Floo's Book Collections

The Runaway Jury is a legal thriller novel written by American author John Grisham. The hardcover first edition was published by Doubleday Books in 1996. Pearson Longman released the graded reader edition in 2001. The novel was published again in 2003 to coincide with the release of Runaway Jury, a movie adaptation of the novel. The third printing bears a movie-themed cover, in place of the covers used on the first and second printings. In 2003, it was made into a film starring John Cusack, Rachel Weisz, Dustin Hoffman and Gene Hackman.

Wendall Rohr and a legal team have filed suit on behalf of plaintiff Celeste Wood, whose husband died from smoking cigarettes. The trial is to be held in Biloxi, Mississippi, a state thought to have favorable tort laws and sympathetic juries. The defendant is a tobacco company, Pynex, which is part of the 'Big Four.'
Even before the jury has been sworn in, a stealth juror, Nicholas Easter, has begun to quietly connive behind the scenes, in concert with a mysterious woman known only as Marlee.
Fitch has placed a camera in the courtroom, feeding to his office nearby so that the trial can be observed. As the case continues, Fitch is approached by Marlee with a proposal to 'buy' the verdict.
After the money has been sent, however, it is revealed that Marlee and Nicholas have in fact been playing Fitch all along; Marlee's parents died from lung cancer, caused by cigarettes.
Easter becomes jury foreman and convinces them to find for the plaintiff and make a large monetary award - $2 million dollars for compensatory damages, and $400 million for punitive measures. The defense lawyers and their employers are devastated.
Whilst Easter and Marlee are now rich and satisfied that they served justice, Fitch realizes that his reputation is gone and that the tobacco companies, once undefeatable, are now vulnerable to lawsuits.
The book closes with Marlee warning Fitch that she and Nicholas will always be watching.