The autobiographical book, Juror Number 2: The Story of a Murder, The Agony of a Neighborhood, by Efrem Sigel is the gripping tale of Efrem’s experience as a juror in a trial involving a horrific double murder, borne from the poverty and neglect children experience growing up in the projects in New York’s Harlem district and the failure of the educational system in the area. After the trial Efrem researched and interviewed people associated with the projects, the school system, the government, the judicial system, the police, and several philanthropic organizations created to alleviate the problems. The book is in turn compelling, disturbing, engaging, and boring. While most of the book is a page turning, interesting read, wherein we learn the backgrounds of the witnesses and defendant and the history of the projects, etc, the book gets bogged down with numbers and statistics regarding school performance and levels of math and language proficiency. I would have preferred more descriptive language to make it read more smoothly and easily, like the rest of the book.

this was a great true crime book, it had what I was looking for in a true crime book. It had what I was looking for in this type of book.

Compelling read. Sigel takes you into the world of poverty and crime and gives insight on why some kids turn to gangs. I could not put it down.

This book kept me on the edge of my seat with every page turn. I love how the author described each character. I will read again!

Well written account of both a murder trial and the author's subsequent quest to find answers to his questions. The research was thorough and many facts and details resulting from his research are organized and flow well. Reading his opinions about what influences a criminal lifestyle was interesting and thought provoking.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book to read and review the. The opinions expressed here are my own.

I was really looking forward to starting to read this book because I have never read anything from a juror's viewpoint before. However, my excitement vanished when I started to read. I didn't feel like there was enough information about the case, and the second half of the book completely lost me. Don’t get me wrong, these details are fascinating and very important in explaining the criminality rate and why and how kids get into crime. But for someone from Europe with next to zero knowledge of New York, the second part won’t be interesting at all. You will find it interesting only if you have a pre-existing interest in the issue, however, it will lead to a casual reader losing interest in the book.

3 stars Thanks to The Writer's Press and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC. Publishes November 16, 2020

I enjoyed about three quarters of this book. It started with the first 9 chapters involved in a murder trial - from jury selection through the sentencing of a convicted murderer. The very last two of the 15 chapters brought to date and summed up the lives of the people involved, including all of the jurors. The rest of the book, 4 long and exhausting chapters were a wash.

This is a non-fiction book, and as I said, I enjoyed the trial and after thoughts which comprised 11 chapters. The rest of the book was very exhausting. This author changed from reporting a murder trial to wearisome facts about the New York, proper, educational system. I understand that he was blaming the educational system, along with the police department and housing development assistance, for the plight of young criminals. However his explanation and conclusion went into detail about individual schools - a number of individual schools, right down to good principals and bad principals. Exhausting is the only word for those 4 long drawn out chapters. I would rather have had an 11 chapter book about the trial with a short summary of his findings, than to slog through those 4 chapters of facts and comparisons of NYC schools.

This is probably an author that I will not pick back up again unless recommended by a person who knows my likes and dislikes in a book. It only took those 4 long chapters to ruin, what had been to that point, a pretty good book.

A great start to the book, very informative and an easy book to get into.
The author tells of his time serving on a jury during a gang murder, I enjoyed (if that’s the right word) this section of the book as he recalled the witnesses and the trial.
Personally I didn’t enjoy the middle section when the author after the trial learns of places and how they help people try to avoid gang culture, I felt I lost my way. That’s my personal opinion.
If the book was just about the trial I would have rated it higher.

Thank you NetGalley for a copy of Juror Number 2. Have you ever wondered if society is causing underprivileged kids to become criminals? Lack of education, lack of safe housing, lack of support.... The author wondered about these questions after serving on a jury for a double murder. It’s a short read with a lot of facts about NYC’s educational system, crime rates, public housing and social programs. I found his jury experience very intriguing but all the facts and numbers after the trial drug a bit for me. If you are a numbers person, you’ll love this book.

