I read a lot of James Patterson's books and I thought I knew his "moves" pretty well. Twice in Judge & Jury he really shocked me. Both events were unexpected and involved small children which made me a little uneasy. As is Patterson's fashion, the chapters were short and the read was very quick. The focus was more on thrilling and less on suspense or mystery and the book really hit the mark. ( )

I listened to the unabridged audio of this book. My sister passed it my way when she was done. When she handed it to me she said, "Give it a few chapters before you give up on it. It starts out slow." I put the CD in during a long car drive and was hooked from the very beginning. I didn't think it started slow, and I listened to the entire thing in a couple days. Some parts of the story were predictable, while others caught me by surprise. It was a fun guessing game to see how many pieces of the plot I could guess correctly. The twists and turns were awesome, and well thought out. The two characters Nick and Andy were easy to love. You couldn't help but root for the good guys with these two. He was determined, caring, loyal and honest. She was independent, wild and funny. I guessed right from the start that Nick and Andy would form a bond, but was unable to guess where it would take them, but was happy with where it did. The sound effects and music within the audio of this book was okay, though there were times when I could have done without so much of it. I like the gun shots, or screeching of tires, but the slow songs during the romantic scenes was a little cheesy. The end was NOT what I expected. Parts were, but other parts were not. Before the last CD, I'd give this book a 4.5 star rating. However, the ending ruined it a little. I cannot totally explain without spoilers, so I'll let you judge for yourself if you check out this book. ( )

Exciting, fast moving story of trial of a mafia boss who pays a hitman to kill the jury. Hero FBI agent has to go rogue to find the killers and revenge the mafia boss. ( )

Journal entry 4 by SKingList from New York, New York USA on Wednesday, August 15, 2007

A part way through entry. This book is here with me in Australia, typical since it was here - albeit a bit further north in Brisbane that I first discovered Patterson, and I don't mean Banjo!

As is typical with Patterson, I started it this afternoon and am already on p.177. I like Nick, but Andie hasn't grown on me. Then again, Cross' girls never do and I'm reading Nick as an albino Cross o:) I'll be back when I've finished this.

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Journal entry 5 by SKingList from New York, New York USA on Thursday, August 16, 2007

Finished this this afternoon just before leaving for dinner. At 24 hours that's about par for a Patterson book.

I liked it, though I was a bit surprised by the ending. Felt as if he was creating a division where there didn't need to be. Liked Pellisante - and his nickname by virtue of his name ending in a vowel ;) I thought the characters were well-written but as is the case with many non Cross books, I found myself wanting more with these characters although I know there won't be. I found karma to come through - for Cavello and Nordeshenko. Good read, going to release this somewhere -- just not sure where. ( )

This was the best Patterson book I've read in a while. The story was interesting and suspenseful and flowed well (which is something missing from some other Patterson books I've read recently). I really enjoyed this. However, I listened to the audiobook, which I have to admit heightened my amusement. It had background music! And sound effects! When the "bow-chicka-bow-wow"-like music started during a love scene, I almost drove off the road. ( )