Juror Number Eleven [Hardcover]

Terry Devane (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2002

The legal duo of O'Clare and Gold have just completed the successful defense of Gold's boyhood friend, Big Ben Friedman, on a murder charge. But no sooner has the trial ended than Mairead receives a mysterious phone call from Juror Number Eleven saying she must see her right away.

When Mairead arrives at Conchita Balaguer's house, all she finds is an unlocked door-and Juror Number Eleven's lifeless body. The prime suspect is none other than Big Ben Friedman. And this time, a "not guilty" verdict seems far from certain.

Jeffery Deaver called Terry Devane's first courtroom thriller "sly and brilliant." With Juror Number Eleven, Devane delivers another winner.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

No sooner are criminal defense aces Sheldon Gold and Mairead O'Clare successful at getting Boston gangster Big Ben Friedman acquitted of murder than the eponymous Juror Number Eleven is found dead in her home just after she places an urgent call for help to O'Clare. Terry Devane's sophomore legal thriller brings back O'Clare and Gold and their support staff not to mention a host of colorful witnesses and suspects, from an elderly doctor who looks like Yoda and has a penchant for 20th-century Russian composers to a once-blind hardware store owner who miraculously regained his sight for another round of sleuthing, courtroom drama, rapid-fire dialogue and wry humor.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

Sleuthing, courtroom drama, rapid-fire dialogue and wry humor. (Publishers Weekly) A wonderfully appealing heroine. (Tess Gerritsen) Multiple plot - and subplot - twists. (Kirkus Reviews) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 311 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult; 1 edition (May 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399148868
• ISBN-13: 978-0399148866
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #197,667 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Visit With Old Friends, July 1, 2002

By 

Charles R. Slater - See all my reviews

This review is from: Juror Number Eleven (Hardcover)

Author Terry Devane (a pseudonym) is so accomplished that even though this is only his second legal-mystery novel, we feel his prime characters are old friends. There's the heroine, Mairead O'Clare, a talented young lawyer with lots of spunk and a physical blemish; her boss, attorney Shel Gold, a former boxer whom fate has dealt a blow to the heart; Billie Sunday, the aggressive yet motherly secretary who is raising three boys on her own; and Pontifico Murizzi, the sensitive ex-cop investigator who has his own little secret. You welcome them back and care about them even before you know what the story line is.
And it's a pretty good story line. Gold's childhood friend, the gangster Big Ben Friendman, is on trial, accused of running down a Russian immigrant boy. The Gold-O'Clare team wins an acquittal but then Juror Number Eleven on the panel is found hanged shortly after calling to say she must speak with Mairead. Again a smarting district attorney charges Friedman with the capital crime and this time evoking a not guilty verdict will not be so easy. Seldom is preparation for a trial so well laid out, and Devane is positively brilliant weaving together four individual's stories while keeping the plot moving toward a most satisfactory if unexpected conclusion. Unexpected because the clue is so subtly sewn into the fabric of the narrative that it is almost impossible to detect and thus things wind up rather abruptly. But that's only a quibble, and the only quibble.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars realistic legal thriller, June 8, 2002

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Juror Number Eleven (Hardcover)

Even a gangster deserves a proper legal defense and Shel Gold agrees with that principle when he agrees to represent his childhood friend Ben Friedman on a murder charge. Shel and his associate Mairead O'Clare manage to convince the jury that their client is innocent but during the testimony and the reading of the verdict, JUROR NUMBER ELEVEN constantly stares at Mairead.

When that same Juror Conchita calls Mairead to visit her at her home on a matter unrelated to the trial, the lawyer reluctantly agrees. When she arrives at the home, she find Chita's lifeless body hanging from a rope. The police rule it a homicide and when they find the victim deposited $10,000 in cash into her savings account, they think that Ben tampered with a juror and then killed her to keep from talking. When Ben is charged with Chita's murder, Shel and his associate must find the actual killer if they hope to gain a second acquittal for their client.

JUROR NUMBER ELEVEN is a very realistic legal thriller starring characters it is very easy to like. Readers get to see what is involved in preparing for trial and what is involved in presenting a case. It is even effortless to like the self-admitted gangster because the reader feels the police and the district attorney's office are using his reputation against him, making seem like a scapegoat. Terry Devane is a new and shining light in the legal thriller constellation.

Harriet Klausner

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but annoying., May 23, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Juror Number Eleven (Paperback)

I'm in the process of reading Juror Number Eleven, and so far it's pretty good. However, I find the repeated interruptions of Sister Bernadette's voice in Mariread's head annoying. It breaks up the flow of the story. Sister Bernadette's voice was also in Uncommon Justice. I hope Terry Devane reads my review. Maybe he'll put Sister Bernadette to rest.