The Holdout

I like a good legal thriller so The Holdout by Graham Moore caught my eye. It ended up being more than that....

Maya Seale was the foreman on a contentious case - the murder of fifteen year old Jessica - by her teacher. The others jurors initially said guilty. But Maya swayed them - and he was found not guilty. Maya's experience with the court cemented her decision to become a lawyer. Another of jurors has been investigating the case since the 'not guilty' verdict. He's finally convinced a true crime series to make a documentary. A big part of it will be a reunion of the twelve. All well and good - until one of them turns up dead - and Maya is the prime suspect.

Every one of those jurors has secrets, both then and now. Moore deliciously show more ekes them out, flipping from present to past and back again. Each of the jurors is given page time. Though Maya is the lead character, I found I enjoyed some of the supporting players more than I did her.

With some plot developments, you'll need to take a few grains of salt - which I happily did. The legal aspects of the case were interesting and underlined how truths - and lies - can be manipulated.

Moore provides lots of twists as the story progresses. I thought I had the ending figured out, but one last aha! was an unexpected surprise. You get two mysteries for the price of one in The Holdout. An entertaining, escapist read for me. show less

Page one - I am all in. Page one doesn’t have much to do with the story that is about to be told - but it certainly gets your attention. Brilliant tactic, but the whole book is a study in how a tale should be woven. Twelve plus voices, reasons, explanations, improprieties, hidden clues. Twelve plus suspects. Much of the story smacks of an old Henry Fonda movie, “12 Angry Men”, and the author gives voice to this notion in the arrogant voice of the protagonist.

July, 2009 - Four months spent together in a courtroom, a sequestration, an admission that you know little or nothing about anyone involved; the accused, the victim, the grieving parents of each and your fellow jurors. Maya Seales had the hubris to gently but insidiously twist show more the arms of her fellow jurors in a murder trial. The trial, juror portrayals, their perceptions of each other, their secrets, alliances, and their deliberations in reaching a decision provide the background for what is going to happen NOW, ten years later. A reunion of the jurors is about to take place and not all are willing participants.

This book provides an in depth study of how a jury deliberation can be manipulated and raises so many questions; “Can anyone ever get a fair trial?” What does it mean to be tried by a jury of your peers? What happens when a jury decides that its job is detecting rather than deciding? What happens when a jury gets tired of talking and only wants to be done, go home and forget the past four months? What are the consequences when the arm twisting succeeds and the alpha juror gets the desired decision? What happens to the jurors when they go home thinking they have done the right thing only to find out they are pariahs never to regain their former footing in society? Amidst all these questions there is a murder or two that needs to be solved, maybe.

I could not put this book down. The paths taken are intelligent and ingenious with a smidgeon of skepticism however the belief it could have happened is not unrealistic. Scary.

Thank you Random House and NetGalley for an advance copy. show less

"There was something kind of grand about the idea that only in this courtroom could these randoms assemble. All it took for people in Los Angels to speak to their neighbors was for one of them to kill another."

This was an absolutely amazing read. One that held me on the edge of my seat as I desperately tried to solve each crime, each move, each person as they came on the scene. I love the law. It's messy and super screwed up - but it's ours and I love it. And I've been called on jury duty so many times - I'm never going to get to be a juror. I've even gotten to pretend to be a juror for mock trials for attorneys finishing their degrees. That's the closest I will ever get. So imagine my surprise when a books comes out just full of a show more jury, crimes and their ultimate come together for a decision and their lives as they live with it.

I love that none of them are perfect. They are all so gray and so human it's hard to not love and hate them each in turn. Maya was a great MC because you have the same - you see her justifications and her good intent but also her need for justice and her love of the law and the system. Rick was a nice twist and trying to find out his big bombshell was an amazing race. All the pieces fitting together was nothing short of brilliant. I loved this one and I will definitely need to find more by this author! show less

A jury acquits a murder suspect, but the notoriety involved in the case affects them all. Ten years later, a TV documentary brings the jury back and focuses on their lives, one man specifically who claims to have new evidence. When he is found dead in a fellow jurist’s room, she is accused of his murder. This rather intricate and convoluted plot is still quite gripping and very entertaining. The twist at the end caught me by surprise, and made the whole book well worth reading.

