Hung Jury

In London, Dr. Jennifer Fox is on trial for murdering Dr. Charles Easterman. The case was so highly publicized by the international media, England and Wales Attorney General Geoffrey Haversham prosecuted it. The evidence against Jennifer is so overwhelming, everyone expects a guilty verdict. Even the jury goes into deliberation thinking that they only need to discuss guilty.However, the linear path to conviction is detoured by two simultaneous events. A juror, designer Alex Parrish, believes the accused is innocent. At the same time, England's Prime Minister Edward Haversham is notified that his brother, the same Attorney general on the Fox trial, has been abducted. Haversham will be freed only if Fox is freed. As the jury argue with their one hold-out, a larger stage with another life at stake is the setting for their final decision.Readers will not be hung up on deciding that they fully enjoyed HUNG JURY, a fast-paced legal thriller. Rankin Davis cleverly develops the story line along two plots that ultimately merge together into a terse climax. The jurors will remind the audience of the jury in TWELVE ANGRY MEN (either version) with a slight twist. The terrorists (especially Pavel) and the Haversham siblings also seem more like genuine individuals rather than characters in a novel. This is must reading for fans of legal thrillers. Harriet Klausner 11/1/98