The Last Juror is John Grisham's 17th national bestseller. Doubleday published it February 3 with a 2.8 million-copy printing. It's also Grisham's first return to Clanton, Miss., the setting for his first book, A Time to Kill. While combined first-week sales at the three chains—Barnes & Noble, Borders and Waldenbooks—is an impressive 84,575, his previous opening totals at the chains were higher. Best was Testament in February 1999; its first-week total was about 126,000; in February 2003, first-week totals for The King of Torts came close to 92,800. Grisham managed to knock Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code from the #1 perch—a position Brown held for the past 12 consecutive weeks. In the past, Grisham has held on to the #1 spot for at least four weeks.
—With reporting by Dick Donahue
