The Jury Master

How fast I get through a book is a pretty good gauge of how good a book is. The ones that don't work seem to take forever, both figuratively and literally. The good ones fly by. I just blew through this one in a week, and that's not a mean feat for a novel of 450 pages that only gets picked up at bedtime.

I have to give the author high marks for keeping things interesting and keeping the action coming. He uses every trick available to invest the reader in the characters and keep them turning pages. At the end of the day, these thrillers are pretty much all the same story and it's the author's job to tell it and sell it on the basis of the characters and storytelling. This one succeeds on both counts.

At times, I found it frustrating that show more he was being so stingy with details, or even clues, about what was behind the mystery in the book. It seemed like every time a file folder was opened or someone was about to explain something, the chapter ended and that story thread was picked up after the characters (but not the readers) were enlightened. Many chapters also ended with a character in big trouble and no way out, which does wonders for suspense, but also got a little old.

Even so, I enjoyed this book a lot. Even a little more than its sequel, [b:Wrongful Death: A Novel|3861996|Wrongful Death A Novel|Robert Dugoni|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1266996249s/3861996.jpg|3907152]. The third David Sloane novel, [b:Bodily Harm: A Novel|7697889|Bodily Harm A Novel|Robert Dugoni|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51-NGyfM5aL._SL75_.jpg|10383687], is queued up and will get consumed soon. show less

Attorney David Sloan has won fourteen cases in a row. He has a special way of speaking to juries that makes them pay more attention than usual. But don't expect this to be a legal thriller or set in a courtroom beyond the first few pages. David suffers from migraines and terrible night terrors, but can't seem to remember if they ever happened or if they are truly nightmares or actual events. He seems to share the same nightmare with former CIA agent, Charles Jenkins, who seems familiar but whom David can't remember meeting. The reader is then switched to West Virginia where a cop is missing, but a long time adviser to the president has committed suicide. The man, Joe Branick, also seems familiar to David even though he doesn't believe show more they've ever met. The novel alternates chapters to show the reader how the various characters are connected.

This was an interesting book and once I got over the surprise of it not being a courtroom thriller I found it to be an interesting and somewhat different political thriller. At some point the explanation of the oil business became too much for me and I skimmed those portions, hoping I wouldn't miss an important part of the story. The characters certainly need more development but this is just the first book of the series and I understand it gets better further along. It gives the reader some history behind the jury master, David Sloane, and is probably going to make him much more compelling in later books. I look forward to reading the next book in the series, Wrongful-Death. show less

I have been in a major reading slump. Couldn't find anything compelling and not really interested in reading for months… until I picked this up. Wow. David Sloane is a highly successful defense attorney. And then one day he gets a call from the Special Assistant to the President of the United States. But, he wasn't in. The guy left a message. And then went to a park in Washington, D.C. and shot himself in the head. The first time David Sloane ever heard of this guy was when he read about his suicide. The second time was when he picked up his phone messages. This is a really fast paced, beautifully crafted, artfully told tale.

This was the first novel that I've read by Robert Dugoni and I can't wait to add more titles to my "wish-to-read" list from the author's website! It's a page turner of a storyline but I also really enjoyed Robert Dugoni's style of writing which draws the reader in and creates each scene in the moment effortlessly and allows each word used to succinctly paint the vivid setting to tell his tale.

An example from Chapter 3-
"The cry echoed off the granite walls like ghosts wailing. Sloane struggled to sit up, the sleeping bag cocooned tightly around him. He freed a hand from the twisted fabric, swept the ground for the rubberized handle, and unsheathed the serrated steel blade as he kicked free of the bag and jumped to his feet, crouching, show more eyes wide. His pulse rushed in his ears. His chest heaved for each breath.

The echo faded, retreating across the Sierras, leaving the sound of the mountains at night-crickets chirping, a symphony of insects, and the hushed din of a distant waterfall. A chill washed over him, bringing a trail of goose bumps and a numbing, hard reality.

He was alone. The echoing cry was his own." show less

David Sloane is the jury master since he rarely loses a case. The case of Emily Stone, however, has unsettled him. He has been having a recurring nightmare with severe migraines since he began this case and does not know why. When the man he was representing is found not guilty of causing her wrongful death, David feels guilt since the case should have been settled out of court. When Joe Branik, the current president's confidant, is found dead in a West Virginia national park, and it is known that Joe called David just prior to his death. David is targeted (his mailbox is broken into and his apartment trashed like someone was looking for something). When he sees a man who does not belong in his apartment house, the man goes after him in show more order to kill him. Then there is Charley Jenkins, a recluse living on a small farm, and Alex Hart, an acquaintance of Charley's when she was a child in Mexico City. Finally, there is Tina, David's longtime secretary. David decides to find out who is out to kill him and why. This is a very violent and bloody read. The style used tells the story by going back and forth chapter to chapter from character to character and location. show less

[The Jury Master] by Robert Dugoni
David Sloan series Book#1
4★'s

From The Book:
David Sloane is the best wrongful death attorney in San Francisco. But despite his professional success, he's plagued by a nightmare of a childhood he cannot consciously remember. When he receives a package from a White House confidant who then turns up dead, the contents reveal a history he could never have imagined.

My Thoughts:

I love Robert Dugoni's flowing, easy to read writing style and the way he makes the reader feel that they are right in the midst of the story.

Although the title makes you think it's a legal thriller...it actually has more of a political trend. David Sloan is a brilliant defense attorney...never lost a case. He's also an ex-Marine show more whose past has come back to haunt him and seemingly everyone he loves and is acquainted with...when he is mailed a document by a long ago friend and fellow soldier who just happens to be the Presidents best friend who has just committed suicide. Someone will stop at nothing to retrieve this package and the bodies begin to pile up.

I am not being a huge fan of political thrillers, but I definitely became involved with the characters, caught up in the suspense and loved the twist at the end. This is Robert Dugoni’s first novel and it wasn’t perfect, by any means, but it was exciting and compelling. I shall definitely hunt down his next book in this series. show less

I'm so happy to have discovered Robert Dugoni. That's how I put it ("discovered") when I read a book by an author I was unfamiliar with and do not expect to love it but do. That's what happened when I read Dugoni's latest (then) in his David Sloane series. I was so happy to learn that was a series and there were more. So I read another and, now, another. This one, THE JURY MASTER, is, I believe, the first in the series. And I love it, too, all but the end, that is.

Sloane is a man with with no family, brought up in a series of foster homes. He is now a successful lawyer who has an extraordinary ability to convince a jury to find in his client's favor, even when evidence points to his client's guilt. But with the death of a man, a show more stranger, who called Sloane and mailed a mysterious package to him, he decides he must learn what the man wanted and "find himself," figure out the meaning of a persistent dream.

That "dream" part sounds corny, I know, but it honestly isn't. In Dugoni's hands, Sloane's dream along with his experiences and all the criminal politics at the presidential level are believable. Until Chapter 86, Dugoni really had me, he grabbed me and didn't let go. But Chapter 86 needs a rewrite.

If I told you about Chapter 86, I'd spoil Chapters 1 through 85 for you. And they're so good, I won't do that. Don't skip to Chapter 86 to see what I call corny to the nth degree. Read and enjoy the 85 chapters, and believe me that Sloane is not corny in later books. He's not a saint, but you'll love him. show less