The Juror [Mass Market Paperback]

George Dawes Green (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1995

Annie Laird is Juror 224. A sculptor with a career going nowhere. A single mother struggling to raise a son. A good citizen who has been summoned to what looks like a rountine tour of civic duty. But the trial she is called to serve on is no ordinary trial. It is a mob trial, whose outcome has been meticulously orchestrated by a man of insidious power and deadly precision. A man who lives by the teachings of Lao Tsu...whose magnetism is irresistible...whose mind is as brilliant as it is twisted. He is know to some as the Teacher, and he's set his sights on Annie Laird.

Pulled into the most chilling depths of the criminal underworld, Annie will be seduced by double-edged promises, stalked by the spector of terror, then, finally, driven to a shocking decision by the most basic motivation a woman can know. THE JUROR is a tour de force of crime and obsession, evil and innocence -- a story that taps into fears so primal they linger long after the last page has been read.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Single mother and struggling sculptress Annie Laird makes a huge mistake when she joins the jury at the Westchester murder trial of mob boss Louie Buffano. Immediately, Annie is contacted by "the Teacher," the sleek, Lao Tse-quoting eminence grise behind Buffano, who makes it clear that life, and that of her son Oliver, depend on her saying two words: "Not guilty." And so begins Green's (The Caveman's Valentine) masterfully manipulative thriller, a gem of deft plotting given added lustre through its rich, if not wholly cohesive, characterizations. Annie is an especially fine creation, victimized by her whipsawing emotions as she panics, rebels, crosses her conscience and plots to trap the Teacher. The Teacher is equally complex, an utterly logical madman whose portrait is flawed only by his unlikely romantic obsession with Annie (Buffano alone is a throwaway character, too clearly modeled on John Gotti). The plot, jittering from one brutal, clever twist to the next, will keep readers in a cold sweat. Green pushes buttons without remorse, always keeping his finger poised above the one marked "Oliver's death"-and as it descends at book's end, the tension is nearly unbearable. 200,000 first printing; major ad/promo; Literary Guild and Doubleday Main Selection; audio rights to Time Warner AudioBooks.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Annie Laird is a single mother, a part-time data entry clerk, an aspiring sculptor, and a juror selected for the murder trial of a mob boss. When a suave, handsome art broker buys some of her work and then invites her to dinner, she thinks her luck may be changing. Her supposed admirer, a Wall Street financier and Taoist nicknamed "The Teacher," is actually the brains behind the jailed mobster. The Teacher is incredibly charming; he's also a vicious killer. He promises Annie the continued safety of her son and the assurance of a lucrative artistic career in exchange for help in acquitting the mobster. But even if Annie agrees to the plan, she and her son may not be safe because the Teacher soon discovers he's in love with her. This novel by the author of The Caveman's Valentine (LJ 12/93) is less a courtroom drama than a gripping psychological cat-and-mouse game. It should be in very high demand in public libraries.
Charles Michaud, Turner Free Lib., Randolph, Mass.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (November 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446602698
• ISBN-13: 978-0446602693
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,753,995 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but not Brilliant, July 30, 2001

By 

Adam Dukovich "colts_19" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Juror (Mass Market Paperback)

The Juror is a story of a mafia kingpin's trial and the hell it causes for a single mother named Annie Laird. She lives at home with her son, sculpts all night and works as a clerk all day. One day she is selected as a prospective juror for the most famous case in the land. She wants some excitement in her life, so she agrees. Soon her life is twisted upside down by a seductive, powerful man known as the Teacher. She must vote to acquit the mob boss if she wants her friends and son to live. The story doesn't end with the trial. The Teacher still wants her after it is over, and when she betrays him, he wants blood. The reason this book is so good is because of its characters. You can feel the characters resonating off the page. The Teacher with his reserved fury, Annie and her fear and determination. The book grabs you in. It is not perfect, it has a couple of tedious and repetitious sexual references and passages. Anyway, this is a powerful book, and very plausible. Very original. Check it out.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Only Partly plausible, April 15, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Juror (Hardcover)

The premise, jury tampering, is plausible and smacks of John Grisham's The Runaway Jury, with a twist at the end of the trial. It is at this twist that I feel the author takes leave of reality and slips into fantasy where the all-knowing villain can bug, anything, track anything and thwart any attempt to capture him, without explaining how all this was accomplished. A little foray into cults, a little sex and a lot of violence make this novel less plausible

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Stylish, worthwhile followup to Caveman, December 12, 2001

By 

Robert P. Beveridge "xterminal" (Lakewood, OH) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Juror (Mass Market Paperback)

George Dawes Green, The Juror (Warner, 1995)

George Dawes Green wrote The Caveman's Valentine, which netted him the Edgar. He then followed it up with the euqally acclaimed The Juror, and proceeded to drop off the face of the earth, foiling a carefully-plotted career as a bestselling mystery novelist. Go figure. Based on the quality of his first two books, a whole lot of folks wish he'd come back.

Green's second novel introduces us to The Teacher, a part-time mob enforcer, Taoist, and grower of rare orchids whose present job entails tampering with a jury to make sure his part-time employer doesn't go to jail. Problem is, the Teacher starts getting emotionally involved the the juror, and the two of them end up doing a rather dysfunctional dance that ends up with a whole lot of people dying.

It's an absorbing novel, and a quick read. The characters are strongly drawn and identifiable, and the plot is excellently paced. The book's main flaw is that it relies a bit much on coincidences (of the "of all the gin joints in the world..." variety) that stretch credibility too far. But mystery novels rely on coincidence, and so we have to be willing to forgive Green in order to bask in the luxury of his writing. And it is certainly worth forgiving him, as the characters he creates here will be with you long after you turn the last page. *** 1/2