THE LAST JUROR by John Grisham
John Grisham's last few books have been among his best. BLEACHERS contained some of his best character studies while his latest, THE LAST JUROR, has one of his most inventive plots. The only problem with THE LAST JUROR is the ending. You get the impression the publisher was asking for the manuscript so Grisham just hacked it off.
The story centers around Willie Traynor, a fairly spoiled young man who goes to work for a newspaper in Clanton, Mississippi. When the owner decides to sell the paper Willie talks his grandmother into putting up the money to buy it. Thus Willie becomes an Owner/Editor at the age of twenty-three.
Shortly after he takes over the paper a woman in Ford County is raped and murdered. With her dying breath she implicates Danny Padgitt, the son of a well-known family in the community. His trial becomes front-page news and brings Willie even more success.
Many in the community wonder if Danny Padgitt will ever be convicted. They think his family will pay off the jurors and get an Innocent verdict. Willie editorializes about this and places himself in jeopardy by doing so.
One of the jurors is Miss Callie, a dear friend of Willie's and one of the most prominent black people in the community. Willie worries about what being on the jury will do to her. She was one of the first blacks who registered to vote in the county, and now she is one of the first blacks to serve as a juror.
Grisham does not end his story when Danny Padgitt's trial ends but rather continues with a string of murders in the community. He also gives ample space to the distinctive friendship between Willie and Miss Callie. He becomes as much a son to her as her own children are.
There is no romance in the book, and that is a drawback. You would think a healthy young man like Willie would need the companionship and love of an equally intelligent young woman. But none appears in these pages. The only love affair he engages in is the platonic one with Miss Callie. He loves, admires and respects her. She is his closest confidant.
Aside from the ending, which lets the story just peter out, THE LAST JUROR is one of Grisham's finest books. Willie Traynor is a character most readers would enjoy meeting again in a future novel. And maybe in that one the ending would not be so abrupt.
THE LAST JUROR is published by Doubleday and Company. It contains 355 pages and sells for $27.95.