Feb 12, 2010 12:54 PM
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If anyone knows how to tell a good story, it is John Grisham. He will not have spectacular endings or plots that keep thickening. His stories will keep developing with an honest touch of realism and realistic characterization as you read along. The Last Juror is no different. It is a story about a small peaceful town where a heinous crime is committed and that is an extremely rare occurence.
Clanton is a town in Southern USA in the state of Mississippi. The lead character is a reporter of a weekly newspaper for Ford County where the town of Clanton is situated. The writer has narrated the story in first person, as if the reporter Willie Traynor is narrating the chain of events from 1970 to 1979.
The main villian is Danny Padgitt who in 1970, commits rape and murder of a young widow in front of her children. A set of 12 jury members is selected which includes a black woman for the first time. Significantly, after making a mess of his testimony on the stand, Danny Padgitt realizes that he has no chance of being judged innocent, hence he threatens all the jurors with dire consequences if they convict him! However, instead of the death penalty, they convict him for life imprisonment much to the bewilderment of the townfolk who wanted Danny Padgitt hanged.
Another story that develops is of the black woman in the jury who was referred to as Miss Callie. She is middle aged with 8 children, 7 of whom have PhDs. It was again very rare in 1970 for black people in Southern USA to be so educated. She was a part of the jury that convicted Danny Padgitt. She was the last juror that was selected by the panel and hence the name.
Trouble erupts when Danny Padgitt is let out on parole in 1979 after bribing the senator of Mississippi. His threat of taking revenge against the jury still looms large. I will not reveal much as the story develops beautifully at its own pace.
Another notable aspect of the story is how Grisham has accurately captured the environment of the 1970s when youngsters were drafted to fight in Vietnam against their will, racial prejudice in Southern USA was rampant and malls were taking over traditional mom and pop stores.
There are many more characters described in the novel, significantly the drunk, slothful reporter Baggy who assisted Willie Traynor, Lucien Wilbanks - the loud, disgusting lawyer of the Padgitt family, Harry Rex - the gun toting lawyer who specialized in divorce cases, etc. As always, Grisham has highlighted various quirks in the characters and their interactions with one another which make them seem very real.
The story does slow down in bit in the middle but otherwise it keeps a good pace. There is a minor twist in the end which is significant but the whole story does not depend on it.
A good easy read!
