The Holdout

Starred review from December 9, 2019
This stellar novel from bestseller Moore (The Last Days of Night) takes a searing look at the U.S. justice system, media scrutiny, and racism. A decade earlier, during a high-profile L.A. murder trial, idealist Maya Seale persuaded her fellow jurors to acquit African-American high school teacher Bobby Nock of killing Jessica Silver, his wealthy white 15-year-old student. The controversial trial had a powerful impact on all the jurors, most of whom regretted the verdict. Maya was vilified in the press, but the most stinging rebuke came from juror Rick Leonard, who published a book blaming the verdict on Maya’s bullying. Now the producers of Murder Town, a true crime documentary series, want to do a 10-year anniversary special with Maya, who’s since become a defense attorney, as the key participant. During a reunion of the jurors, one of them is murdered in Maya’s hotel room. The narrative builds tension as it shifts among the voices of the various jurors, including Maya. Moore has set a new standard for legal thrillers. Agent: Jennifer Joel, ICM.

December 15, 2019
A woman finds herself playing multiple roles--juror, attorney, investigator, and suspect--in this legal drama-meets-murder investigation set in Los Angeles. Maya Seale, a white, bilingual transplant from New Mexico, is both a 36-year-old criminal defense attorney and a 26-year-old juror in a novel that jumps between two storylines, one set in 2019 and one in 2009. In the latter, Maya was the lone not-guilty holdout in a Los Angeles jury that eventually flipped and acquitted Bobby Nock, a 25-year-old black part-time English teacher, in a high-profile murder trial. Bobby was accused of killing one of his students, Jessica Silver, the 15-year-old white daughter of a property titan worth billions. But there was no body. Rick Leonard, a black juror, is plagued with guilt over the acquittal and dedicates a decade to discovering the jurors' closely held secrets and proving Bobby's guilt. These efforts result in a deal for an eight-hour true-crime docuseries on Bobby, the trial, and the jurors who acquitted him. After 10 of the 11 living jurors gather at a hotel in 2019 to begin taping, Rick is found dead in Maya's hotel room. The book's second storyline follows Maya, now a murder suspect herself, as she tries to clear her name. Author Moore's (The Last Days of Night, 2016, etc.) background as a screenwriter is apparent in this dialogue-heavy book that features a cast of more than two dozen and two storylines that unfold concurrently. The characters in each might be the same, but they are simultaneously heroes and villains, flawed people with god complexes, and individuals just trying to do their best for themselves and, perhaps, others. The characters' emotions as they argue and discuss issues such as race and justice feel flat, however, as if actors are required to bring their voices to life. An intriguing story that begs to be finished but reads as if it should be a bingeworthy TV series instead.

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December 15, 2019
It was the trial of the decade. A 25-year-old African American high-school teacher was accused of the murder of one of his students, 15-year-old Jessica Silver, and it looked bad for him. Teacher and student appeared to have had a steamy affair. Her blood was in his car. Lurid texts on his cell phone. But juror Maya Seale had "reasonable doubt" and convinced fellow jurors to acquit. That's the setup for this stem-winder of a murder mystery wrapped in a legal thriller. Ten years later, a true-crime docudrama on the case gathers the jurors for a fresh look. We learn these seemingly solid citizens have their own secrets. During the trial, Maya had an affair with another juror, who blames her now for freeing a killer. Their meeting after all this time sets off the wrong kind of sparks. There's a new murder, and Maya must do some inspired detective work to avoid arrest. The story is gripping, and the pace is furious, but the author also manages to take the scenic route with some nice writing: "a candy-colored California dawn" breaking over a field of blooming roses.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

Starred review from January 1, 2020

Ten years ago, L.A. defense attorney Maya Seale served on the jury of the high-profile murder trial of a teacher accused of killing one of his students, the daughter of a local real estate mogul. Maya believed the teacher was innocent and swayed fellow jurors to her side; they eventually reached an acquittal. On the anniversary of the trial, the jurors are reunited for a true crime documentary. One of the group who had since recanted and searched for new evidence of the teacher's guilt is found dead in Maya's hotel room. Now she must go on the run and use all of her lawyer skills to find out who killed the juror and uncover the secrets in the long-stagnant case. VERDICT The twists are sharp and the flashbacks that uncover what each juror knows are placed for maximum impact in this rollicking legal thriller. In this departure from his carefully plotted historical fiction, Moore (The Last Days of Night) expertly combines deft character work with mounting bombshell revelations in a story that will attract new readers and also seems primed for the big screen. [See Prepub Alert, 7/8/19.]--Gregg Winsor, Johnson Cty. Lib., Overland Park, KS

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2019

In this twisty tale from Moore (The Sherlockian), the Academy Award-winning screenwriter of The Imitation Game, young juror Maya Seale is convinced that African American high school teacher Bobby Nock is innocent of killing the wealthy white female student with whom he appears to have been involved and persuades her fellow jurors likewise. Ten years later, a true-crime docuseries reassembles the jurors, and Maya, now a defense attorney, must prove her own innocence when one of them is found dead in Maya's room.

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.