THIS SUMMARY/REVIEW WAS COPIED FROM OTHER SOURCES AND IS USED ONLY AS A REMINDER OF WHAT THE BOOK WAS ABOUT FOR MY PERSONAL INTEREST. ANY PERSONAL NOTATIONS ARE FOR MY RECOLLECTION ONLYPersonal note:Having a hard time keeping my interest on this one and all the techno stuff, however, I stuck with it and ending was pretty good.As others, why was this named Jury-I wonder if Martini ever had a client he liked. It seems as if all of the clients that Paul Madriani and Harry Hinds deal with are arrogant snobs of one sort or another. This time, a genetics scientist is accused of murdering a colleague. The mystery advances slowly through the legal wrangling, and the mystery, once resolved make sense. As usual, Martini leaves the reader sitting there saying, "duh.. all the clues were there!" along with the requisite red herrings. This makes for a good reading, but once more, not necessarily anything exceptional. Martini writes fine legal thrillers-- but his characters lack dimension. Martini has a lot in common with John Lescroart, except Lescroart's characters have life, emotions, feelings, etc.Once again, this was a good read, but not exceptional. ***************Paul Madriani has a real winner of a client this time around. Dr. David Crone is accused of the brutal murder of a co-worker of his, Kalista Jordan. The State’s strongest piece of evidence is the ties found on the doctor, and the fact that the defendant isn’t doing well in the court of public opinion.Likes: This was an interesting case. Harry, for all of his temper problems, has quite a way with people. Well, most people anyway. I don’t think Harry liked their client. Paul spent his extra time trying to get the child of a friend into a special study.Dislikes: It’s a bad sign in a murder mystery when you don’t care much for either the victim or the accused. Both Drs. Crone and Jordan had nasty attitudes that would push the patience of the saints. She was determined to ruin him, and he was trying--or wishing--to change the diverse reactions to race. Also, there was a lot of techno-speak here. This path leads to confusion.
“The Jury,” a legal thriller, was the first novel I’ve read by Steve Martini. For the most part I’m not a big fan of legal thrillers. I never have been able to get into John Grisham’s novels, though I do thoroughly enjoy Michael Connelly’s ‘Mickey Haller’ books. I did enjoy ‘The Jury’ and I will definitely read more of his works. Although this is only the first novel of Mr. Martini’s I’ve read, I will say (in my opinion) I didn’t find it as good as Connelly. But in all fairness to Mr. Martini, Connelly is one of my favorite authors. The book was interesting, fast moving and enjoyable. I finished it in 3 nights. There was also a very good unexpected twist at the end which I enjoyed. My ONLY criticism—and this is just my opinion based on my tastes—there was virtually no ‘personal’ stuff. I do like when an author delves into the personal life of characters, even to a small scale. What kind of movies does he like? What’s his sense of humor? Musical tastes? What food does he enjoy eating? There was none of that in this novel.Mr Martini focuses on his main characters—Paul Madriani and Harry Hinds—on only a professional level. Basically, when they’re off the clock and not working on the case, we see no insight to their lives. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. But just, for my own taste, I enjoy knowing something about the characters I’m following, if for no other reason than to identify with them and make them more real.The only other issue I raise is the title. Again, not a big deal really. Just interesting because in this legal thriller entitled 'The. Jury," the jury is totally unimportant This is a mostly enjoyable book. If you like legal thrillers, you’ll like this book. If you LOVE legal thrillers, you’ll love this book.
Do You like book The Jury (2002)?
In San Diego, partners Paul Madriani and Harry Hinds are working on a case defending Dr. David Crone, a geneticist, accused of murdering his associate Kalista Jordan who was asphyxiated by a cable tie. One of the reasons Paul wanted to take this case was he had gone to Dr. Crone for help some time earlier concerning a family which his daughter knew. The Boyd's have three children and one of the girls, Penny, is fighting for her life. But when their insurance dries up they are at wits end. So Paul went on a mission to help them with Dr. Crone's help, only to end up at another dead end. As the case begins, the prosecutor brings in a witness that has information that Dr. Crone had not made his lawyers aware of. This infuriated Hinds and both pump Crone to ensure he has been upfront and truthful about all other information relative to the case. Although what he will not expose to them, or any of his associates, is what they are working on now. They claim it is much too confidential and Crone could compromise all their hard work and possibly even get fired. As the trial goes on, there are more inconsistencies. Now Madriani and Hinds are fearful they perhaps took on the Crone's case without enough background of this man. Another thing that is strange, is why Jordan took this job at the Genetics Centre when she was being pursued by many other firms offering much much more money. Have Madriani and Hinds taken off more than they can chew?I gave 'The Jury' a 3 because I did find it a very slow read at the start. I had to keep going back to it. Although I do appreciate a surprise ending when I believed I had it already figured out.
—Carol MacInnis
Today I finished THE JURY by Steve Martini, a legal novel I read in 8 days, sticking with it to the end to learn the final ruling. Paul Martini represents Dr. David Chrone, a professor in molecular electronics at a university, charged with the murder of Dr. Kalista Jordan, a doctor he recently employed, who suffered a painful death by asphyxiation, found dead with cable ties around her neck. Evan Tannery represents Dr. Chrone in Judge Coats courtroom, spends time talking about cable ties, trying to encourage the jury that the candidate who killed Kalista was a doctor since her head stayed on after the killing. Her killing happened shortly after some sensitive papers disappeared from Dr. Chrone's office after crossing several access levels, and the 2 doctors exchanged some unfriendly words after the papers disappeared. Later, the book suggests that Kalista's murder happened to keep her from revealing what she had learned on the job.Judge Coats lets the counsel know he is aware that they have not revealed all of their secrets. Tannery tells Coats he wants to drop the charges against David Crone who becomes a free man after spending 2 months in jail during the trial.
—Darren Ashley
This was the first Steve Martini book I read. It was a bad choice when I bought it. Would think twice before buying another one. The plot moves so slow that it takes time to get used to it and though the title is "The Jury", there is no jury in this book. Don't know what the author was thinking while naming the book. The entire plot is a bit hard fetched and there is a twist in the climax which is least expected. Was in a bind whether to give two stars or three. Since the book was not so bad as to stop reading, I give it three stars. Some people might like it.
—Rohit P. Enghakat
