Review: The Holdout

The Holdout, by Graham Moore (Random House 2020)

First line: “Maya Seale removed two photographs from her briefcase.”

From what I can tell of the book world on the internet, people are struggling with their reading, despite all the “extra time” we all now have. (I put that in quotes, because many of us don’t in fact have extra time — all those parents out there, especially ones with full time jobs are feeling the extreme lack of extra time they have in comparison.) The constant stress of COVID-19 related news varies from being a barrage to just a never-ending simmer, and it’s hard to focus on words on a page. Bookworms everywhere are having to redefine their “normal” reading practices to help us get to that place we love where we get swept away in a story. Sometimes that means differing formats — audiobooks, graphic novels — and sometimes that means different genres than we normally pick. Enter The Holdout.

Once I started picking up more adult books again, I’ve generally centered on literary fiction — contemporary or historical — and non-fiction. But listen, those can be tough in times like these, which is why I chose to finally pick up my very first Book of the Month choice, The Holdout.

A courtroom drama/mystery, The Holdout flips back and forth between two timelines — one in 2009 when 25 year old Bobby Nock is on trial for the murder of 15 year old Jessica Silver — and 2019, when a docuseries is being made about the jurors who acquitted Bobby a decade ago, and how what seemed to be a open and shut case for the prosecution went wildly awry. Although we get perspectives from each of the jurors, the main focus is on Maya Seale, the one holdout on the guilty verdict, who eventually turned all 11 jurors to her side. But one of the 11 now says he has irrefutable evidence of Bobby’s guilt, and he’s going to reveal it when they all get together for the documentary’s reunion.

I think it’s best to go into this with as little information as possible — even less than what is on the jacket copy — and let yourself get swept up in the suspense and reveals along the way. It’s been a long time since I’ve read a mystery, and let’s be honest, they are so much fun. I think they might be my favorite escapist literature for this season of strangeness. They are compelling, engrossing, and don’t require a lot of world-building details, like my normal go-tos for escapist reading. I’ve got quite a few mysteries on my shelves to keep me busy for the next several weeks, so don’t be surprised if you see a shift in my reading habits. (That being said, old habits die hard, and I know I’m going to feel obligated to finish my library books before those eventually have to be returned, none of which are mysteries.)

This one is in the works for a Hulu adaptation, and I can’t wait to see it. Moore is an Academy-Award-winning screenwriter, so there’s no mistake that this novel begs to be seen, not just read.