Saturday, March 26, 2011

"The Hearing" by John Lescroart

Published: 2001
Read: 2011
Genre: Fiction -  Courtroom Drama
Setting: San Francisco
Rating: 3
Reviews: Goodreads
Author web site







First learned of this author via a Washington Post book review back in January 2011.  I enjoy legal thrillers so wrote his name as well as other unknown/unread authors of this genre in my little book: Scott Turow, Justin Peacock,  Michael Connelly, Robert Reuland.

Found this book at a local library for $1.  It is the seventh out of thirteenth in a series involving defense attorney Dismas Hardy.

The Hearing reminds me of a Law and Order episode except with a few twists.  In a typical episode, the homicide detectives and the prosecution are working together to put the bad guys/gals in jail.  In this story, the detective and defense team up to find the real killer.

The victim is a promising young attorney who was shot and killed in an alley. A heroin addict, Cole Burgess, is found at the murder scene with incriminating evidence. He has confessed but questions arise regarding the authenticity of this confession.  Abe Glistsky, the homicide detective on duty is shocked to see the victim is none other than his estranged daughter.  The defense attorney is his best friend, Dismas Hardy.  The DA, Sharon Pratt has been soft on crime which has hurt her in the polls and since it is an election year, she is reversing course by seeking the death penalty for Cole Burgess.

It took a while to get into the story, but once I did, it became a page turner.  The plot got a bit complicated so reading at night was problematic as I retained probably 70%.  I had to re-read the ending in the morning to fully understand how all the pieces fit together.

Takeaways:

  • Interested in reading other books by Lescroart.
  • Read books by other authors

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