The Juror

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Annie Laird is Juror 224. A sculptor with a career going nowhere. A single mother struggling to raise a son. A good citizen who has been summoned to what looks like a rountine tour of civic duty. But the trial she is called to serve on is no ordinary trial. It is a mob trial, whose outcome has been meticulously orchestrated by a man of insidious power and deadly precision. A man who lives by the teachings of Lao Tsu...whose magnetism is irresistible...whose mind is as brilliant as it is twisted. He is know to some as the Teacher, and he's set his sights on Annie Laird. Pulled into the most chilling depths of the criminal underworld, Annie will be seduced by double-edged promises, stalked by the spector of terror, then, finally, driven to a shocking decision by the most basic motivation a woman can know. THE JUROR is a tour de force of crime and obsession, evil and innocence -- a story that taps into fears so primal they linger long after the last page has been read.From Publishers WeeklySingle mother and struggling sculptress Annie Laird makes a huge mistake when she joins the jury at the Westchester murder trial of mob boss Louie Buffano. Immediately, Annie is contacted by "the Teacher," the sleek, Lao Tse-quoting eminence grise behind Buffano, who makes it clear that life, and that of her son Oliver, depend on her saying two words: "Not guilty." And so begins Green's (The Caveman's Valentine) masterfully manipulative thriller, a gem of deft plotting given added lustre through its rich, if not wholly cohesive, characterizations. Annie is an especially fine creation, victimized by her whipsawing emotions as she panics, rebels, crosses her conscience and plots to trap the Teacher. The Teacher is equally complex, an utterly logical madman whose portrait is flawed only by his unlikely romantic obsession with Annie (Buffano alone is a throwaway character, too clearly modeled on John Gotti). The plot, jittering from one brutal, clever twist to the next, will keep readers in a cold sweat. Green pushes buttons without remorse, always keeping his finger poised above the one marked "Oliver's death"-and as it descends at book's end, the tension is nearly unbearable. 200,000 first printing; major ad/promo; Literary Guild and Doubleday Main Selection; audio rights to Time Warner AudioBooks. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalAnnie Laird is a single mother, a part-time data entry clerk, an aspiring sculptor, and a juror selected for the murder trial of a mob boss. When a suave, handsome art broker buys some of her work and then invites her to dinner, she thinks her luck may be changing. Her supposed admirer, a Wall Street financier and Taoist nicknamed "The Teacher," is actually the brains behind the jailed mobster. The Teacher is incredibly charming; he's also a vicious killer. He promises Annie the continued safety of her son and the assurance of a lucrative artistic career in exchange for help in acquitting the mobster. But even if Annie agrees to the plan, she and her son may not be safe because the Teacher soon discovers he's in love with her. This novel by the author of The Caveman's Valentine (LJ 12/93) is less a courtroom drama than a gripping psychological cat-and-mouse game. It should be in very high demand in public libraries.Charles Michaud, Turner Free Lib., Randolph, Mass.Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.