If you're interested in the American justice system then this book is definitely for you.
It explores what leads youngsters to take the wrong path, whose to blame? Could society do more? It also explains the role of the jury, how they get selected and all thats involved in their selection, and the difficult decisions they have to make, at the end of the day, someone's guilt or innocence is in their hands.

It was quite a heavy read, and admittedly not my usual type of read but none-the-less very thought provoking and I am glad I read it. I have recommended it to a few friends who I believe would enjoy it and at least one has pre-ordered it. Please dont get me wrong, it was an enjoyable and interesting read but for me one I kept having to pick up and put down again to be able to appreciate it and the subjects it raised properly.

I loved the idea of this book, and if you are involved in improving education and young people's life chances in New York, then this might be an eye-opening and enlightening read.

The book starts out discussing the crime committed, the gangs and people involved, and the court case. That was quite interesting. The book then moves on to discussing differences between local schooling and results attained. This part dragged quite a bit - as it wasn't that relevant to me.

It then moved on to what the author discovered, and the charities and groups who are trying to change the system. For me, the book just petered out after the court case, and I read through the last half of it very quickly.

I haven't studied the subject in depth before, but I didn't feel that I learned anything from this book - only about the names and locations of the best and worst performing schools in New York. If that is your area of interest, it will be a good read. But otherwise? I think there must be better books out there about how poor education and upbringing is failing our young communities.

Really liked the idea of this book. I have previously enjoyed books written from the perspective of people working in many differing jobs so this one appealed as a ‘view from’. I have a huge interest in courts and criminality and the proceedings so this was an interesting read.

his book was easy to get into, as I like books about court trials most of the time anyway, and I enjoyed the author’s perspective on this case and the different people involved in it. You could tell that he was way more involved in it than most people, although going through that would affect anyone, really. I took a class on courts as an older teen that required us to go to a nearby courthouse where we sat in on part of a murder trial, and I found it fascinating. It’s stuck with me ever since.

The author, Efrem Sigel, cannot leave the trial behind him afterward. He embarks on a mission to learn about the places and systems involved in the case and starts frequenting them to see what he can learn about how they prepare children or don’t. Advance electronic review copy was provided by NetGalley, author Efrem Sigel, and the publisher.

The author recounts his experience as a juror in a murder trial in New York City. Affected by the trial, he then follows up afterwards by visiting the murder scene, interviewing police, the victim's families, housing authorities and education professionals.
I found the story to be interesting, and easy to read. I wish the author would have went into more detail about the trial itself. I admired his diligence into trying to understand how the murder could have happened in the first place.

Compelling. The story would be interesting solely on the basis of the trial as recounted from the perspective of the juror. Add to that the compulsion to then explore how and why society may have contributed to the creation of criminality and the book reaches a new level. Wonderfully written, the language is descriptive and respectful.

Such an interesting and well-written look into a juror's observance of a trial. the retelling of the trial, and a juror so moved by what happened that he needed to know more and do more. It was super enlightening and a timely read.

I was excited to read this book. A juror who cared enough about the case and the people involved to want to know more? Great. The first half of the book is mainly an abbreviated retelling of the trial, but I wanted more; more about the eye-witnesses cross-examination, anything at all about the police that testified at the trial. The second half of the book focused on programs and policies within NYC that contribute to the cycle of poverty and a discussion of some programs designed to help break it. But I didn't feel like it was written to be fully accessible for those outside NYC. I was provided a free ARC to read and review through Net Galley.

I thought long and hard about how I would rate this book and I settled on three stars. The first half I would have rated higher and the second half I would have rated lower.

Thank you Netgally for allowing me to read This book. This book is about a juror picked for a murder trial involving two rival gangs. This book was good but was a little slow at times.

Thank You NetGalley, Publisher & Author for this gifted e-book.

This was an ok book. Wasn't what I was expecting, I guess a little more suspense.
But this was a true crime novel.

I guess I was expecting way too much!

Overall- Ok Book

I tried so hard to like this book; the premise is great. I'm in education and wanted to know more about the kids (because really they are just kids) involved. How'd they get to where they were in life at such a young age? It fell flat for me. I finished 25% and gave up.