Jury duty won't make you rich. But unfortunately, no judge ever delivered that instruction to Nicholas Easter, protagonist-juror in John Grisham's new novel “The Runaway Jury”. It's a timely legal thriller: giant tobacco companies versus the giant anti-smoking lobby. Three-pack-a-day, 30-year smoker Jacob Wood is dead and his widow's lawsuit becomes all things to all involved; plaintiffs' lawyers want to open the door on tobacco liability, and the industry wants it slammed shut. The author (…showed first 75 words of 430 total…

…showed last 75 words of 430 total…the jury. She offers him the verdict, for a price. While his characters are detailed and real, the subplots of The Runaway Jury are too quickly grazed. We're not convinced that one juror and his outside contact can control leagues of lawyers, a judge and jury. The lying, sneaking and dirty tricks are so simplistic that they interrupt the flow of the story. And characters who should know better, legal experts operate with improbable trust.