Review of "Judge & Jury" by James Patterson and Andrew Gross

FBI Special Agent Nick Pellisante, head of the organized crime unit in New York City, has been after elusive mob boss Dominic Cavello for a long time.



Cavello is the worst of the worst - a sadistic vengeful brute who knows no limits. So it's a red letter day when Nick and his team nab the disguised Cavello, who's pretending to need a wheelchair, at his niece's wedding.



Nick is avidly anticipating Cavello's trial, where he's sure the killer will be convicted and put away for life.

The potential jury pool includes a single mother and aspiring actress named Andie DeGrasse. Andie, who has a young son and auditions to go to, schemes every which way to get out of jury duty.....but is chosen in the end.



As Andie and her fellow jurors hear testimony from 'rats' that have sold Cavello out, it looks like the crime lord will probably be found guilty.



Meanwhile Cavello, who has criminal contacts all over the world, wants to make sure he'll never be convicted. I don't want to give too much away, so I'll just say the book is divided into several sections, two of which are 'first trial' and 'second trial.'

The story has an interesting set of characters, including an eastern European thug who lives in Israel with his wife and chess prodigy son;



 a mob killer who cracks jokes during his testimony.....and makes the jury laugh;



a woman who picks up the wrong guy at a bar; 

and an array of judges, jurors and criminals.

The book was zipping along just fine until somewhere after the second trial, where the plot went over-the-top and entered unbelievable land. I don't want to give away spoilers so I'll just say Cavello is more evil than Satan and an untrained civilian goes after deadly mobsters. These exaggerated plot points make it impossible (for me) to suspend disbelief.

Still, this is an imaginative thriller, good entertainment for a few hours. Oh.....and there's a spot of romance, for folks who like that kind of thing. 😊💜💕

Rating: 3 stars