Wow. I wasn't expecting this. I really enjoy courtroom thrillers and this was excellent.

Incredibly fast paced with some added twists that I didn't see coming, I raced through it as I was desperate to find out how things would end.

Really enjoyable.

Unfortunately I just couldn’t get into this one. I don’t really read many legal thrillers and found there to be too many characters and kept going back and forth. I’m clearly in the minority as this seems to be a popular book but it just wasn’t for me!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ecopy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I do love a court room drama/thriller and Graham Moore's "The Holdout" is a very fine example, but with lots of differences.

The trial is over so the court room drama element is not particularly relevant to the current story, although it is! The trial is revisited in the thoughts and memories of the jurors and it is in this area that a new "thriller" element is introduced to the story. I am often awestruck by the complicated minds of thriller writers and "The Holdout" is fiendishly plotted and full of red herrings and all the classic elements of a good, even old-fashioned thriller.

Highly recommended at every level.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC.

Fast-paced, great read. It's almost an updated version of a closed room murder mystery - limited cast of characters so whodunnit?

Everyone has moved on from being jurors on one of the most high profile/controversial cases or have they? Maya Seale certainly has or wants to leave it in the past, it has been ten years enough already. However a true crime pod cast type show is coming and Maya is encouraged to take part, from a juror to now a lawyer her bosses heavily encourage it. It doesn't seem so bad, drinks, catch ups and things seemingly going much better than she could have hoped, until someone is murdered - in her hotel room and now Maya is in another role, the accused!

Oooh this is good, split between now and then - mostly present day but we get throw backs to the past and the all important case. Race, pedophilia, murder the case covered everything it should have been a slam dunk but one juror put a spanner in the works. Present day, Maya being accused of murder and having to be represented herself.

It is smart, engaging, pacey and has not one but two mysterious for the readers to guess at and ponder over, can I just say I got neither correct! Legal dramas, a who done it, shady secrets, pasts that would rather be forgotten by many. The case from years ago cannot be put to bed because Maya has to work out who killed the person and even more important how to prove she didn't do it.

A bit of a murder she wrote, some red herrings - I went off on a few chains of thought and was wrong wrong wrong. A book that keeps you on your toes, guessing. A wee spoiler or two dropped in relation to Agatha Christie's books which hopefully by the time I get to them I will have forgotten the references. This is my first time reading this author, I would absolutely read his other stuff, kept me guessing, 4/5 for me.

Fantastic
I was engrossed in this book couldn't put it down
Would definitely recommend to others
Definitely deserves a 4 star
The characters and storyline were brilliant

This was the last book that I had on my NetGalley shelf from before this year and I’m kicking myself for not reading it sooner! This book was so much more than I thought it was going to be (and I already had thought it was going to be good)! The novel mainly follows Maya Searle, a lawyer in Los Angeles. Ten years ago she served on a jury and was responsible for persuading her eleven fellow jurors to return a verdict of Not Guilty in the trial where Bobby Nock stood accused of murdering his student. Now the past is back to haunt Maya when one of the jurors finds her and asks her to come to a reunion for a TV show. I loved that the main narrative is Maya’s but throughout the novel we hear from other members of the jury and find out their perspectives on the trial. There is a lot of discussion about race and the unconscious, and sometimes very overt, opinions we form on others. This was such a gripping book, one of those that is very hard to put down. I highly recommend it!

The Holdout is a courtroom, legal drama thriller following lawyer Maya. She was one of the jurors that found a black man "not guilty" of murdering a white teenage girl. Years later a TV company wants to do a documentary about the jury members and how the case has affected them and promising new evidence which shows the verdict was wrong.
I liked the dual timeline of today and the past, that made it harder to put the book down.

After a teenage girl, Jessica Silver goes missing, it isn’t long before her teacher, Bobby Nock, is accused of her murder. He’s brought to trial and the evidence appears damning: The two were having a relationship with inappropriate messages exchanged between them; her DNA is found on both the passenger seat and in the boot of his car, and he lied as to his whereabouts on the night of her disappearance.

