The Holdout: A Novel
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - One juror changed the verdict. What if she was wrong? From the Academy Award-winning screenwriter of The Imitation Game and bestselling author of The Last Days of Night. . . . An ID Book Club Selection - In development as a limited series starring and executive produced by Amy Adams
"Exhilarating . . . a fiendishly slippery game of cat-and-mouse suspense and a provocative, urgent inquiry into American justice (and injustice) in the twenty-first century."--A. J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window It's the most sensational case of the decade. Fifteen-year-old Jessica Silver, heiress to a billion-dollar real estate fortune, vanishes on her way home from school, and her teacher, Bobby Nock, a twenty-five-year-old African American man, is the prime suspect. The subsequent trial taps straight into America's most pressing preoccupations: race, class, sex, law enforcement, and the lurid sins of the rich and famous. It's an open-and-shut case for the prosecution, and a quick conviction seems all but guaranteed--until Maya Seale, a young woman on the jury, convinced of Nock's innocence, persuades the rest of the jurors to return the verdict of not guilty, a controversial decision that will change all their lives forever. Flash forward ten years. A true-crime docuseries reassembles the jury, with particular focus on Maya, now a defense attorney herself. When one of the jurors is found dead in Maya's hotel room, all evidence points to her as the killer. Now, she must prove her own innocence--by getting to the bottom of a case that is far from closed. As the present-day murder investigation entwines with the story of what really happened during their deliberation, told by each of the jurors in turn, the secrets they have all been keeping threaten to come out--with drastic consequences for all involved.
"Exhilarating . . . a fiendishly slippery game of cat-and-mouse suspense and a provocative, urgent inquiry into American justice (and injustice) in the twenty-first century."--A. J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window It's the most sensational case of the decade. Fifteen-year-old Jessica Silver, heiress to a billion-dollar real estate fortune, vanishes on her way home from school, and her teacher, Bobby Nock, a twenty-five-year-old African American man, is the prime suspect. The subsequent trial taps straight into America's most pressing preoccupations: race, class, sex, law enforcement, and the lurid sins of the rich and famous. It's an open-and-shut case for the prosecution, and a quick conviction seems all but guaranteed--until Maya Seale, a young woman on the jury, convinced of Nock's innocence, persuades the rest of the jurors to return the verdict of not guilty, a controversial decision that will change all their lives forever. Flash forward ten years. A true-crime docuseries reassembles the jury, with particular focus on Maya, now a defense attorney herself. When one of the jurors is found dead in Maya's hotel room, all evidence points to her as the killer. Now, she must prove her own innocence--by getting to the bottom of a case that is far from closed. As the present-day murder investigation entwines with the story of what really happened during their deliberation, told by each of the jurors in turn, the secrets they have all been keeping threaten to come out--with drastic consequences for all involved.
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Community Reviews
This was a very good legal suspense story. I liked the writing style and the characters were well written. Told in alternating time frames, this is really two mysteries in one. In 2009, Maya Seale is a young woman on the jury for a murder case. Jessica, a 15 year girl, vanishes on her way home from school and her teacher, Bobby Nock is the prime suspect. The case seems pretty open and shut, until Maya, who is convinced of Bobby's innocence, persuades the rest of the jurors to turn in a not guilty verdict. Fast forward 10 years and Maya is now a defense attorney. The anniversary of the Booby/Jessica trial is coming up and a true crime docuseries gathers all the jurors for a reunion. Maya is last to commit and has avoided talking about the case to anyone. The present day story focuses on the reunion but when one of the jurors is found dead in Maya's room, the story shifts to pointing to Maya as the killer.
The present day murder investigation weaves together the story of what really happened 10 years ago in the deliberating room. I especially liked that each juror told what happened. They've all been keeping secrets and are faced with another difficult decision today. Although you have to suspend belief somewhat, there were twists I didn't see coming.
The present day murder investigation weaves together the story of what really happened 10 years ago in the deliberating room. I especially liked that each juror told what happened. They've all been keeping secrets and are faced with another difficult decision today. Although you have to suspend belief somewhat, there were twists I didn't see coming.
What if a jury got it wrong? How would those people feel many years after the fact? What if there were outside forces that drove their decision making??
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