Publishers Weekly
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In bestseller Lescroart's engrossing 17th legal thriller featuring San Francisco DA Dismas Hardy (after 2010's Damage), Hardy's niece, Brittany McGuire, a recent college grad, has the misfortune to date paralegal Rick Jessup. The despicable Jessup rapes her one night after she breaks off their relationship. When Jessup is found bludgeoned to death in his apartment the next day, all the evidence points to Brittany's alcoholic father, Moses McGuire. The prosecution appears to have the case handed to them on a platter after McGuire drunkenly admits that Jessup deserved his fate, and Hardy must suppress his own doubts as he assumes McGuire's defense. Hardy races against the clock to find out whether Jessup's shady dealings with San Francisco politicians may lead to another vigilante with a secret of his own. Some necessary backstory weighs down the momentum at first, but the pace picks up after several 11th-hour revelations. Author tour. Agent: Barney Karpfinger, Karpfinger Agency. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.
It's been a while since pragmatic defense attorney Diz Hardy has been center stage in a Lescroart thriller, but he's finally back, along with his best friend, San Francisco cop Abe Glitsky. Memories of the so-called Dockside Massacre (The First Law, 2002) remain fresh, however, even six years after the fact, and when a reporter starts digging into the circumstances of the unsolved case, Diz, Abe, and, especially, volatile Moses McGuire, Diz's brother-in-law, get a tad nervous. Moses, the weak link in the information chain, wants to tell all, but the others vote no. Then Moses' beautiful 23-year-old daughter is raped, the rapist is murdered, and Moses emerges as the prime suspect. Did he do it? Just as troubling is whether, under pressure of prosecution, he'll tell what happened on the pier that night. Courtoom dynamics are as well done as ever, but this isn't as strongly plotted as usual, and although the circumstances of the massacre eventually become clear, readers unfamiliar with First Law could be lost at first. Fans of the series, though, will be thrilled to have Diz back. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Lescroart has sold 20 million copies of his previous 23 novels. Numbers to die for.--Zvirin, Stephanie Copyright 2010 Booklist
Library Journal
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Fans of Dismas Hardy will welcome this 14th outing in Lescroart's legal series. Hardy first appeared in 1989's Dead Irish as a 38-year-old, between careers and between marriages. Now, at 60, he's a respected, successful San Francisco attorney. With their children grown, he and wife Frannie have begun to explore their new life as empty-nesters. But before Hardy even has time to settle into his new fitness regimen, a disturbing case presents itself when Frannie's brother, Moses McGuire, is charged with murder. The victim is Rick Jessup, a disreputable political aide who at one time had unsuccessfully pursued McGuire's beautiful daughter, Brittany. Not only must Hardy and his old pal police detective Abe Glitsky sift through the conflicting evidence that surfaces about Jessup, but they're forced to deal with recovering alcoholic McGuire's fall from the wagon, which threatens to reveal the long-kept secret that could end the careers of Dismas and Abe. Verdict Like wine, both Lescroart and Hardy have improved with age. Don't let readers miss this one. [See Prepub Alert, 11/12/12.]-Nancy McNicol, Hamden P.L., CT (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.