It isn’t long before he’s brought to trial and a jury is sworn in. During the trial, two jurors begin a relationship, defying the rules against such a thing. Maya Seale is an idealistic young woman while Rick Leonard is working on a PhD in urban planning. They are falling in love. Until that is, it comes to the deliberation. For then they discover they’re on opposing sides. Everyone agrees that Bobby Nock is guilty, except for Maya who believes there’s reasonable doubt. As the holdout on the jury, she argues her case and slowly exhausts everyone to come over to her side. It’s the right thing to do perhaps, but a Pyrrhic victory as far as her personal life is concerned, for it destroys her relationship with Rick.

Years later Maya is a successful lawyer, while Rick has spent his years trying to prove that Bobby Nock was guilty and that Maya made a terrible mistake. He approaches her outside of court saying that a documentary team wishes to reenact the trial and that he has new evidence that will prove Nock’s guilt once and for all. She reluctantly takes part and one of the jurors is murdered, Maya becoming the prime suspect.

This novel is told in intervening timelines, the original trial of Bobby Nock and the arguments and deliberations in the jury room, and the present day where Maya is trying to prove her innocence, something that forces her to reinvestigate the original case. It’s all handled with aplomb and self-assurance. But personally, this book just didn’t come alive for me. It’s become something of a sensation, with a Netflix series adaptation in the works, but for me, it just lacked a certain magic.

As a British reader, what I did find interesting were the differences between US law and procedure (in this case that of the state of California) and the UK. The fallout of the case is such, with Bobby Nock having been tried in the court of public opinion, that the not guilty verdict has real ramifications for the jurors. This is something that doesn’t happen in the UK, as contempt of court legislation means that there are reporting restrictions on what can be reported during a trial. Furthermore, it is illegal to report the goings-on and deliberations that take place within juries in the UK. So members of UK juries are never subjected to this kind of scrutiny and criticism.

Another striking difference was the treatment of sex offenders. Apparently, in California, someone on the sex offenders register has to literally knock on all the doors in the neighbourhood to announce his or her presence when they move into an area. What this leads to is sex offenders being ostracised and banished from society and setting up their own little communities. There are trailers parks consisting entirely of sex offenders. Now, sex offenders are not a sympathetic constituency, and I’m not suggesting that people should feel sorry for them. That said, you don’t need to be the caricature of a bleeding heart liberal to see this as akin to something from the middle ages, and imagine that it does more harm than good. Surely these people need to be treated and monitored, rather than left to their own devices in makeshift ghettoes?

These elements, fascinating though they may be to a British reader, make up just a small fraction of the book, and the novel is in the main a legal thriller akin to something that John Grisham might write. In my opinion, it’s a good book, but not great, though if you’re a fan of the genre you might like it more than I did.

A mystery where the “detective” is not actually with the police, but a lawyer. Ten years before the beginning of the novel, Maya Seal was drafted as juror in a high-visibility abduction-possible-murder case where a guilty verdict seemed the obvious result… only Maya wasn’t convinced, and managed to bring the whole jury to vote not guilty.

I really enjoyed this novel. As the prime suspect in the murder, and after the controversy that followed the trial from 10 years ago, Maya is well aware that no one is going to cut her some slack—on the contrary!—and that if she doesn’t do something, she may very well be found guilty. And so, she embarks on her own investigation, trying to root out the truth from her former fellow jurors as well as from the previous trial’s defendant. And all along, things are never truly certain, for there are in fact two mysteries, not just one. Was that man actually guilty, or not? And, of course, who’s the culprit in the recent murder?

It’s difficult to write much about this novel, for fear of accidental spoilers, but I can at least say that overall, I liked the characters (they all had their good sides and their darker little secrets), and I found the pacing appropriate.

