Welcome back!
I’m so pleased to have been invited to participate in the audiobook blog tour for The Holdout. Many thanks to Tracy from Compulsive Readers and Orion for the opportunity to take part.
Blurb
Fifteen-year-old Jessica Silver, heiress to a billion-dollar fortune, vanishes on her way home from school. Her teacher, Bobby Nock, is the prime suspect. It’s an open and shut case for the prosecution, and a quick conviction seems all but guaranteed.
Until Maya Seale, a young woman on the jury, persuades the rest of the jurors to vote not guilty: a controversial decision that will change all of their lives forever.
Ten years later, one of the jurors is found dead, and Maya is the prime suspect.
The real killer could be any of the other ten jurors. Is Maya being forced to pay the price for her decision all those years ago?
Review
The idea of being called for jury service really freaks me out for the very reason of making the wrong decision – so The Holdout immediately appealed to me.
I have to confess to having a tricky relationship with The Holdout. It took me about two months to read as I’d move on to something else and come back to it. I enjoyed it when I was reading it but there was something missing for me that meant I didn’t want to pick it up. Having now finished the book, I think I’ve cracked why.
The story is set in two time-points – present day and 10 years ago. The story from 10 years prior was far more fascinating to me than present day, because I got to see the perspectives of all the jurors, their lives, backgrounds, and how it impacted upon their decision-making. This mean that whenever it swapped to present day, I just wanted more of the past.
Some of the present day elements tried to fit in that little bit too much information which made them quite long and didn’t necessarily add a huge amount to the book. I think I also struggled to form a relationship with the protagonist, Maya.
But that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it. On the whole, I very much did. The Holdout is a very well-constructed and complex commentary on how we perceive ourselves and the lives of those around us, especially when it comes to race. Moore has clearly given these constructs a great deal of thought and expresses them with great care and clarity.
If you enjoy Agatha Christie novels then you may also find this book is for you – there is a Murder on the Orient Express feel to this book and given the many Christie references within the book, I would safely assume the author is also a fan.
Overall, I would recommend The Holdout. It’s a solid read and would be a popular choice with book clubs.
Order now
Support your local bookshop by buying this book through them or through Hive.co.uk.
Blog Tour Stops
Comment below!
Will you be reading The Holdout? Let me know in the comments below.
Wishing you a bookish week,
Roachie's Reviews 
Nice review, Laura. I’ve heard a lot of great things about the book so will probably pick it up.
LikeLiked by 1 person