The Jury Master (David Sloane Book 1)

I’m not recommending this book. Despite its title, Robert Dugoni’s THE JURY MASTER is not a courtroom drama, nor is its principal character, David Sloane, believably a lawyer. In fact, Sloane’s not even believably human—a point I’ll get back to in a minute. For now, let’s stick with TJM’s overall plot. It’s largely derived from from The Long Kiss Goodbye, a movie that starred Geena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson. Beyond that, TJM is, uh, well, let’s say a spies-and-political corruption thriller with guns, a little mild romance (always older men with younger women), and some extremely weird metaphors, including this one: “His eyelids …looked like two big monarch butterflies.” Can you visualize a man with eyelids like two monarch butterflies? Me neither—and maybe that’s a clue to what’s really going on in TJM. I have to admit that I only read the first half of this thing, so I don’t in fact know how it ends—but it might turn out that the novel is set in a parallel universe—or a “matrix”—or, maybe some of its characters turn out to be robots, or laser projections. I don’t know for sure because, regrettably, Dugoni’s prose started damaging my brain, so I had to bail—but, here’s the thing: a guy with eyelids like big orange butterflies? That might be a not-so-subtle clue that we’re dealing here with characters from, like, the Star Wars bar.Now that’s far-fetched, and most of Dugoni’s prose is rather been-there-done-that. For example, consider this excerpt: “Parker Madsen stood in his wood-paneled den looking out the leaded-glass panes, sipping tea from a mug embossed with a picture of a large deer….” We’ve all seen that smug, leisurely, rich and powerful type before, right? I know I have: in countless political or espionage movies. But you need to look past all these maudlin aspects and see how really implausible TJM is, and make your judgement based on that: the fact that it’s complete unbelievable.For instance: two of the characters in the story are cops, right? But, significantly, neither of these cops—one on the east coast, one on the west—rides with a partner. And, the one out in San Francisco is, we’re told, stationed at the city’s Ingleside District, yet shows up to investigate a shooting clear up in the Financial District, on the opposite side of town. So, it’s obvious then that the SFPD, in this novel, only employs one detective. Right? And how believable is that. Thus, it could very well be the case that TJM is actually set in some parallel, very uncrowded universe, where nothing is what it seems. That might also explain, for instance, the two adult male Rhodesian ridgebacks in this novel who happily romp side by side, rather than going for one another’s throats.Of course, if I’m right about this illusion stuff, then my review is full of terrible spoilers, for which I have never apologized. If that’s so, here’s another blatant spoiler: one scene in TJM is lifted straight out of the John Wayne version of True Grit. We know it is, because the narrator actually tells us the scene lifted straight out of the John Wayne version of True Grit. Well, it might seem to some readers that lifting scenes straight out of classic movies is the post-postmodern equivalent to, say, inserting some quotes from Shakespeare. But what if in fact all this “borrowing” from the movies is a clue that the narrative voice here is that of some alien life-form that has never even met a real human being, much less set foot on the real planet Earth? In other words, what if this narrator knows Earth society only from having watched a ton of our movies and read two or three tons of our paperbacks? That certainly would explain a lot—such as, again, the fact that the plot reminds one immediately of The Long Kiss Goodbye. And then, there’s also this weird passage: “Whatever haunted his sleep would not be cloaked like furniture in an abandoned home.” What does that even mean? Of course, no one can tell us, for sure—but if we assume it’s supposed to have been written by an alien, or maybe a robot—some life-form that never understood, in the first place, why furniture in some abandoned homes might be draped? Well, then, who can even guess what that might mean—right?And still there’s more to consider. Consider, for instance, this absolutely dreadful sentence: “Thorpe directed Molia to the black Lexus, which was where he had found the blue and white laminated card that set off all the bells and whistles and was responsible for the federal agents in dark blue windbreakers with bright yellow lettering buzzing around the bluff like bumblebees from a disturbed hive.” Unbearable, right? So why would anybody want write like that—so much trivia, crammed so absurdly that it disrupts, distracts, and dismays one’s reader? The answer may be—may very well be—that the narrator here means to trick his readers into assuming TJM is set in familiar reality, whereas of course it in fact is not.Yet another clue: David Sloane is employed by a huge, thousand-attorney, multi-city law firm, ostensibly, yet his only working colleague in the firm seems to be, unbelievably enough, his secretary—so, it’s like Perry and Della, right? No partners, no associates, no paralegals, no telephones ringing, and no pressure… Basically just an old fashioned, one-man, one shingle mini-firm—and yet, we’re supposed to believe that it’s dovetailed, somehow. into a high-rise-based corporate mega-firm. Obviously, this narrator is lying. So, once again, maybe we’re supposed to realize that all this stage dressing is merely stage dressing.In fact, Dugoni uses a wide variety of tricks to keep his reader turning pages quickly, so as not to have time to think. Trick Number One: keep ever chapter preposterously brief. Trick Two: conclude every chapter with a cliffhanger. Trick three, delay resolution of each cliffhanger by once again shifting the third-person-limited point of view to a completely different subplot. All that trickery easily precludes any character development, which, in turn, will surely keep at least some readers from noticing that none of Dugoni’s characters act like humans. And, Trick Four, market the book as “a David Sloane novel”—a very, very clever trick indeed, since it leads one to presuppose this Sloane character could be likable—or at least, distinctive, somehow? Maybe smart, witty, or competent? Yet Sloane is none of these things: he’s not only bland, but incompetent (his secretary has to do his shopping for him); and his parents (we’re told several times) died when he was just a kid—so, perfect cover for a robot or alien invader then, right? And, on top of all that, he’s stupid. Really, really stupid. More precisely, Sloane completely lacks both intuitive sense and deductive logic, making him in effect the world’s greatest anti-detective.Here’s an example: Sloane comes home one day and finds that his mailbox has been broken into. He then goes upstairs and finds his apartment has also been broken into—totally trashed, in fact—but he assumes the two simultaneous break-ins are unrelated. Really? Yes. And what, I ask, what modern, urban human could possibly be that free of paranoia? And then, when Sloane is told a phony repairman had entered his apartment and messed with his phone somehow? Sloane hardly even seems concerned: doesn’t even take his phone apart to find the bug that every Earth-reader knows has to be there—right? And then, finally, Dugoni tries to convince the reader that Sloane is, like, thinking—but doesn’t work because it’s nothing at all like a human mind at work. Just look: “[Sloane’s] mind kept… slipping back to the break-in and [the] subsequent revelation of a telephone repairman…. His legal training mandated that he see them as related…. He had no hard evidence that the two incidents were related; still, he had the persistent feeling that he was missing something, some crucial fact that would put the two oddities together. It was the curse of being a lawyer: no two facts were unrelated….”Okay. So we’re supposed to believe that, if Sloane had never had “legal training,” he wouldn’t have given a second thought to the massive coincidence of having his phone tapped, his home broken into, and all his possessions smashed or shredded, in the same week? Only a trained legal mind could connect those dots? Let’s get real here: those events would send most people, not only running to the cops—or, in Sloane’s case, cop, singular—but over the edge into full-blown panic. But Sloane just tells his secretary to order for him (on company time, no less) a new suite of furniture. Sloane doesn’t even wonder—and I’m not kidding—if the person who sliced open both his mattress and his couch might’ve been looking for something! Anyone who’s read even one halfway decent detective novel ought to have been able to make that leap of faith almost instantly—right? But does Sloane make no? No, with him it’s just, “Gee, there’s mattress stuffing all over my floor now. I wonder why that burglar didn’t take anything?”The truth is, I quit reading TJM shortly after Sloane finally got his hands on the mysterious orange package, and he opened it—but Dugoni still wouldn’t tell us what was in that package; and, several chapters later, we still don’t know what’s in that orange package—which is not, in my opinion, fair and honest narration. I say it’s passive aggressive narration: an act of aggression that victimizes one’s readers.In short, read something else, if you value your peace of mind. I rest my case.