One thing that I deeply regretted, though: one of the chapters completely spoils the endings to several Agatha Christie novels. Yes, I know, I know, by now the whole world is supposed to have read them, but I guarantee this is not the case (so now, I need to wait a few more years until I forget the spoilers to read those Christie stories…). I don’t know why authors do that, but please don’t. Seriously, don’t. I’d have made it a 4* book, but this kind of stunt makes me feel obligated to dock a half star just on principle.

Conclusion: 3.5 stars.

Written by Oscar winning script writer Graham Moore, this book is about a jury who found a young black teacher not guilty for the the murder of a teenage white girl. The case was huge and the jury members became infamous, so for the 10th anniversary a documentary is being made with the jury members, as one of them says he has proof they got the verdict wrong.

I really enjoyed the twists and turns of this book, as more than one mystery develops. Moore does a great job of showing how difficult it is to be on a jury, as well as showing how biased the justice system and society itself can be. There are of course times when the story becomes far-fetched, but I don’t think that detracts from the look at real issues.

Unsurprisingly Moore is already creating a movie based on the book, which I cannot wait to see.

This is the first courtroom drama I have read for a while and I'm not sure if I just wasn't in the mood for this genre. I have to admit but it didn't really grab me. There were parts that were a little convoluted and long winded for me, I really struggled to finish it.

Read for an honest review. Thank you Mr Moore, Netgalley and Orion Publishing Group

A clever premise and a gripping legal thriller and whodunnit - definitely one for the big screen. I loved this book, with its twists, turns, shocks and surprises. A diverse cast of characters, with a strong female protagonist, and a tight plot and great writing too.

I felt this was a bit long-winded with a lot of the story about nothing really. The female lead character could have been stronger and more assertive to match the story. A gentle twist at the end.

Great idea for a book and initially well executed although I found the story dragged a little in the middle. Well researched.

Review: The Holdout by Graham Moore
"She stabbed her husband while he was sleeping and then cut off his head with a pair of garden shears."
The actions of Belen Vasquez, client of Maya Seale, may seem extreme, but how does anyone know how they would respond to years of abuse. When enough is enough and you finally snap, all that built up rage and anger must just flow, giving a person unknown strength to commit horrendous acts of pain upon their abuser.
However, there has to be limits surely. Perhaps driving around with a severed head of the dash was a step too far.
Maya herself also has a secret. One she has tried desperately hard to hide. She was pushed into the limelight years ago and not necessarily for the right reasons and therefore even her own property was purchased through a company in order to make sure her address was hidden from prying eyes and yet still she has been found.
But what is this dark secret that she is running away from?
Ten years ago, Bobby Nock was found not guilty for the murder of Jessica Silver. A jury of his peers had come to this conclusion after listening to all the facts in a court room. Maya had been one of those twelve people who had agreed it was the right verdict.
Bobby Nock was accused of being a child killer but they jury found him not guilty. Ten years on, it’s still something people talk about. In fact, 84% of the population believing he was actually guilty.
Jessica Silver's parents were worth a fortune, three billion dollars to be precise so it was a high-profile case. The couple threw everything they could at the case in the hopes that Bobby Nock would be convicted, but still the verdict came back not guilty.
But was it the right verdict?
Rick Leonard, one of the jurors for the case, has been unable to settle since the verdict ten years ago. So much so, that he has spent all of his time researching the case, writing a book and is now trying to convince all the original jurors to take part in some kind of reconstruction where he will introduce potentially new information.
Rick and Maya haven’t really spoken since the verdict was delivered but after gentle persuasion, Maya agrees to take part in his big unveiling. The problem is she isn't sure she will see the case any differently. She was adamant back then that Bobby was innocent so she feels she in unlikely to change her mind, even after she hears what Rick has got to say.
However, it seems that things were never meant to run smoothly for this group of jurors because on the evening before Rick is due to share what, he believes, is damming evidence against Bobby Nock, he is found dead in Maya's hotel suite.
... she saw a body in the floor. Somehow she stopped herself from screaming. It was Rick. His arms were splayed out at unnatural angles. His white shirt was stained with blood. A dark red halo pooled around his head... "
Is this a premeditated murder? Did someone want something to remain hidden? How is Maya involved?
Maya, it seems, now has an even bigger fight on her hands. Rick was found in her hotel room and there is not a single witness to support her claim that she wasn’t there. Will she herself now be convicted for a crime she says she has not committed?

