I DON'T HIDE MY REVIEWS FOR SPOILERS. ON THE OTHER HAND I DON'T PUT THEM OUT ON ANY FEED.

This may be my favorite Grisham novel of all!

The law provides a layer to the story -- as to criminal sentencing, parole, business transactions, elections, divorce, probate -- but I was surprised it was not the key framework.

Instead, this is the tale of a dying weekly newspaper and the brash young Northern-educated Memphis journalist who buys it, turns it around, and during the process sinks roots into the tiny community of Clanton, Mississipi.

At its core, it is the story of journalist Will Traynor (whose name shifts to "Willie" in Clanton) and his friendship with a dignified, spiritual black woman named Miss Callie (who's an awesome cook and, therefore, not surprisingly obese, as well as a scrupulous recorder of typographical errors in Willie's paper, and a beloved icon to family and friends.)

Willie crosses a huge racial divide to get to know her.

Along the way, a brutal murder happens. Traynor covers the case. At trial, Miss Callie becomes the town's first black juror. Almost a decade later, someone with a grudge starts killing those jurors.

HUGE SPOILER HERE: Miss Callie is also the 'last juror," though not in the way you might expect.

Willie uses his newspaper to crusade -- aptly -- because it's the right thing to do. Also because he knows how to make it lucrative.

The book spans about nine years. Along the way Willie grows up. And makes a bundle.

Grisham's sense of humor is evident throughout, even as the book tackles serious themes including injustice, corruption and yellow journalism, as well as the cultures of small-town living, Southern-style church worship and Southern cooking.

I've enjoyed many of Grisham's titles. But never have I felt his humor so keenly as here.

Este libro ha sido catalogado como un thriller legal, como suelen serlo la mayor parte de las novelas de Grisham. Habiendo leído varias de ellas, yo no calificaría ésta como un thriller, como máximo sólo unas pocas páginas finales podrían recibir este calificativo.

¿Quiere esto decir que la novela no me ha gustado? Para nada, me ha parecido sumamente interesante, pero más que por la historia y la "intriga" en sí, por el retrato que hace de una pequeña comunidad sureña en los años 70, problemas de discriminación racial incluidos.

Me ha gustado también que la historia esté narrada por un joven periodista llegado de fuera a esa pequeña localidad.

Es cierto que en la nota final el autor reconoce haberse tomado ciertas licencias con respecto a las leyes vigente en ese lugar y en esa época. La verdad es que me hubiese gustado que detallase cuáles han sido esas libertades que se ha tomado.

En cualquier caso, me ha resultado una historia que, ciertamente, merece ser leída.

It's the 1970's right after graduating college, Willie Traynor ends up in a small town in Mississippi as a fledgling reporter. But with circumstance and serendipity Willie ends up buying the town newspaper. As fate will have it a horrible murder gives him the boost of readership that makes his newspaper a total success.
This story really is a two part affair. The first half introduces you to all the colorful characters and the turmoil that surrounds a small town in the middle of this horrendous murder trial. With its miscreant defendant (and nefarious family).
The second part, of this story is the life of Willie Traynor after the trial in small town Mississippi during the 70's.

I really enjoyed the character development.

3 -4 stars

2.5………The reason I gave this a lower rating is because this just wasn’t what I thought it was going to be. Going by the title and the synopsis, I expected this to be about……..well…….the last juror. The back of the audio said:

t“…..Tried before a packed courthouse in Clanton, Mississippi, Danny Padgitt
tthreatened revenge against the jurors should they dare convict him. Though
tfound guilty and sentenced to life in prison, Padgitt managed to get himself
tparoled after nine years, returning to Ford County to begin his revenge.”

I think only 30% (okay, I’ll even up it to 40%) is about that. The rest of the book is more like a character study on the town and the events that happened within those 9 years. Grisham delves into racism, religion and politics during those 9 years and even when Padgitt gets out of prison the story tends to drift.

