THE LAST JUROR

Michael Beck's narration successfully captures the ambiance of life in Mississippi in this story of justice, revenge, and the interweaving of lives in a small town. As told by Willie Traynor, a college dropout who buys the local paper in 1973, the story's central thread is the trial of Danny Padgett for the murder of a single mother and the ways it affects the town for years to come. Beck has Willie's voice and personality from the first sentence and is equally successful in capturing the people Willie comes to care about during the years he spends there. Although some minor characters sound a bit alike, this is a minor quibble in a novel that encompasses so many. At the end, the listener almost feels if he knows the people of Clinton as well as Willie does--and hates to leave them. M.A.M. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/ SEP 04]