My Thoughts on The Holdout

Even before this book was published I had heard some much about it that I couldn’t wait to grab a copy.
Sophie Hannah said it was 'the most gripping and satisfying thriller I've read in more than a decade' and Caroline Kepnes said that The Holdout was ‘a tense, emotionally charged, scary-good, stand-out read', so ignoring it was not an option.

With two different threads running alongside one another, I flew through the pages wanting to find out what would happen to both Maya and Bobby Nock. I had to keep asking myself did either of them actually commit a murder or are they both being set up? And honestly I kept swinging between both guilty and not guilty.
As the tension rose in the novel I could feel myself getting more excited by the prospect of finding out the truth. I wanted to know how someone could be capable of potentially getting away with murder. I watch so many detective shows where the killer is always caught out at the end that I suppose I over-analysed the storyline to a certain degree, hoping to realise the moment where they slipped up before it was revealed to me.

I latched onto ideas, playing detective myself and then had to abandon them when new information was provided. It meant that my Graham kept my attention throughout; I needed to know who had done it. I was so absorbed with the novel that when the final twist came I was captivated. I didn’t see it coming because I had become so engrossed and obsessed with a certain thread that I had hooked onto.
The Holdout is an all-consuming legal thriller that challenges anything written by John Grisham and one I was sorry to finish.

Have you read The Holdout or any other of Graham Moore’s novels? Perhaps you will be more familiar with one of his screenplays.

Written by Graham Moore — The courtroom drama is a familiar and well worn trope in the land of crime fiction. The likes of John Grisham have made a fortune out of it, Michael Connelly has created his own little niche with his Lincoln Lawyer, Mickey Haller, and one of the best books of recent years, Thirteen by Steve Cavanagh, managed to find a whole new angle for it.

Has Academy Award-winning scriptwriter and bestselling author Graham Moore managed to follow suit? Well yes, and no. There’s more than a touch of Sidney Lumet’s iconic movie 12 Angry Men here, although as the book is set in the 21st century, this particular jury has female as well as male members. One of those females is Maya Seale, a young, idealistic woman who is about to make waves – and headlines – in the trial of a young black man accused of murdering a well-to-do, blonde and beautiful teenager who was one of his pupils.

We first meet Maya in the present day, 10 years after the trial that changed her life, and the lives of every other jury member. She’s now a defence lawyer with a prominent Los Angeles law firm and although she is unhappy at still being known as THAT juror, it certainly hasn’t done her career any harm.

You see, Maya was the holdout on a jury that was convinced of the guilt of supply teacher Bobby Nock. But Maya disagreed, and gradually she managed to turn everyone else around to her way of thinking. Jessica Silver’s body was never found and her killer has never been caught – and ever since, Maya has tried to distance herself from it all.

When the the 10th anniversary of the case looms, one of Maya’s fellow jurors gets in touch. Rick Leonard tells her a TV network is planning a special programme and wants to get all of the original jurors together once more. Maya says no – she’s unhappy to revisit what occurred in the juror room. But then her bosses put pressure on her and she acquiesces, reluctantly.

It soon becomes clear that Maya and Rick have history, and she invites him to her room at the hotel where the jurors were sequestered back then and where the TV company has booked them for programme recording. They row, she leaves to cool off and returns to find Rick murdered. Suddenly, Maya sees the legal process from a completely different angle – that of the accused. Can she prove her innocence and find the killer?

