Part One of John Grisham's latest novel evokes "The Rainmaker" in the way he presents a young man entering a new profession and coming up against challenges that demonstrate appealing humanity, intelligence and calm drive. But 23-year old Willie Traynor differs notably from his Grisham predecessor and not just by profession.

Shortly after this college dropout starts operating his new paper in his adopted Mississippi town, he's reporting on a lurid capital murder case complicated with a bought sheriff, a powerful criminal family, and a system corrupted by greed and fear.

Willie develops a tight bond with Callie Ruffin, a matriarchal black woman who becomes a juror in the case, giving him more than a casual interest in the convicted man's threat that he will kill every member of the jury when he gets out of jail.

In part two, Grisham indulges in Willie's development of his paper, his relationships, and town issues, returning, finally, to the murder plotline in the last part, some years later, when the murderer has been paroled far earlier than he should have been, and members of the jury are getting killed.

"The Last Juror" makes a finely detailed read on issues of justice and civil rights but doesn't come up to Grisham's earlier novel for sustained intensity. One has to appreciate, however, his absorbing way with the dimensions of character and human motivation, which explains its high position on best seller lists.