Other than that I don’t have a problem with Grisham’s style of writing. The book actually started off great and I thought I was going to be in for a really good book. But as it started to stray away from the storyline I got very bored. This won’t deter me from Grisham though. This particular one just wasn’t for me.

My first & last Grisham. I needed something brainless to read while I was sick, it certainly delivered.

Always enjoyable!!!

De vuelta a Clanton pero en el pasado (década de los setenta), esta novela no es precuela ni secuela de "Tiempo de Matar", pero repite algunos de los más entrañables antiheroes de Grisham. Volvemos con Wilbanks, ahora para odiarlo, conocemos un joven Harry Rex que ya era igual, y así otros más. Me parece que este libro se aparta del estilo legulello de la mayoría de las novelas de juicios del autor. Tiene mayor crítica social y una trama más sociológica para conocer el lado humano de ese pequeño pueblo. También aporta al conocimiento de la historia de USA, en particular del Sur profundo. A mí me recuerda la evolución de nuestras ciudades pequeñas en los últimos años. O tal vez a fines de los 90. La novela es un poco lenta, abarca muchas temáticas y divierte a velocidad algo menor de lo usual en Grisham. #elultimojurado #johngrisham

I really enjoyed this book. When I began, I had no idea it was set in Clanton, Mississippi, the location of A Time to Kill, and would have a couple of the same characters, most notably Lucien Wilbanks.

I found the telling of the story of this small town to be both moving and entertaining. I found myself laughing out loud at several points in the book. I stopped laughing after the major injuries involved, but I found it hysterical when the deputies decided upon their method to determine if the package sent to one of the jurors was indeed a bomb. "You're gonna shoot my pecans?" was one of my favorite lines in the book! The physical description before he fired is hysterical, and my comment on my Kindle was "These may very well be the stupidest people on the planet!"

I also enjoyed the scene when they were headed to Padgitt Island to arrest Danny, and the chatter on the police scanner:

"He's with his lawyer!"
"Wilbanks?"
"Yep."
"Let's shoot both of them."

And, of course, when Baggy fell from the courthouse window during the shooting rampage! All of these scenes were priceless.

Miss Callie was obviously the center of this book, and was very well written. The friendship between she and Willie was awesome and I loved that Willie played such a huge part in the life of the family.

I recommend this book as a very enjoyable read!

No, no.

Cinemasins guy : No.

Touching, historical, justice, law. It was a great read and I loved every moment. I was hooked and had to keep going because I wanted to know the end of it all. You connect with the characters and feel like they are a part of you. Highly recommend!

I’ve read a couple of his books and found them just OK but this one I really enjoyed. He is a very good writer. The story and the setting was interesting. Great characters. Really brought small town 1970s USA in the south to life.

3.5

Grisham saves his best writing for the courtrooms of Ford County, that's certainly the case here. Although it doesn't rise to the level of previous Ford County novels like A Time to Kill or Sycamore Row, the Last Juror is still an enjoyable read. This time A young mother is raped and killed by a member of one of Ford County's most reclusive and mysterious families, Danny Paggitt is sentenced to life in prison, but before he is carted off to The State Pen, he threatens to kill every single member of the jury… Will he follow through on his threats?

Grisham tries a lot of different story telling devices in this book, it's the first time I can remember him using a first person narrator. We see Ford County, as well as the murder and trial, through the eyes of Willie Traynor, initially an outsider from Memphis, he buys and edits the local paper, The Ford County Times. He also lets the reader know who the murderer is right away, something else I can't remember him doing before.The story takes place over almost a decade in the 1970s. The first half of the book is taken up by the trial, and the second half is pretty much just various characters anticipating what Danny might do if he ever gets out. This creates a lot of space in between which could've been really boring. Fortunately, Grisham uses it to introduce us to the various characters who inhabit Ford County and really dig into their lives, as well as the issues they faced in a rapidly changing south. To me, it's this middle section that makes the book worth recommending.

However, I was disappointed that the ending just didn't live up to the suspense and tension that he built steadily throughout the book I don't think I'm giving much away by saying that the twist in this one just struck me as lame and not very well fleshed out.