David Sloane is the jury master since he rarely loses a case. The case of Emily Stone, however, has unsettled him. He has been having a recurring nightmare with severe migraines since he began this case and does not know why. When the man he was representing is found not guilty of causing her wrongful death, David feels guilt since the case should have been settled out of court. When Joe Branik, the current president's confidant, is found dead in a West Virginia national park, and it is known that Joe called David just prior to his death. David is targeted (his mailbox is broken into and his apartment trashed like someone was looking for something). When he sees a man who does not belong in his apartment house, the man goes after him in order to kill him. Then there is Charley Jenkins, a recluse living on a small farm, and Alex Hart, an acquaintance of Charley's when she was a child in Mexico City. Finally, there is Tina, David's longtime secretary. David decides to find out who is out to kill him and why. This is a very violent and bloody read. The style used tells the story by going back and forth chapter to chapter from character to character and location. ( )

How fast I get through a book is a pretty good gauge of how good a book is. The ones that don't work seem to take forever, both figuratively and literally. The good ones fly by. I just blew through this one in a week, and that's not a mean feat for a novel of 450 pages that only gets picked up at bedtime.

I have to give the author high marks for keeping things interesting and keeping the action coming. He uses every trick available to invest the reader in the characters and keep them turning pages. At the end of the day, these thrillers are pretty much all the same story and it's the author's job to tell it and sell it on the basis of the characters and storytelling. This one succeeds on both counts.

At times, I found it frustrating that he was being so stingy with details, or even clues, about what was behind the mystery in the book. It seemed like every time a file folder was opened or someone was about to explain something, the chapter ended and that story thread was picked up after the characters (but not the readers) were enlightened. Many chapters also ended with a character in big trouble and no way out, which does wonders for suspense, but also got a little old.

Even so, I enjoyed this book a lot. Even a little more than its sequel, [b:Wrongful Death: A Novel|3861996|Wrongful Death A Novel|Robert Dugoni|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1266996249s/3861996.jpg|3907152]. The third David Sloane novel, [b:Bodily Harm: A Novel|7697889|Bodily Harm A Novel|Robert Dugoni|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51-NGyfM5aL._SL75_.jpg|10383687], is queued up and will get consumed soon. ( )

First book in the David Sloan series. Ending was a bit trite and so obviously set up for a sequel. Not bad but not a nail-biter ( )

San Franciscon, wrongful death attorney David Sloane and a stranger, former CIA agent Charles Jenkins share a recurring childhood nightmare. Meanwhile, unstoppable West Virginia police detective Tom Molia investigates the suicide of a top adviser to the president, and what he finds draws Sloane and Jenkins closer to the truth behind their shared terror: an international conspiracy 30 years in the making.

I liked the good guys in this story as they tried to figure out what was going on and they were mostly believable. This was a complicated political thriller and there was a lot of excitement, tense situations, close calls and action. This is the first fiction book I’ve read by Dugoni. I enjoyed it and will look for others. ( )

There's not a bit lf lawyering or courtroom in this book! The title doesn't connect with the theme, plot or characters. The word "Jury" does not appear in the book after the title. I was expecting a legal thriller and I feel deceived. Our hero leaves his law firm for vacation and ends up in confrontation with POTUS over a decades old foreign affairs issue. There are many characters and keeping them straight was a challenge. Then, discovering the David Sloan SERIES after the book was completed....new experience. The Jury Master was my second series after Tracy Crosswhite from Robert Dugoni and I have to say it was pretty good. I enjoyed the book. ( )