I’ve dived wholeheartedly into the legal thriller in recent years, devouring Take It Back by Kia Abdullah, Thirteen by Steve Cavanagh and several of John Grisham’s backlist to satisfy my craving for more courtroom hijinks, so when The Holdout popped up on NetGalley as a clever new take on the genre from bestselling author and screenwriter of the fantastic film The Imitation Game, I knew I had to take a look, and I was delighted when I was selected by Orion as one of the first jury to make a judgement on the novel.

The Holdout follows the jury tasked with deciding the verdict of the case of the decade, where Bobby Nock, a 25-year old African American teacher is charged with the murder of fifteen-year old Jessica Silver, one of his students. So far, it’s an interesting concept but not so unique in the genre.

Here’s where The Holdout really begins to stand out. The book picks up 10 years after the case in question had concluded, with the jury finding Bobby Nock not guilty of the murder, after Maya, initially the only holdout claiming Bobby’s innocence, manages to convince all 11 other members of the jury to flip their votes.

10 years later the case is still a huge part of every juror’s life. Some have written bestselling expose memoirs, some have lost their jobs and some, like our protagonist Maya, have built their career around it, as she becomes a defence attorney herself. She can’t get rid of the case but her life has settled down a little.

But when Rick, one of her fellow jurors, gets in touch to say they’re filming a reunion TV special where he’ll expose new evidence about the case and they’ll have a landmark ‘re-vote’, secrets from ten years ago threaten to spill out all over again. And when one of the jurors ends up dead at the reunion, all eyes turn to the remaining members as suspects.

The story takes place in 2019, with flashbacks to the original trial in 2009, and primarily follows Maya, though each of the jury members has a POV chapter at some point throughout the novel, giving a great glimpse into each of their personalities and situations. Some of the characters were definitely more developed than others, but when you’re basing a novel on a 12-person jury, there’s always going to have to be some characters who’re more peripheral, and this doesn’t interfere with the reader’s enjoyment at all.

The writing is brilliant. It’s got a cinematic flair, as you’d expect from an author with this background, and it maintains a snippy pace throughout, constantly driving from revelation to revelation. Description is sparingly used but powerful when it is, with several of the more outlandish settings still firmly etched in my mind even a week or so after finishing the book.

The biggest standout for me, as someone who is both a voracious reader and an aspiring writer, is the dialogue. Often one of the more challenging parts of a book, the author is spectacular here. Every line feels real and authentic, and most importantly, sounds like something a real human being would actually say, while maintaining the bite that great written dialogue needs.

Of course, I can’t talk too much on the intricate details of the plot, but safe to say that you will not be disappointed. There’s several fantastic twists, all of the storylines are bought together brilliantly and the climax is inventive, if perhaps slightly twee, though I’m not sure it’s a bad thing. All-in-all I was very disappointed to find myself finishing the last page, and desperately hope for more from the author in the near future.

Your honour, on charges of being an inventive, cinematic and utterly gripping legal thriller, this member of the jury finds The Holdout utterly guilty.

The Holdout is a very immersive novel by Graham Moore. It follows the members of a jury in the wake of a decision they made nine years ago which many, nationwide in America, deem scandalous. One member of the jury, Rick, is racked with guilt. He believes that he was hoodwinked and went against his conscience in deciding to find a man suspected of murder, not guilty. He is determined to bring the jury members back together and reveal new evidence about the case which he has uncovered. But someone is keen to make sure that whatever it is Rick finds, that it remains buried.

I really enjoyed this. From the beginning, I could never be sure if Bobby Nock, the man who was found not guilty of the murder of his student in 2009, was guilty or innocent. Graham Moore kept me guessing, and I wanted to know what evidence, if any, Rick, had supposedly uncovered. Would it be enough to convince the rest of the group of his belief that Bobby was indeed guilty?

I have to say that when I got to the end of this book, one revelation completely floored me, and I don’t think I’ll be forgetting about it for a while. I was expecting it to go one way and Graham Moore pulled the rug out from under my feet. It was very well done, and it didn’t make me feel that that wouldn’t be believable.

Maya was a character who I got on with from the start. Like Rick is with his belief, Maya is steadfast in hers that Bobby is innocent. But her own thoughts on the case throw a spanner in the works when the plot takes an unexpected direction, leaving Maya in a perilous situation that will have a huge impact on the rest of her life. I was rooting for Maya all the way through. I wanted her to succeed in what she was doing, and I had a lot of suspicions about the other members of the jury.

This novel is very well done, and I found the ending very satisfactory. A top read for me!

Loved the sound of the premise, but wasn't as grabbed by the end product as I thought I'd be, Although it's a well written book, I didn't fall in love with the characters enough to buy in to the journey they went on. As I'm sure we all do, there's the on-going guessing game of whodunnit, and I turns out the first thought I had quite early on was pretty much bang on the money, which detracted from how I felt about it at the end. Not a criticism of the author's style though, which made for a story that flowed well enough, and would likely read whatever they bring out next.

This was a great example of a courtroom drama thriller. Lots of investigation, jury moments, cat and mouse stuff.

However, without a memorable antagonist, or driving force (it's never the person you think it is) the central mystery is the only thing driving the plot forward.

Good, but not great. Some well drawn characters mean it's very enjoyable, super readable, just not ultimately memorable.

A thoroughly entertaining really very clever book in the end, especially given all the influences I thought about whilst reading this were referenced by the author himself later in the book...And used to really good effect within the resolution.

Kind of thought provoking too a book with a moral dilemma at the heart of it wrapped up in a mystery element that is very intriguing. 

Great pace, plotting and addictive quality with engaging eclectic characters and a what would you do vibe that'll keep this novel in your head after reading.

Really very good indeed. Fuller review near publication.