The Holdout is a very immersive novel by Graham Moore. It follows the members of a jury in the wake of a decision they made nine years ago which many, nationwide in America, deem scandalous. One member of the jury, Rick, is racked with guilt. He believes that he was hoodwinked and went against his conscience in deciding to find a man suspected of murder, not guilty. He is determined to bring the jury members back together and reveal new evidence about the case which he has uncovered. But someone is keen to make sure that whatever it is Rick finds, that it remains buried.

I really enjoyed this. From the beginning, I could never be sure if Bobby Nock, the man who was found not guilty of the murder of his student in 2009, was guilty or innocent. Graham Moore kept me guessing, and I wanted to know what evidence, if any, Rick, had supposedly uncovered. Would it be enough to convince the rest of the group of his belief that Bobby was indeed guilty?

I have to say that when I got to the end of this book, one revelation completely floored me, and I don’t think I’ll be forgetting about it for a while. I was expecting it to go one way and Graham Moore pulled the rug out from under my feet. It was very well done, and it didn’t make me feel that that wouldn’t be believable.

Maya was a character who I got on with from the start. Like Rick is with his belief, Maya is steadfast in hers that Bobby is innocent. But her own thoughts on the case throw a spanner in the works when the plot takes an unexpected direction, leaving Maya in a perilous situation that will have a huge impact on the rest of her life. I was rooting for Maya all the way through. I wanted her to succeed in what she was doing, and I had a lot of suspicions about the other members of the jury.

This novel is very well done, and I found the ending very satisfactory. A top read for me!

Loved the sound of the premise, but wasn't as grabbed by the end product as I thought I'd be, Although it's a well written book, I didn't fall in love with the characters enough to buy in to the journey they went on. As I'm sure we all do, there's the on-going guessing game of whodunnit, and I turns out the first thought I had quite early on was pretty much bang on the money, which detracted from how I felt about it at the end. Not a criticism of the author's style though, which made for a story that flowed well enough, and would likely read whatever they bring out next.

This was a great example of a courtroom drama thriller. Lots of investigation, jury moments, cat and mouse stuff.

However, without a memorable antagonist, or driving force (it's never the person you think it is) the central mystery is the only thing driving the plot forward.

Good, but not great. Some well drawn characters mean it's very enjoyable, super readable, just not ultimately memorable.

A thoroughly entertaining really very clever book in the end, especially given all the influences I thought about whilst reading this were referenced by the author himself later in the book...And used to really good effect within the resolution.

Kind of thought provoking too a book with a moral dilemma at the heart of it wrapped up in a mystery element that is very intriguing. 

Great pace, plotting and addictive quality with engaging eclectic characters and a what would you do vibe that'll keep this novel in your head after reading.

Really very good indeed. Fuller review near publication.