It pains me to give this book (from my favorite series) only 4 stars. It had all the best elements (Dismas Hardy, Wes Farrell AND Abe Glitsky) together in a complex case. These characters are awesome people; I consider them to be princes of the American police procedural.
It didnt bother me that the murderer was obvious fairly early-on. What bothered me is that John Lescroart (as fine a wordsmith as there is) allowed Abe Glitsky to make so many mistakes! Abe, in my estimation, is the consummate professional; he just wouldnt have made those mistakes!
Since this is Lescroarts 15th book in the series, it must be getting hard to come up with new ways to allow a former police inspector, a district attorney and a defense attorney to remain friends and still have the tension that is part of their conflicting roles.
The story starts out simply; a jail guards wife is missing. Before a body is even found, Homicide is already setting up a case against the husband, Hal Chase. At the same time, the county jail has had a string of questionable deaths.
As the case continues, the motivations of the characters involved become less pure. Conjectures and theories abound while the death count continues to increase.
A new Wes Farrell, Abe Glitsky, Dismas Hardy novel is always reason to celebrate. I listened to this book; David Colacci is an accomplished reader. His variety of voices helps each character stand in stark relief from the others.
It didnt bother me that the murderer was obvious fairly early-on. What bothered me is that John Lescroart (as fine a wordsmith as there is) allowed Abe Glitsky to make so many mistakes! Abe, in my estimation, is the consummate professional; he just wouldnt have made those mistakes!
Since this is Lescroarts 15th book in the series, it must be getting hard to come up with new ways to allow a former police inspector, a district attorney and a defense attorney to remain friends and still have the tension that is part of their conflicting roles.
The story starts out simply; a jail guards wife is missing. Before a body is even found, Homicide is already setting up a case against the husband, Hal Chase. At the same time, the county jail has had a string of questionable deaths.
As the case continues, the motivations of the characters involved become less pure. Conjectures and theories abound while the death count continues to increase.
A new Wes Farrell, Abe Glitsky, Dismas Hardy novel is always reason to celebrate. I listened to this book; David Colacci is an accomplished reader. His variety of voices helps each character stand in stark relief from the others.
"From New York Times bestselling author John Lescroart, a riveting novel featuring Dismas Hardy and Abe Glitsky on the hunt for clues about a woman who has gone missing.
On the evening before Thanksgiving, Hal Chase, a guard in the San Francisco County Jail, drives to the airport to pick up his step-brother for the weekend. When they return, Hals wife, Katie, has disappeared without a clue.
By the time Dismas Hardy hears about this, Katie has been missing for five days. The case strikes close to home because Katie had been seeing Hardys wife, a marriage counselor. By this time, the original Missing Persons case has become a suspected homicide, and Hal is the prime suspect. And the lawyer he wants for his defense is none other than Hardy himself.
Hardy calls on his friend, former homicide detective Abe Glitsky, to look into the case. At first it seems like the police might have it right; the Chases marriage was fraught with problems; Hals alibi is suspect; the life insurance policy on Katie was huge. But Glitskys mission is to identify other possible suspects, and there proves to be no shortage of them: Patti Oroscorich, beautiful, dangerous, and Hals former lover; the still unknown person who had a recent affair with Katie; even Hals own step-mother Ruth, resentful of Katies gatekeeping against her grandchildren. And as Glitsky probes further, he learns of an incident at the San Francisco jail, where Hal worksonly one of many questionable inmate deaths that have taken place there. Then, when Katies body is found not three blocks from the Chase home, Homicide arrests Hal and he finds himself an inmate in the very jail where he used to work, a place full of secrets he knows all too well.
Against this backdrop of conspiracy and corruption, ambiguous motives and suspicious alibis, an obsessed Glitsky closes in on the elusive truth. As other deaths begin to pile up he realizes, perhaps too late, that the next victim might be himself."
This is the first book that Mr. Lescroart has written that I finished. This one was just outstandingly done. It held my attention from the first page right to the end. And, at the end I was so very sorry it was over with - I enjoyed the plot (enough changes to keep you guessing all the way through), the characters seemed so very human that they could be your nearby friends. Was so very good that 5*'s just are not enough, and I'm off to buy more of his books. This is really a great mystery that I truly believe anyone at any age would and could enjoy. Everyone should give it a try!
On the evening before Thanksgiving, Hal Chase, a guard in the San Francisco County Jail, drives to the airport to pick up his step-brother for the weekend. When they return, Hals wife, Katie, has disappeared without a clue.
By the time Dismas Hardy hears about this, Katie has been missing for five days. The case strikes close to home because Katie had been seeing Hardys wife, a marriage counselor. By this time, the original Missing Persons case has become a suspected homicide, and Hal is the prime suspect. And the lawyer he wants for his defense is none other than Hardy himself.
Hardy calls on his friend, former homicide detective Abe Glitsky, to look into the case. At first it seems like the police might have it right; the Chases marriage was fraught with problems; Hals alibi is suspect; the life insurance policy on Katie was huge. But Glitskys mission is to identify other possible suspects, and there proves to be no shortage of them: Patti Oroscorich, beautiful, dangerous, and Hals former lover; the still unknown person who had a recent affair with Katie; even Hals own step-mother Ruth, resentful of Katies gatekeeping against her grandchildren. And as Glitsky probes further, he learns of an incident at the San Francisco jail, where Hal worksonly one of many questionable inmate deaths that have taken place there. Then, when Katies body is found not three blocks from the Chase home, Homicide arrests Hal and he finds himself an inmate in the very jail where he used to work, a place full of secrets he knows all too well.
Against this backdrop of conspiracy and corruption, ambiguous motives and suspicious alibis, an obsessed Glitsky closes in on the elusive truth. As other deaths begin to pile up he realizes, perhaps too late, that the next victim might be himself."
This is the first book that Mr. Lescroart has written that I finished. This one was just outstandingly done. It held my attention from the first page right to the end. And, at the end I was so very sorry it was over with - I enjoyed the plot (enough changes to keep you guessing all the way through), the characters seemed so very human that they could be your nearby friends. Was so very good that 5*'s just are not enough, and I'm off to buy more of his books. This is really a great mystery that I truly believe anyone at any age would and could enjoy. Everyone should give it a try!
interesting story and a good page turner.
