps the pages turning. It draws the reader’s emotions to the surface causing them to feel empathy for the victims and abhorrence of the ‘bad guys’. One of the great things about this book is that because I have read so many books, I can sometimes see the twists and turns that will happen and can predict ‘who dunnit’ etc, and this is even sometimes the case with Patterson’s books (though doesn’t make them any less brilliant) but there are a couple of twists with this book (obviously I wont tell you what they are!) that I literally did not see coming and I would turn the page and then ‘wham!’, out of nowhere something would happen that had me literally gasping with shock or welling up with tears at the turn of events!

Whether you’re an avid James Patterson fan or not, and like a good page turning, unputdownable (not sure if that’s a word!!) thriller then I highly recommend this and don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

You can pick up a copy now in most bookstores and on Amazon from £3.99, available in paperback, hardback and on audio.

Thanks for Reading
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Summary: A fast paced, suspense, legal thriller...