Listen free for 30 days

  • The Last Juror

  • A Novel
  • Written by: John Grisham
  • Narrated by: Michael Beck
  • Length: 11 hrs and 48 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (90 ratings)

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo + applicable taxes after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
The Last Juror cover art

The Last Juror

Written by: John Grisham
Narrated by: Michael Beck
Try for $0.00

$14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $29.08

Buy Now for $29.08

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Tax where applicable.

Publisher's Summary

In 1970, one of Mississippi's more colorful weekly newspapers, The Ford County Times, went bankrupt. To the surprise and dismay of many, ownership was assumed by a 23 year-old college dropout, named Willie Traynor. The future of the paper looked grim until a young mother was brutally raped and murdered by a member of the notorious Padgitt family. Willie Traynor reported all the gruesome details, and his newspaper began to prosper.

The murderer, Danny Padgitt, was tried before a packed courthouse in Clanton, Mississippi. The trial came to a startling and dramatic end when the defendant threatened revenge against the jurors if they convicted him. Nevertheless, they found him guilty, and he was sentenced to life in prison.

But in Mississippi in 1970, "life" didn't necessarily mean "life," and nine years later Danny Padgitt managed to get himself paroled. He returned to Ford County, and the retribution began.

©2004 Belfry Holdings, Inc. (P)2004 Random House, Inc., Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

What the critics say

"Here [John Grisham] is back in the fictitious town of Clanton, Miss., re-establishing the storytelling skills and sense of place that put him on the map....The Last Juror does not need to coast on its author's megapopularity. It's a reminder of how the Grisham juggernaut began." (The New York Times)

What listeners say about The Last Juror

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    72
  • 4 Stars
    12
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    75
  • 4 Stars
    7
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    66
  • 4 Stars
    11
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very engaging excellent narrator

I enjoyed the wonderful description of the town and it’s characters wrapped in a very engaging story. Well done

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Enjoyable read

Another enjoyable book by JG. Always has interesting characters and great storylines. Once again Michael Beck brings it all to life, outstanding narrator!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

love Ford County Stories

I love how he has captured small town life. the combination of John Grisham's writing with Michael Beck's narration makes this book very enjoyable

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A Horrific and Beautiful Story

This is another amazing book, with difficult, heartbreaking parts, but yet a warm and beautiful ending. Wonderful characters melded together to create another success for John Grisham.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

one of Grisham's best

loved reading this but listening was pretty great too....felt like a true story, one I loved

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Best yet!!

Best yet!!
Brought true emotions and tears.
Hope to find that Mr Grisham has written at least one more as good as this!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent story, exceptional narrator

I greatly enjoyed this book and the narration was top notch. I would highly recommend.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Kinda Insulting. Still.. Not Bad

If I were from Mississippi, I would find John Grisham's portrayal of fictional 'Clanton' so ridiculous that I would have trouble reading the book due to my eyes rolling so often. "Po' Black folks" from the "wrong side of the tracks" compete with ignorant, racist "Foghorn-Leghorn"-talking Confederate-Flag-waving aristoctrats, aggressively-religious/bigoted über-evangelicals, and inbred "white-trash" rapist moonshiners for the biggest stereotype in the story. Grisham introduces displaced Northerner - well, from Tennessee, anyway - Joyner William Traynor (re-christened "Willie" by the locals) to teach us about life in smalltown MS. The transplanted newspaper editor/owner is treated to Barbeque, Grits, Chitlins, and Hush Puppies by a succession of Hollywood typecast characters as listed above.. and suffers attempts on his life by murderous Rednecks (as one does in the South🙄).
If you can get past the clichés, however, Grisham's unoriginal formulaic "Deep South" travel blog (Hey, man.. it was the post-desegregation 70s) also includes an interest-piquing scenario where a connected White rapist-murderer gets paroled early & starts exacting revenge against the jury and community that convicted him.. benefitting from institutional racism & corruption. The vocabulary/prose is typically excellent (Grisham knows how to write), the courtroom elements are well-scripted, and the overall plotting is twisty-turny and imaginative. This is a flawed but eminently readable book.

Fortuitously for Grisham fans - Michael Beck elevates the book with a genuinely outstanding reading performance, too. His professional diction, comfortable reading timbre/cadence, and spot-on tone are complemented with inspired voice-acting (including realistic "mouth full" mealtime conversations, for example). Random House Audio further puts together an exemplary well-edited listening product. If you are given the choice between this recording and a text version of the book, choose this one hands-down.

This iteration of 'The Last Juror' merits 6.5 stars out of 10. It's not among Grisham's best efforts, but provided satisfying entertainment for a couple of quiet afternoons. Readers new to the author should try something else by him for their Credit - but fans of the man (or Legal Thrillers in general) aren't crazy to invest in this one.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!