Judge & Jury

Patterson, James; Gross, Andrew

4.01

50,340 ratings by Goodreads

ISBN 10: 159483332X ISBN 13: 9781594833328

Publisher: Hachette Audio, 2006

Successfully arresting Dominic "The Electrician" Cavello, an influential mafia boss, in an operation that leaves two fellow agents dead, senior FBI agent Nick Pellisante struggles with internal corruption that could prevent the man's conviction, teaming up with a juror, single mother Andie Echeverra, to take justice into their own hands. Simultaneous.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Review:

And still they come, the James Patterson novels written in tandem with Andrew Gross--the latter a writer we’ve only heard of because... he writes novels in tandem with James Patterson. But as Judge and Jury proves, this is a team that breaks all the rules of these double novels (in which a top writer’s synopsis is worked up by another writer lower down the feeding chain). The Patterson/Gross books are often as compulsive reads as Patterson's solo efforts, and while the tagline of this one ('the ultimate legal thriller') may be optimistic, it's still a pretty pacy piece of work, with a strong central premise.

Struggling actress Andie DeGrasse is finding her acting career in low gear as she copes with the demands of being a single mother. When she finds herself on jury duty, she hopes that she can shuck her responsibilities by telling the judge that she's played a stripper in The Sopranos. But she still finds herself as juror number 11 in a highly important trial involving a mob boss with a really nasty reputation. Bringing Mafia Don Dominic Cavello to trial has been the crowning achievement of senior FBI agent Nick Pellisante, who has been on Cavello's tale for years. The Don, known as ‘The Electrician’, is famous for his many grisly crimes, but this time it looks like he's about to go down for good. But as the jury moves towards a verdict, the Don does something that throws everything into chaos--including the life of actress and reluctant juror Andie. A bitter battle ensues, in which Andie and Nick Pellisante are obliged to form a partnership that will either save both their lives--or end them.

What makes this one particularly diverting is the canny juggling of a variety of elements, all of which are granted equal emphasis by Patterson and Gross. As always with the team, no effort is wasted on elegant writing--this is rigorously functional stuff, designed with one purpose: to keep us reading. And that task the authors pull off with very little effort.

--Barry Forshaw

Book Description:

The jury isn't out. The jury is dead.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.