Many of those who previously reviewed "The Jury Master" found it difficult to follow and seemingly without a central theme. I heartily disagree. To those who were harsh in their reviews, I would suggest a re-read of the book; perhaps, leading to a revised review. Yes, there are what seem to be unrelated incidents throughout the book. Do not let those incidents turn you away - this is a complex story that needs to be read in its entirety for it to make sense.The David Sloane character is a prominent San Francisco attorney with one major issue - he really doesn't know who he is outside of the courtroom. Sloane suffers from migraines and has a recurring dream he cannot understand or grasp the meaning of until it all comes together late in the book.Dugoni takes us on a journey of discovery into who Sloane is, his past, present, and future. Go along for the ride!

Great characters, very suspenseful, I couldn’t put it down. Plenty of twists and turns, and a little bit of humor.

This book had all the political conspiracies one could ask for, all topped off with plenty of action. Plot had some tired content along with some interesting twists. Only the conclusion kept this from attaining one more star.

Robert Dugoni takes the reader on a thrill ride from Washington State, California and to the seat of power, the Whitehouse. Along the way we meet many characters who bend the truth, confirm the wrong and perpetuate a mystery thirty years in the making. Buy the book, read and enjoy the ride!

Written well and keep you interested

The story at first was very confusing. I couldn't understand what or why events were happening. Plus, there were a myriad of characters introduced. I put the book down for a while, but after several weeks went back to it and couldn't put it down.

I enjoyed this book. But too many characters. Too involved. Not sure I’d recommend. But I probably will read the next book

I really enjoyed this book - although it is not the legal thriller that you might expect. However, it is the introduction to an interesting set of characters. I love Dugoni's easy style of writing, and his clear knowledge of all things legal.If you are planning on reading the other books in the Sloane series, which I understand do revolve around court cases, I recommend that you read this one first. It gives Sloane's background, which is really important in understanding his reasoning and abilities. I am currently reading the second novel in the Sloane series, Wrongful Death. Good so far, but I needed the insight that I got from this first book.I recommend it.

I thought this book would never end. I love legal thrillers - this wasn’t one. I also very much like a series of books with the same main character. I don’t think I can read the second book. There were characters being introduced at a pace which didn’t allow any time to digest their place in the story. One name ran into the next; each new story made it harder to keep up. I’m 40% through and considering giving up. It just mightn’t be worth the effort.

I am. A fan of Dugoni’s books but l found this story very confusing. I wasn’t able to get the hang of it until at least half way through. Too many characters, too many seemingly unexplained and unconnected side stories which eventually did pull together ... An interesting conclusion after a number of ‘nail biting’ scenes. Still not sure how satisfying a read it was and lve given it 3* because of the confusing first half.

I came across this book while searching for something else but I am so delighted I did. What attracted me was the reference that if you like John Grisham's books you would like this. Like is an understatement, I loved this book. The story is riveting as are the characters. The book flows smoothly & anytime I was forced to put it down I couldn't wait to get back to it. Other reviews will deal with the storyline in detail but the best detailed review I can give is BUY IT.

I read this book after reading all the other books in the series,so this book filled in the mystery surrounding Sloane. It also introduces other characters which are in the other books. A great read, however I would recommend reading these books in the correct order, in saying that......this book didn't appeal to me at first, so that's why I chose the story which grabbed me.