Her digging reveals that Rick had been obsessed with the case, and kept in-depth files on each juror. What Maya finds in those files prompts her to rethink everything she so vehemently believed a decade ago. Did her actions back then allow a guilty man to go free?

The Holdout is a niftily plotted book that I can definitely see being made into a movie or TV series, with the narrative skipping from viewpoint to viewpoint and jumping between decades like a frog on a lily pad. This is a little disconcerting at first, but once you get into the narrative flow it is easier to navigate. There are also twists and revelations aplenty, some of which may not come as much of a surprise, while others will leave you gasping. Sitting in the midst of the maelstrom is Maya, a multi-layered character who is by turns hugely likeable and utterly frustrating.

So there’s plenty to like here, so why, ultimately, did I feel a little deflated? The Holdout is being feted as one of the books of the year, but for me this is a little overblown. It’s an enjoyable read, but not up to the high bar set by Thirteen.

A courtroom tussle plays a big part in Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughan. Lawyer-turned-crime-writer Neil White writes about what he knows in Next to Die, reviewed here.

Orion
Print/Kindle/iBook
£6.99

CFL Rating: 3 Stars

Twelve jurors, a controversial murder case which appears to be a slam dunk, except for one holdout. That's the premise for this intelligent, entertaining thriller from Graham Moore.

In 2009, black teacher, Bobby Nock, was on trial for murdering his white fifteen-year-old pupil Jessica, who also happened to heiress to a billion dollar fortune. All the evidence was stacked against him, but with no physical proof and no body, young juror Maya was unwilling to convict.

Now, years later, the jurors are reunited for a documentary about the case that made national headlines. Maya is now a successful lawyer in her own right, but she's dragged back into the past when one of her fellow jurors is found murdered in her hotel room. She starts her own investigation into the current case and what really happened to Jessica all those years ago.

Set against the backdrop of Los Angeles, weaving between past and present, Moore unravels a twisty-turny legal thriller, and a two-for-one murder mystery. The narrative cycles through the other jurors but Maya is the star of the show. She's a strong but complex protagonist, and we follow her journey from a relatively naive young juror, to a capable successful lawyer, to a woman on the run, desperate for answers.

This is a well-crafted mystery which touches on topics of racism and elitism and the explores the legal system in LA. There's layers on layers and an unlikeable cast of characters which had me unsure who to trust. It gets a little wild and unbelievable in the final third of the novel but if you're sucked into the story you'll go with it, and the less you know the better. This is the type of book that had me racing through the pages but, honestly I read this a few months ago now and I have to admit it didn't leave that much of a lasting impression - but it makes a great thriller to escape into for a few hours.

Well, where do I start. First of all this book is guaranteed to take you on quite a journey! The plot shows both the present and the past. With each timeline revealing a little bit more information to increase both my curiosity and the tension. You see Maya in the present along with going back ten years to the time when she served on a jury which ended in a very controversial decision.

The whole idea of a mixed bunch of characters taking part in jury service is very intriguing. Putting together all those different personalities and seeing what happens if they agree or disagree with each other. The group of characters worked so well in this book providing some tension, conflict and the pressure of having to cooperate to get that very important verdict! As with any group of people they all have different opinions which brings so much trouble along the way. I’ve never really liked the idea of being called up for jury service and after finishing this book it’s safe to say that I’m even more against the idea.

The Holdout moves at a steady pace but easily kept my attention throughout. I loved the fact that I was kept on my toes with quite a few surprises dotted here and there to catch me unawares. There are moments where things perhaps get a little far fetched but I do think it added to the overall entertainment factor of the story. It is best to go into the story knowing very little then the twists and turns will be worth it even more. The Holdout captured my attention from the very beginning with a mystery that had me intrigued the whole way through!

Excellent book that kept me gripped throughout. A completely unexpected twist in the story too. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest and unbiased opinion.