The Holdout

Tagline: “One Juror Changed the Verdict. What if She Was Wrong?”
... Yes, that's how the jury system works, that's fine with me.

The Holdout kept me entertained during a really stressful few days, but I think maybe I just don't like thrillers all that much. I mean, it was a fine way to pass the time, but I don't like having to suspend so much belief; I hate it when the protagonist finds herself in the midst of a crime scene and decides to Solve Everything Herself (even if, for once, as a defense attorney, she may be qualified to do some digging for herself, but NO because her lawyer/boss told her to not do anything stupid so of course she has to do fifteen stupid things immediately). There is no way any of this would have worked out as it did. The whole time I was reading, I kept thinking, “Your plot is full of holes!”

I'm also not sure how I feel about some of the Diversity Lessons that were thrown around. I can appreciate a white author trying to say stuff about not all POC being on the same side for the same reasons, and I can still feel weird about the fact that the only people who actually had to face any on-page consequences were Black or Latinx.

So. It was only okay. The longer I keep writing about it, the fewer stars I want to give it, so I'll stop here.