So excited to read this since the The Last Days of Night is one of my favorite books. Unfortunately this one just left me flat. The premise sounded interesting - we re-visit jurors 10 years after they gave the 'wrong' verdict in one of the most sensational trials in history. The author provided an interesting perspective with alternating chapters in the present and during the trial, 10 years earlier, with a chapter for each juror. I just found the current day scenario a bit far reaching. Lawyers know not to interfere, everyone knows people don't keep secrets - especially massively huge ones. The story was interesting, in that it did bring up a lot of questions/morals/values/ethics etc..., but once I got past that I just didn't think the show more plot held up. The current day murder just seemed like a way to re-visit the past murder and I just kept thinking there could have been a better, more intricate way for that to happen. Given the main juror went on to become a criminal lawyer, couldn't she have come across something in her work that her to re-visit the old trial? I think all her meddling would have then made some sense. I also think that could have helped with a gradual unfurling of the mystery and created some suspense which I thought was lacking. I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advanced copy. This opinion is my own. show less

A reunion they have never really wanted since all of them only wanted to forget what happened ten years ago. When lawyer Maya Seale is first approached by Rick, she refuses, but her boss convinces her to take part. They were the jury on the most popular case of the time: 15-year-old Jessica had vanished and was supposedly murdered by her teacher Bobby Nock with whom she obviously had had an affair. Even though the body had never been found, the whole country was convinced that the black man had killed the daughter of a rich Californian real estate mogul. However, the jurors followed Maya’s arguing in finding Bobby not guilty. It took Rick, one of the jurors, a decade of his life to investigate privately and now, he has come up with show more new evidence he wants his co-jurors and the whole world to see. They return to the hotel where they were kept away from the public for months, but then, Rick is found dead – in Maya’s room. All is just too obvious: the one person who is responsible for the killer of a young girl running free now wants to protect herself by keeping the evidence secret. Thus, consequently, Maya is arrested.

The reader follows Maya Seale in her quest to prove her innocence. You know from the beginning that she is not a reckless killer and that she’s got nothing to hide, but much more interestingly than this already answered question is the one about the legal system: Maya’s chances of being acquitted from murder rise tremendously if she pleads guilty of manslaughter – there does not seem to be a chance of just telling the truth and it simply being acknowledged. So the interesting question actually is: how does the truth have to be framed, or to put it more explicitly: manipulated, to get the result you want?

Graham Moore’s “The Holdout” is a real page-turner. Once you have started, you cannot simply put the novel aside. It is fascinating to see how the law works, to follow the arguing of the lawyers and their weighing the different versions of truth. I also liked how the author created a jury of very peculiar individuals who all have their small secrets they want to hide. Yet, ultimately, they all come out, some with more, others with less consequences. The big mystery looming over the whole story is who killed Jessica Silver and why. This is very cleverly solved but also challenges the reader’s moral value system. At the end of the day, life is complicated and, at times, you have to weigh different perspectives against each other and you may come to the conclusion that one version of truth might be better than another.

A gripping legal thriller full of suspense and a lot of food for thought. show less

Wow, I really enjoyed this legal thriller! It took me less than 24 hours to finish and this format is perfect for a binge read that makes you think.

This story follows Maya, one of the jurors who voted "not guilty," during a murder case a decade earlier. Now she is back together with her fellow jurors believing she is going to hear new evidence that will show the defendant was guilty and she was wrong. But before she can do that another crime happens and this time all eyes are on Maya...

I loved that the POV switched between Maya in the past/present as well as the jurors. Each juror essentially received one chapter of narration and I really loved that technique. Each time a new juror's chapter started, I knew I was in for some new show more information to the case.

Moore is no rookie when it comes to writing and creating plots. But dang, the way he weaves this tangled web is impressive!

Also, I just have to note that the acknowledgment in this section broke my heart and somehow made me love this book even more show less