Monday, March 2, 2020

The Holdout- Graham Moore

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 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. Here's an excerpt of The Holdout.

4 comments:

bermudaonion said...

The cover of this book has captivated me for some reason so I'm glad to see the book is good.

Luanne said...

It is a good cover! And tale!

Dianna said...

This was one of the Book of the Month choices for February, but I waffled on it. Might try to get it from the library.

Luanne said...

Let me if you like it Dianna...